Did these medications kill my bunny? :(

[anaerobe]

My baby bunny of 6 years died today after an abrupt call from the vet. They did "blood tests", but with a limited sample because they couldn't find her veins. They said there were traces that make them suspect liver & kidney problems (but couldn't tell what they were exactly).


12 days ago, she went to emergency vet for eating chocolate, and boarded for 2 days (despite us being concerned that she'd be stressed). We came back with 3 medications:
- Metronidazole 0.63ml every 12 hours for 10 days, at 125mg/ml. I was concerned about this amount because it's been found cancerous in rats, and the dosage seems rather high (she is only 2.5kg bunny).
- Ranitidine 0.3ml every 8 hours for 3 days, every 10 hours for 7 days, 24 hours for 7 days. At 25mg/ml
- Metacam 0.5ml every 12 hours, at 1.5mg



After the vet, she got better in 2 days and was eating normally. Then, on day 10, she started eating less and got lethargic. Both those conditions worsened, until day 11, she wouldn't eat, so I force fed her Critical Care and meds. She was swallowing until... she stopped swallowing.
I took her to our regular vet this time, who did the mentioned blood tests. They recommended to keep her overnight, which I complied. But they called us this morning, saying that she was on an oxygen mask. Another call 30 minutes later, and she's gone.

I do wonder if the medications given to her were "over-kill", and that it may have caused her kidney & liver problems. The vet suspected cancer, which one of the medications were known to cause. I hate the idea of having religiously force-feeding my rabbit something that would've killed her (she never complied with eating the Metronidazole, unlike the other meds). I have no idea if we could have avoided this problem if I just let her stay at home - she wasn't monitored overnight. And I wish she had passed away in the comfort of her own home.

 

[JBun]

I don't know that I can provide you with the answers that you are looking for, but I'll share the little that I know. I don't know what the regular treatment is for rabbits ingesting chocolate, so don't know if the meds were needed in this situation or not. I can tell you that the dosage for the metacam and ranitidine appears to be in the normal dosage range for rabbits(if I've calculated everything correctly), but the metronidazole does appear to be a bit high. Normal dosage for a rabbit is around 20mg/kg. Now I'm not a vet and am just going off of published dosages that I've found. Typically metronidazole is given if the clostridium bacteria is present. You haven't mentioned if your rabbit was experiencing digestive problems because of the chocolate ingestion, or if a fecal test found clostridium to be present, so I don't know as to the nature of why this antibiotic was needed. But a few days of being on it wouldn't cause cancer to suddenly develop. If cancer was involved then it would have been something that developed over time. Typically these medications are considered safe to use in rabbits, but of course there is always the off chance for there to be a bad reaction to a medication. And if there were already preexisting kidney or liver problems, the metronidazole and metacam could have caused further issues with them, as they are contraindicated when those health problems are present.
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Safe_drugs_main.htm
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/List_Vols/Lagomorphs/List_Lagomorph_Drugs.htm

Really the only way to know for sure what the cause of death was, would be to have a necropsy done, and even then the results can sometimes come back inconclusive.

I'm really sorry that this has happened. It's very hard to have a sick bun, and even worse when we lose them. It doesn't ever seem to get easier to deal with.

 

[Bindi]

I'm sorry for your loss

I agree that the medicine couldn't have caused cancer in a few days. Like the above poster, I have no medical experience but it could be that she did have underlying organ problems all the time and it was the stress of the whole experience (not just what was done to her, but her own body's recovery) that made her take a downturn and there would have been nothing you could have done about it.

 

[Saurabh]

Sorry to hear that :/ But dw you did your best to save her, there was nothing else you could do. I hope she is fine n happy where ever she is now.

 

[ceilpaws]

You've gotten some very good, informative answers so far. But, since I do work in a veterinary hospital, I felt as though I could provide some additional information, if not experience.

First off, I'm very sorry for the loss of your bunny. It does appear that you did all that you could in order to save you precious girl. Sadly, I don't think that my information will bring you much peace, though, as it likely will not provide the answers for which you're searching...

From the information you've provided, I am also of the belief that cancer may have played a part in your rabbit's passing. However, ingestion of a toxin such as chocolate also could have caused a tremendous amount of damage despite the treatment she received. The medications you have listed are all considered to be safe for rabbits. The Ranitidine and Metacam doses are spot on. While the Metronidazole dose does appear a bit high, it is not alarming to me. And, I have seen doses this high being given to rabbits before.

The use of Metronidazole, in and of itself, is not surprising to me given the situation. I often see it prescribed as an adjunct to therapy - especially if there has been any history of gastrointestinal distress. And, short term, it has been proven safe for rabbits. While it has been reported to be a carcinogen, a short-term dose, such as the one prescribed to your bunny, would not cause cancer to develop rapidly. More than likely, there was an underlying issue outside of the chocolate toxin and the events leading up to her death were merely exacerbating circumstances.

A necropsy could have been performed in order to rule in or out certain diagnoses that could have led to your sweet rabbit's loss. However, it is not uncommon for these tests not to provide inclusive results. Sadly, more often than not, it is unknown why a pet passes. And, even best guesses could be wildly off-base. It is a sad fact of pet ownership and veterinary medicine alike. And, again, I am so very sorry for your loss. I wish you comfort and peace during this difficult time.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We're so sorry for your loss. Last night when I went in to feed everyone, I found that our little 4 year old boy Finn had died--he was fine in the morning and gone that evening. It's like the old Johnny Cash song, "I don't like it, but I guess things happen that way".

 

[anaerobe]

JBun: Thank you so much for your informative answer (and weblinks!). I thought the metronidazole prescription was a bit high, as well. (And that I should've corrected it. It was probably a typo for 0.43ml...) She may have had some kidney/liver problems before that may have been exascerbated, and they even gave us extra vitamins... sounds like a lot of toll on her kidney. Poor baby.

Thank you for your condolences, Bindi, Saurabh, JBun, ceilpaws, Nancy.
Nancy: We're so so sorry for your loss. It is especially upsetting when they go unexpectedly - we thought our bun would have at least another 5 years. The most important is that they had a good life - we showed them we loved them, and they showed us that they loved us. But we just miss her, her sweetie little face, her lazy bum, and her kissies.
This is a quote from the article, 12-Year-Old Dies Unexpectedly, Leaves Amazing Letter to Her Adult Self, that had me feeling a little better recently:
Her father talks with WJHL about his feelings of grief. “Initially it's shock and waves of depression, and hoping that it's not real, and hoping that every time you take a nap or go to sleep you find out it wasn't real," he says. But, he adds, “If it's God's time, it's God's time, and he loved her more than we could ever love her. So much so that he said 'Come on.' A lot of people are probably wondering why it's so easy for a father who just lost his daughter to say something like that, to not curse God, to not hate God. The only thing I can say is that right now it's easy for me to trust God because my baby girl trusted him."http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/12...azing-letter-to-her-adult-self-191637567.html

ceilpaws: Thank you for your insight and experience. I do think she may have some underlying issues, and having being away from home didn't help either (she used to get GI stasis from travelling, so we stopped taking her on short out-of-town vacays).I wish we weren't prescribed so many things for her. Though, as you said, we did try our best.

 

[Imbrium]

I'm so sorry that both of you lost a beloved bunny... binky free, little ones! :rainbow:

 

[aj82]

So sorry for both of you x