Confusing mix of symptons

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weta

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Joined
Nov 20, 2010
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Location
Wellington, , New Zealand
I'm hoping someone has some advice for me. Over the past couple of days my wee girl has been walking funny. She starts off crawling before hopping. She has also had hair loss, which I put down to moulting and an enthusiastic boyfriend, but I treated her with Revolution on Monday in case it was mites.

I took her to the vet last night. She has lost 400g since February and lost muscle around her hind legs. She is a dwarf rabbit, and now only weighs 1.8kg. She got a thorough examination, with her teeth, ears, abdomen and temperature checked and nothing out of the ordinary popped up. She has previously had a blockage in her gut, but this was ruled out.

She is a bit wheezy, although her lungs were clear, and she has been put on antibiotics. The patches of hair loss were scaly, and the vet told me to reapply Revolution in a couple of weeks.

She has no front incisors and does not tend to eat her caecotrophes.

She has been drinking a lot, and yesterday went off her food. She is quieter than normal but is otherwise alert.

So in summary we have:
  • difficulty walking
  • muscle tone and weight loss
  • hair loss
  • drinking
  • little interest in food
  • possible respiratory infection, being treated with antibiotics
  • doesn't eat caecotrophes
I think she is 3.5 years old. She is a rescue bunny and I don't know her pre-SPCA history, so it is possible she is older. My rabbits live in a conversatory and are let out twice daily to run around our large deck (usually at least 3-4 hours a day), so I can't blame the loss of muscle tone on lack of exercise.

Anyone got any clues about what's going on? I really worry about my animals when they are unwell, and I am desperately hoping that I am worrying for nothing and whatever she has will be resolved with the antibiotics and Revolution.


 
weta wrote:
I'm hoping someone has some advice for me.  Over the past couple of days my wee girl has been walking funny.  She starts off crawling before hopping.  She has also had hair loss, which I put down to moulting and an enthusiastic boyfriend, but I treated her with Revolution on Monday in case it was mites.

I took her to the vet last night.  She has lost 400g since February and lost muscle around her hind legs.  She is a dwarf rabbit, and now only weighs 1.8kg.  She got a thorough examination, with her teeth, ears, abdomen and temperature checked and nothing out of the ordinary popped up.  She has previously had a blockage in her gut, but this was ruled out.

She is a bit wheezy, although her lungs were clear, and she has been put on antibiotics.  The patches of hair loss were scaly, and the vet told me to reapply Revolution in a couple of weeks.

She has no front incisors and does not tend to eat her caecotrophes. 

She has been drinking a lot, and yesterday went off her food.  She is quieter than normal but is otherwise alert.

So in summary we have:
  • difficulty walking
  • muscle tone and weight loss
  • hair loss
  • drinking
  • little interest in food
  • possible respiratory infection, being treated with antibiotics
  • doesn't eat caecotrophes
I think she is 3.5 years old.  She is a rescue bunny and I don't know her pre-SPCA history, so it is possible she is older.  My rabbits live in a conversatory and are let out twice daily to run around our large deck (usually at least 3-4 hours a day), so I can't blame the loss of muscle tone on lack of exercise.

Anyone got any clues about what's going on? I really worry about my animals when they are unwell, and I am desperately hoping that I am worrying for nothing and whatever she has will be resolved with the antibiotics and Revolution.
Click to expand...
--lots of issues here,-dietary,rabbits are strictly herbivores--lots of grasses,some pellets,water daily--you should be-hand feeding her critical care,and ??antibiotics.??-what kind?-,i prefer chlorampenicol--but she may require a combination of elements,--she will not get better by herself--lots of tlc,--prey animals hide their illnesses so by the time we see a problem the timer has already started,--there are a variety of bacterias,arobes,anarobes,virus,s which can be accessed on th r.o.l library or this link http://www.medirabbit.com this will help get you started,,god bless-sincerely james waller--:pray::pray::innocent--cecotropes are very necessary--give powdered probotics with the critical care--dvm,s have these products or try a cattle feed farm store..
 
Thanks for the comments and your kind wishes. Stella hasn't improved so we will take her back to the vet tomorrow. She is on 1ml of deprim orally twice a day. She is still drinking excessively, still seems to be off her food and is clearly not very well. She was better yesterday and this morning was pretty feisty about getting her meds, but this evening is worse.

Also the hair loss is not improving - it seems to be getting worse! We gave her Revolution 5 days ago?

She is still very alert, and although she is quieter than normal she is not lethargic.

As for diet - yes, they get pellets, unlimited hay, fresh grass and lots of puha (a type of thistle).

James, thanks for the link. I found it useful, but still aren't able to diagnose my Stella-mite.
 
How did you guess her age? An adult rabbit is very difficult to age with 8 month old rabbits looking pretty much like 8 year old rabbits. Sounds like she may be a bit arthritic (so may indeed be quite a bit older). If drinking more than normal, recommend blood work to see if her kidneys are functioning normally. Not eating caecatropes can lead to nutritional deficiencies over time as well. This source of nutrition is pretty important for rabbits. If she is arthritic, perhaps she does not eat them because she cannot get to them. However I don't tend to have much success offering fresh caecatropes to a bunny and having them eat them off a plate. If not eaten right as they come out (which is so instinctual they don't think about it), rabbits seem a bit put off by that dietary additive placed in front of them (don't really blame them).
 
Thanks Geoff. Her age is based on what the SPCA told us, but you're quite right, she could be much older. She is a little perkier today but we are still off to the vet this afternoon.
 
Back from the vet. She has lost another 150g since Wednesday. I asked about her kidneys and about treatment options if they were the problem - didn't sound like there were many options, if any. So no blood tests just het. The first priority is to get her eating. She got drugs to get her gut moving, and she is being force fed carrot and rice baby food. My lovely white rabbit is now a little orange!

She also got pain relief and sub-cutaneous fluids.

She is still quiet, but has been grooming herself (especially post-baby food) and is feisty when she wants to be.
 
We took her to a different vet this morning, one that specialises in rabbits. Sadly she collapsed in her cage just as we were arriving. We were advised to have her put down but she died on her own before that could happen.

The vets were lovely. They managed to get us an earlier appointment, got her notes from our normal vet and only charged us for the oxygen.

Rest in peace wee Stella. You were much loved and I am pleased you are not suffering any more
 
oh my! I'm SO sorry you lost her, that must be devastating! it's good she's no longer suffering, at least... and that the later part of her life (post-rescue) allowed her to know what it was like to be loved and well cared for.

binky free, Stella :pray:
 
Oh, dear! I am so VERY, VERY sorry for your loss! That is often the case that a rabbit just doesn't get to the vet in time for treatment. They are just so fragile and, as victims of prey, are instinctually wired to hide any illness or discomfort they are feeling so you never know in time. . . .RIP and my deepest sympathies.
 
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