Metacam - could it have saved her? (E Cuniculi)

[Andy86]

Both of our beautiful little bunnies suffered (and recovered) from E Cuniculi earlier in their lives. However, one of them developed it again yesterday morning. I rushed her straight to the vets at 10am and she was given an injection, as well as being prescribed Baytril and Panacur. At this point she had poor balance and weakness in her back legs, but was still alert. She was in a better state than when they had treatment before.

However, she regressed massively over the next few hours to the point where she wouldn't eat, drink or move. I rushed her back in at 5:30pm and asked for her to be given Metacam. This perked her up slightly, and we were able to feed her water and baby food 2/3 times later in the evening, albeit via syringe. She was still weak and unable to move, but it was progress.

Unfortunately, she was barely breathing when we woke up this morning. She died in my arms when I tried to comfort her

Maybe I'm just torturing myself, but I can't help feeling things may have been different if she'd had Metacam immediately, or if we'd been able to syringe feed her during the day.

What do you think? Could it have possibly saved her? Or does the fact she went downhill so quickly suggest that it was a battle she just wasn't meant to win?

 

[Nuage]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I don't think metacam could have saved as metacam is just a pain medication.

 

[JBun]

Metacam couldn't have saved her as it's only a temporary measure to help reduce inflammation and prevent long term cell damage from it, but wouldn't have fixed the underlying illness and any organ damage that had already occurred.

For her to have declined so rapidly means it was likely to do with some sort of internal organ failure. E. cuniculi can widely affect most of the internal organs, and cause a variety of complications. It's such a difficult illness to deal with and treat in rabbits. I'm very this happened and for the loss of your bun.

 

[Andy86]

Thanks everybody. I’m still heartbroken but at least I know that there isn’t anything else we could have done to save her. She’d only just turned one year old too

 

[Catlyn]

So sorry for your loss! She looks adorable! You did the best you could for her, but sadly some lives just aren't meant to be as long as others. My boy was also barely over a year when he left us.

 

[Andy86]

Awww. I’m sorry to hear that

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I'm sorry for your loss! She was so cute! I don't think Metacam would have saved her. She would have needed something to kill the bacteria.

 

[Remy The Rabbit]

So so sorry for your loss, she was so adorable and looked like a sweetie. Like the others said, I don't think the Metacam would have worked since it was just to reduce the pain and not the infection itself. Don't beat yourself up about it, there was really nothing you could have done. Take care and best wishes.