RIP: Pippi is having a few problems

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ra7751 wrote:
I can only wish I were a vet. I deal with very sick bunnies in our rescue. I have the support of some of the best vets in the country....a nice benefit that I live within an easy drive to a major vet school.
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That's great! You know a lot and that is a blessing for many of us.

My daughter keeps wanting to go to Purdue University and become an exotics vet. I hope she does it - she's almost 12 now and a lot of kids change their minds but somehow I think she's going to do it.

My niece is there in the vet school now. She's going to do equine and other large animals I think. She's more clinical and wants to fix horses. My daughter is so caring that she wants to make the little ones better and know enough to help the horses too.

It's going to be awhile before we know and if she does it - even longer! but I keep praying she does.
 
Hi Bo B....we have a friend that went with her 13 year old daughter to a summer camp at Purdue. She wants to be a vet too.

And an equine vet? How convenient. Many of the treatments used for horses can also be safely used on rabbits.

Randy
 
Oh my goodness, poor Pippi!

I'm sending you a hug across the ditch Cheryl, I hope Pippi is going to be ok.

Thank god we have Randy for all of that great information.

:hug: Good luck with Pippi and keep us posted ok?
 
That's a very sweet picture Alishia,i just love it and i send you a big thankyou :hug:

Michelle,i could really do with that hug at the moment.....thankyou :hug:



Hi Randy,

Your right when you say that there are a lot of success stories on the net also including head tilt,i came across a few of those stories yesterday,this is why i would rather talk to someone about it instead..it's just different and i get a better understanding of things.

I just have another question though about Pippi dragging his hind leg,he only does it ocassionally,wouldn't he be doing it all the time and not just sometimes?

And also about his weight,is this why he's very skinny?

Thankyou

Cheryl



 
Hi Cheryl.

Everything you are mentioning is taking me back to Yoda and Sabrina. We lost Yoda a year ago this week due to renal failure after a brave battle with EC. He initially presented with a series of bacterial infections starting with an ear infection and severe head tilt. After 8 months of treatment, he got a clean culture and the tilt corrected. That was the first in a series of infections. Then we noticed he would stumble every now and then....the left rear leg. Then it wouldn't happen for a while. But EC is a wasting disease much like ALS in humans....it takes their bodies bit by bit. The degree and severity of any paresis is directly related to the degree of infection and exactly what part of the brain is infected. Yoda actually went down on his side for a while and then came back to normal....and this happened several times over a couple of years. He was never a large rabbit....he was a Holland Lop and I don't recall him weighing much over 1.5kg at any time....but he did lose weight as the EC infection progressed.

It's difficult to keep weight on a small rabbit with EC. We have used higher calorie foods like alfalfa and kale...but they can have long term implications in the kidneys and they are already under fire from the EC. We have also used Nutri-Cal (fat in a tube) that is used for sick dogs and cats...but in limited amounts. There are some appetite stimulants that can be administered....I prefer an injection of B Comp as there are usually no side effects from that. I suspect he is dehydrated so some fluids might make him feel better and eat more. And it might not be a bad idea to do a couple of fecals on him.....but if he does have any intestinal parasites, the panacur should take care of most of them..but a fecal wouldn't hurt.

Randy
 
Oh no,Pippi has blood around his nose!,it'snot much,but it's noticeable ,i don't know what's happening :(

Randy,it's Pippi's left hind leg that he's been dragging to

I also talked to Dr Lee just a minute ago,and he's prescribing more Panacur for Pippi,i can go and pick it up today



Randy..thanks heaps :)

Cheryl
 
This is my healthy Pippi,taken last year

Picture129-1.jpg


This is my Pippi now..

Picture373.jpg


You can see the difference in him
 
Thanks Jim,i'm sure Pippi appreciates that very much

Well,i cleaned the blood away from his nose this morning,and nothing has happened since,so i just don't know what happened there,i hope it doesn't happen again,gosh i got really scared when i seen the blood...i thought.....ohh no!

I went to the vet today to pick up the extra Panacur,so now i'm happy that he can start taking the meds every day now

Cheryl
 
Hi Cheryl,

If the current picture of Pippi has been made recently....get him hydrated!!!! His condition looks exactly like Yoda. I will bet money that his kidneys are being stessed. Lactated Ringers is the order of the day. Insist your vet hydrate him at 5% and teach you how to do it. Get a blood panel and check the kidney values....knowing that information will be vital in the coming battle to form a benchmark to know how to proceed with treatment.

Randy
 
Oh Cheryl, I'm so sorry Pippi is in a bad way. You've gotten some great advice from Randy. Let us know what you find out from the blood panel, I hope you can get that done soon.

You and Pippi will be in my thoughts:hug:. Good Luck!
 
Randy,i will be seeing the Dr today,so i will have a talk to him about Pippi

In all those months,Pippi has had numerous tests,but the only thing he wasn't tested for was EC,now i feel like i have left it to late for him,i just don't think he's going to recover from this,i feel like an idiot,why didn't i think of EC before,Pippi may have had more of a chance if he started treatment long ago,i feel like banging my head against the wall...really hard...i really feel like it's allmy fault!

Pippi is such a delicate little thing at the moment,he's so thin,i can even feel his bones in his back legs,near his bottom

It's out of my control,and i feel really helpless,no matter what i seem to be doing for Pippi,i feel like i'm being punished for something,and it really sucks!

Thankyou again for everyone's kind words,i forever appreciate it
 
cheryl13 wrote:
Randy,i will be seeing the Dr today,so i will have a talk to him about Pippi

In all those months,Pippi has had numerous tests,but the only thing he wasn't tested for was EC,now i feel like i have left it to late for him,i just don't think he's going to recover from this,i feel like an idiot,why didn't i think of EC before,Pippi may have had more of a chance if he started treatment long ago,i feel like banging my head against the wall...really hard...i really feel like it's allmy fault!

Pippi is such a delicate little thing at the moment,he's so thin,i can even feel his bones in his back legs,near his bottom

It's out of my control,and i feel really helpless,no matter what i seem to be doing for Pippi,i feel like i'm being punished for something,and it really sucks!

Thankyou again for everyone's kind words,i forever appreciate it
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Whoa whoa waaaaaaaaaait. It's not over yet! Don't give up now. You aren't a vet, you can't know all these things. Rabbits are good at hiding things and most vets are just learning about them. It's not like you have been neglecting him! :hugsquish:

 
Hi Cheryl,

MsBinkey just gave you some of the best advice you will ever get. This is not your fault....but I understand your feelings.....been there a few too many times. You have done nothing wrong to cause this. Fact is, if it is EC, nearly every domestic rabbit carries it....just for some reason, some rabbits develop an active infection. There is no vaccine or any other preventative measure other than proper husbandry and I don't think there is any question you have done that.

Pippi is going to need all the support he can get if this is EC. These guys know when you are trying to help them....my Sabrina knew, my Yoda knew....and you should see our head tilt bunny respond to us. Keep the faith and help him fight. If you believe in him....he will believe in himself and he will fight to defeat this. Don't ever give up on him. You have to be tough for Pippi....help him fight.

Randy
 
Ahh i'm sorry for seeming like such a downer,but i just felt really sad this morning,and i'm a thinker,i think way to much,and i get stressed very easy when i cannot control a situation.

I know i have to fight thiswith Pippi,i have been doing it for months now,i know i won't give up fighting for him.

You should see him though,he will just be sitting there looking sad,and then he will spot me,and he pops his head up andit's like his eyes light up and he will hop to me,but in a unsteady way,but he does it..you know

I have a close bond with my bunnies,but going through all this stuff with Pippi has brought us even more closer,it's just something really special :)
 
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