making a sick bunny comfortable

[sarah92]

I am really struggling with my poor female bunny snowy at the moment..
she's been to the vets and had blood tests done only for them to tell me they are pretty sure she has cancer, but there is nothing they can do because she is too old to operate on.
The vet said to just let her be until she becomes more sick..

Snowy is still eating and drinking, but the main problem is she is drinking nearly 3-4x a normal amount making her wee all the time and she is constantly wet.

I've been cleaning her cage daily, and on sunny days she goes out on the grass where she can keep dry..
But I'm just feeling really bad for her, her feet seem red in spots probably because she is getting urine on them too?
I just don't know how to make her more comfortable


how do you know when its time to put them to sleep?
Its breaking my heart to think about losing her

 

[sarah92]

just something I thought of... has anyone else had a rabbit with cancer spayed to fix the problem? especially if its an older one (she's 5 yrs 10 months) I know that's very risky? but maybe its worth a try?

 

[JBun]

I had my 7 yr. old rabbit spayed because it was suspected she may have had uterine cancer. She was peeing everywhere outside her litter box and having constant false pregnancies. After the spay all of this stopped and she's been fine. It was a little harder for her to recover than my younger rabbit. She took a little longer to start eating on her own, as the anesthesia wore off, and she was sore a little longer. It is riskier with them being older, but if it is suspected your bun has uterine cancer, it may be worth trying, since it might save her life.

 

[Azerane]

At five years I think spaying is definitely worth a shot. Not to sound morbid, but if you get her spayed and it doesn't go well you will lose her, but that being said, if you don't get her spayed, you will have to put her down (possibly soon) anyway. So I suppose what you have to decide on is whether it's worth the risk of her not making it now, to increase her chance at a much, much longer life.

If the solution is a spay, to me that's worth it if she's essentially dying otherwise. Make sure you go with a very experienced rabbit vet, especially since she's mid-age and already ill.

In terms of making her comfortable, I know that some people use pupping training pads sometimes, perhaps you could line the floor with some of those so that the wee soaks into them instead of her fur?

 

[whitelop]

I think getting her spayed would be worth a shot! Also, not trying to be morbid, but if she didn't make it through the surgery, its a very peaceful way to go. I just lost a rabbit after being spayed and the vet said she was still mostly sedated and she went very peacefully and didn't suffer a bit.
Rather than not doing the spay and her quality of life declining rapidly. If she's wet all the time, she's really running the risk of urine scald as you know.

I think people use puppy peepee pads and there is this type of faux fur that people use. I can't remember the name, maybe someone else will come along and help me out with the name. But its like sheeps wool or something white and furry like that. Anyway, it absorbs the pee and stays pretty dry on top.
I would also think that you wouldn't want her to stay on something solid that didn't absorb, so she can't step in the actual puddle. If she's touching her litter in the box, you might want to get a grid to put on it. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f69/stormhaven-litter-system-step-step-instructions-48510/ like a 1/3 of the way down is how they did the grid with the light diffuser.
Or when I had issue with my rabbit being wet on the bum, I got a small cookie cooling rack and just set it on top of the litter box and ziptied it down so it wouldn't fall off. It kept her completely off the litter, even after it expanded with pee she never touched the litter again. The holes in the cooling rack were big enough for the poop to fit through too.

I hope your bun pulls through! And I hope you're able to help her out with comfort. She's in my thoughts.
Good luck! :hearts:

 

[sarah92]

I had my 7 yr. old rabbit spayed because it was suspected she may have had uterine cancer. She was peeing everywhere outside her litter box and having constant false pregnancies. After the spay all of this stopped and she's been fine. It was a little harder for her to recover than my younger rabbit. She took a little longer to start eating on her own, as the anesthesia wore off, and she was sore a little longer. It is riskier with them being older, but if it is suspected your bun has uterine cancer, it may be worth trying, since it might save her life.

Oh wow, that's exactly whats happening to snowy.. I kind of want to give it a shot but I'm worried because the vet said when it could fix the problem if she makes it, at the same time there could be more issues and she might still be sick..

how long did your girl live for after she was spayed?

 

[tonyshuman]

I don't think your rabbit is too old at all. That being said, if your vet isn't comfortable doing the surgery, you should find a vet that is. That is not too old for a rabbit. I have heard of spaying done on rabbits older like JBun mentioned and if it's the best chance for her to live, it is worth a try. If the cancer has spread and spaying will not remove the tumors, then you may not want to do it. You do have to weigh the benefits against the risks, and there is an increased risk at that age. I would call your bunny middle-aged instead of elderly, though, unless she's a giant breed. She should heal fine, maybe a little slower than a young bunny, and the surgery should be done by someone experienced in spaying rabbits for sure.

 

[JBun]

My bun is still alive. She was spayed last year, so she is now 8 years old, and still healthy and pretty active. She's a little slower in her old age, but still can pop out a small binky every now and then. I haven't had any problems with her since the spay. The only thing was when she was coming out of the anesthesia, she did have a little harder time coming out of it being older. She was much slower and very still and more sedate than my younger rabbit that I had spayed at the same time. There's always the chance that spaying won't solve the problem, but I just figured it was worth a try, because if she did have cancer, she probably wouldn't last too long, and would keep getting more sick and have more health problems. I agree with tonyshuman, that if your vet isn't comfortable doing a spay on an older rabbit, it would be better to find a vet that is.