sick bentley

[Bentley]

Bentley has recently begun wheezing and I've seen her like blow snot out of her nose and she sounds like she isn't breathing right. It doesn't seem to serious so I'm not gunna take her into the vet, but what do you think about it? I live in minnesota, so its cold out, im thinking maybe she just has a cold or somethin. she also won't eat her favorite fruit anymore :/ idk

 

[ra7751]

When you combine not eating with a breathing difficulty.....I would say that is serious. I would suggest enlisting the assistance of a rabbit savvy vet as soon as possible.

Randy

 

[Pipp]

:yeahthat:

This isn't something that will go away on its own, even if it appears to, it will still be underlying and come back with a vengeance.

It would be a respiratory infection, an abscess, dental issue or whatever, but it needs a vet ASAP.


sas :expressionless

 

[Pipp]

PS: If you can read and answer the relevant questions in the 'pinned file' about the required Infirmary information, that will help re: future questions.


sas

 

[Bentley]

Oh no she eats her food and hay, she just wouldn't eat the banana, maybe she wasn't hungry. She had some problems like this when I first got her and it went away, for at least 8 months i'd say, but now its back again. Only if it gets really bad then I will take her in.... vet is to expensive...




- Location: minnesota

- Description (Breed, color., weight): mini rex (i think?) brown/black fur

- Age: unknown, around 4

- spayed/neutered?: no

-poop: everything looks normal

- Medical History -- has s/he been to the vet or been sick before? : has arthritis in her back legs, recieved medicine

- Diet - what does your bunny eat?: pellets from idk. we switch them usually every time we buy, i know you aren't suppose to, but Bentley doesn't seem to mind.

- movement - any unusual movements? Is s/he hopping normally?; yes

- are there any plants, chocolate or other substances within reach?: no but she has eaten my moms plant... about 2 weeks ago

- has the rabbit been outdoors? yeah within the last month.. when the snow first started coming down. only been out twice, but I don't take her out anymore because of the cold

 

[ra7751]

You said something that caught my attention....arthritis? How was that diagnosed? I don't think, contrary to any diagnosis, that rabbits technically get arthritis. And this might be a clue to an overall problem. What exactly has happened with her hind legs? There are two things, other than spinal or leg skeletal trauma, that usually causes hind quarter issues. One is E Cuniculi. The other is Metabolic Bone Disease. EC is caused by a parasite that lives sub-clinically in the body usually from birth. It migrates to the brain and causes all sorts of problems. Metabolic Bone Disease is the result of a nutritional issue due to a Vitamin D deficiency. This deficiency results in insufficient nutrition being absorbed in the body. The name is deceptive since it is a systemic issue that can affect any body system. In rabbits, it usually caused dental issues (due to soft bones) or a misdiagnosis of arthritis.

Randy

 

[Maureen Las]

Here are our vets in MN.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11612&forum_id=9



Where are you?

I am on the border between Mn and Wi

This will not go away on it's own.

 

[Bentley]

Her vet diagnosed with with arthritis in her back legs, because sometimes her knee caps will pop out of their socket and they would rub against her bones (something like that) when she would jump up and to her board to down to the bottom of her cage. He gave me pain medication and suggested I took the board out from her cage so she wouldn't have to jump to reach her food and water - which I did - and I still have the medicine but she no longer limps so she has no use for it.

I have a vet in St. Joe, but I can't go. I'm 14 years old and my parents won't take my rabbit to the vet because its a waste of money, or they just don't want to. I have no way to get their and I don't really have any money of my own. the only reason they brought her in before is because she had been limping for two months and I finally convinced them if they didn't bring her in she would die because she wouldn't use her back leg (and it turned out not to be broken, but just have arthritis)

Anyways, today I picked her up and held her nose by my ear and she seemed to be perfectly fine. She was breathing nicely, (and I heard her eating) so I think she's playing me.

 

[Pipp]

Aw, poor bunny.

A lot of times when one thing goes wrong their little bodies get stressed, their immune systems don't work well and that allows other things to go wrong. They may have a bug or 'germ' in their system that's kept in check by their body's natural defenses, but the defenses are down when they're not feeling well and the bugs/germs can multiply.

Was she having trouble in both legs or just one? Was the medicine you got Metacam? She may be feeling poorly again with the arthritis or whatever it is and that has caused a respiratory bug to take hold. Or it could be something else entirely.

If you can't go to a vet, best thing is to keep her comfortable and eating as many healthy veggies and hay as a possible, and try and get her good quality timothy pellets (and don't give her too many of them).

Could she be much older than four? How is her weight? She looks chubby in her pictures. (Sorry Bentley!) Is she getting fatter or thinner? Rexes tend to get a little too fat and the extra weight puts more pressure on their legs and joints which can cause any pain to increase. She's also getting less exercise so that may not help her weight, either.

If she is overweight, you don't want her losing weight quickly, but you do want to get her to a healthy weight with decent veggies, hay and quality low-protein, low fat pellets.

On the other hand, if she's already losing weight, you don't want to cut back on the protein, so its important to observe that. You can't go wrong with a wide variety of vegetables (which will give her different kinds of vitamins), a few pellets and a lot of hay, though.

Its unusual she's turning down a banana chip, isn't it? She really shouldn't have more than a tiny bit of it anyway, but whenever they turn down a treat around here, its cause for concern. Is she is quieter than usual?

Bunnies really do hide their illnesses. By the time they're showing symptoms, they're pretty sick.

She really does need an exam and probably an anti-biotic, and it would be good to see if she should get more Metacam if that's what you have.



sas ray:

 

[Bentley]

She is a bit overweight, but I'm giving her a restricted amount of food, maybe I should switch her to low-fat food. her arthritis went away, I took her in awhile ago, and only gave her medicine at that time. She hasn't limped or shown signs of walking problems since then. I actually think what I thought was snot -this is gunna sound nasty- but I think since she isn't nutured it might've came from you-know-where, because its around her time of the month and she's been getting nippy at me. Im not really sure if thats normal, but I don't think it came out of her nose, i just turned and saw what looked like snot on the bed.

 

[tonyshuman]

Well, rabbits do not go through menstrual cycles--they are "induced ovulators" meaning that they only ovulate (produce eggs) after mating with a male. If you only saw the mucus once, it could have been a small thing that cleard up quicky. That happened to Tony once--by the time I got him to the vet the next day, the snot that had been there was gone and the vet couldn't do anything.

 

[Bentley]

Oh my friend told me they have cycles like we do. I guess not, thats wierd because she does seem to get more cranky at certains times of the month.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

ra7751 wrote:

When you combine not eating with a breathing difficulty.....I would say that is serious. I would suggest enlisting the assistance of a rabbit savvy vet as soon as possible.

Randy

You should really see a vet for an xray, could be a URI, Upper Respitory Infection, which can be treated sucessfully with aggressive antibiotics. Request a culture for sure at the checkup.

Just fyi, I had a rabbit of good size that started having issues-sneezing/coughing spells, those issues turned into Congestive Heart Failure real quick, determined by an xray... So, nothing to mess with. (Those sounds concern me to this day, but I determine which are bad and which are nothing....)

Keep us posted as well, please!

 

[pamnock]

Bentley wrote:

Her vet diagnosed with with arthritis in her back legs, because sometimes her knee caps will pop out of their socket and they would rub against her bones (something like that) when she would jump up and to her board to down to the bottom of her cage.

The condition is calledpatellar luxation (our dog has the same condition). It is a hereditary defect of the joint.

Rabbits, like any living creature with bones can suffer from arthritis (inflammation of the joints) which can be caused by a various number of ailments. Joint swelling/arthritis can result from patellar luxation.

Congestive heart failure can present the same signs as pneumonia. Most certainly something to have checked out.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

pamnock wrote:

Bentley wrote:

Her vet diagnosed with with arthritis in her back legs, because sometimes her knee caps will pop out of their socket and they would rub against her bones (something like that) when she would jump up and to her board to down to the bottom of her cage.

Congestive heart failure can present the same signs as pneumonia. Most certainly something to have checked out.

One other thing to mention is that I also noticed a considerable case of conjectivitis, or prolapse of the third eyelid, where the whites come out of the inner corner? (Alot with the CHF ordeal)

Let us know if you see this as well.