Poor Mr. Darcy :O(

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graceismine

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Jul 20, 2012
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Lenoir, North Carolina, USA
Hi! I have a 5 year old housetrained Lionhead rabbit, named Mr. Darcy. Yesterday I noticed that he seemed tired. He spent most the day behind the loveseat. I called him to put him up for bed and he didn't come. When I looked behind the loveseat he came toward me slowly. His tail keeps going up and down and his nose is twitching really fast. Today he has ran to his litter tray and when he gets there he just shakes. A few times he looked as if he had the hiccups. I have called many vets within 50 miles. There is one that sees rabbits, but he is on vacation until Monday. I have given him fresh water, cilantro, unlimited hay. He is eating, but smaller portions. I also gave him a couple drops of gas drops in his water. I thought it might be his stomach. But, I just picked him up (which he hates) and on laying him on my lap I noticed that his genital area is very swollen. Is there something I can do until I can find a vet that sees rabbits??
 
I'd guess he either has a stone or an urinary tract infection. He needs a lot of fluids, pronto. Just about any vet can give him subcutaneous fluids (a needle under the skin), or you can do it yourself if you can get the supplies, but he also needs antibiotics.

The fluids are crucial. You may also try some diluted cranberry juice.

Is he eating? Soak his veggies in cold water for 20 or 30 minutes before he gets them, that will help with the fluids.

But he needs to get to a vet. A vet can test his urine (if you can get him to pee in a very clean, well rinsed empty litter box or on some clean bubble wrap, you can pull it up into a syringe and get it into the vet. Refridgerate it if you can't immediately take it over. Should go the same day.

Depending on the urine test, he may need to have an x-ray.


sas :clover:
 
I would gently clean off the swollen area with water & check to see if one particular spot is worse than the rest, like he scratched himself there with a nail. Then make some infection set in. I'm not really sure if neosporin [type without pain killer] would be good to apply or not, but I think I'd probably apply it.

And have you checked to see if it's an anal sac problem?
 
Thanks for all the advice! There is a vet that sees rabbits in my area. I called the after care service they refer to and that after care doesn't see rabbits. Closest after care is 2 hours away. I think the trip would traumatize him! I am praying he is okay until tomorrow. Rabbit vet open from 8-12.
 
LakeCondo wrote:
I would gently clean off the swollen area with water & check to see if one particular spot is worse than the rest, like he scratched himself there with a nail. Then make some infection set in. I'm not really sure if neosporin [type without pain killer] would be good to apply or not, but I think I'd probably apply it.

And have you checked to see if it's an anal sac problem?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that too. ^

Sounds like a pain response, and if it was just a day, I'd say treat for gas, they tend to put their tails up and down when they're trying to pass gas, and they also press their tummies flat and get up again like they can't get comfortable.

But the genitals do swell with UTIs and stone issues. Is his back end wet? Has he been dribbling? Any sign of blood in his urine? You can spray or dribble a little peroxide on his pee (if its on the floor or empty litter box) and see if it bubbles. Not fool proof, but can be an indicator.


sas :pray:
 
PS: If he's not able to pee at all and hasn't peed for awhile, it's an emergency.

In case it is crystals in his urine, don't give him any spinach and not much kale, carrot tops, english parsley or anything with high oxalates like that. Dandelion is good, and lettuce (including iceberg), cilantro, italian parsley, mint, dill and other herbs.

You may want to get him some pedialyte.


sas
 
I think he is peeing. I noticed he dribbled on the rug next to his litterpan. He is eating right now. :O) I feel so bad that he is in pain. He keeps laying down with his tail end up in the air. Just got to get him through the night and call vet in morning.

 
Thanks for all your help and advice. I called two vets in my area this morning who do not deal with rabbits. I finally found a vet about 40 minutes from me. After his thorough exam, Dr. says poor Mr. Darcy has a UTI. He is eating more today and more mobile. Still just painful when he goes to his haybox or litterpan. He put him on an antibiotic for two weeks and if it doesn't improve he will xray for bladder stones. (He didn't feel any though.) Now to just figure out a way to get him to take his med once a day from a syringe! :O)
 
Besides the antibiotic, it wouldn't hurt & almost surely would help a urinary infection to give him cranberry juice, but NOT the very sweetened stuff from a grocery. You can get unsweetened cranberry concentrate at a health food store. Put a little in Mr D's water. If you have to, mix in orange juice for sweetening, but as little sweetening as possible. Sugar encourages UTIs by changing the pH. In fact, you probably should cut out any sugary treats until the infection is all gone & be sparing afterwards. [Poor Mr D.] And benebac or other probiotic is always a good idea to return the intestinal [& cecum] good bacteria destroyed by the antibiotic.
 
The juice is diluted, I usually go for up to 10 parts water to one part juice depending on the juice. The pedialyte is not diluted.

I trust the vet gave him sub-q fluids?


sas :clover:
 
08/01/2012 Update on Mr. Darcy: Mr. Darcy seemed to be doing better on his antibiotic. This past Monday I was outside doing yardwork. When I came in, I found two small puddles of rusty colored urine and a stone! It was 5/16 of an inch big! Poor, poor bunny! I called the vet on Tuesday and they wanted to xray to make sure there isn't bigger ones. Mr. Darcy has two more (one at the top of bladder and one at the bottom.) Good news....they aren't near as big as the other one and the vet is confident that he can pass them easily. He is doing amazing now and I think once those two stones pass, he'll feel amazing. :O)
 
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