Please Help!!

[chefcv3]

 I wrote here not too long ago about my bun Norma having a UTI infection.  Brought her to the vet and they held her overnight for observation. When I went to pick her up she developed a new problem.  Apparently she lost quite a bit of weight (she was a big bun….about 11 lbs), almost 1 1/2 lbs which somehow makes her poop now go up a flap which I have to clean out day and night.  It has got to be the most challenged thing I’ve had to do in a long time.  The dr gave me this wound cleanser which I have to squirt on the area to soften it up so I can proceed to pull this flap back where all her poop is. Then I have to extract it all.   I know this sounds gross……believe me….it is…..but we would do anything for our buns, right??

The thing is the vet said I have to do this to her for the rest of her life unless they do a procedure called a tummy tuck!  That’s right folks….buns can get tummy tucks!!  Needless to say, I cannot afford this procedure.

She doesn’t drink half as much as she used to. Sometimes in the morning I just take the bottle of water and give it to her and then she’ll drink. She is eating her veges like crazy and started to eat her pellets. She doesn’t even shed as much as she used to.   She is hopping around.  She seems happy.

What I want to know is am I being fair to her.  She completely hates when me and my husband clean her.  She actually bit me once which she has never done.  Is this a good quality of life for her??  I am so torn.  

Has anyone else here been through this?  I could really use some good bunny advice,

Thanks all!

 

Chris

[Sarita]

Yes, many times. My feeling as long as keeping her clean keeps her healthy and it is not affecting her overall quality of life, it’s a good quality of life.

Have you considered using a bowl instead of a bottle to let her drink from?

[jerseygirl]

Hi Chris,

To be honest, my first thought was to seek a 2nd opinion. I hope im not being too presumptuous. :/ It’s just sounds odd… the advice youve been given. Perhaps I’m mis understanding the situation?

So what is Norma’s poop like? Is it normal round, firm & dry bunny poo or a sticky mess? What you’re describing (the flap) sounds a little like the scent glands on each side of the genital mound. Or is this flap loose skin from her weight loss that is getting soiled?   Is she able to clean herself some?

Some rabbits don’t drink a lot of water. If she’s getting veggies, likely she’d getting the fluids she needs from them.

[RabbitPam]

I had the same first thought as JG, to get a second opinion. I’m glad Sarita is familiar with this and can give you experienced advice.

It still might not hurt to get a 2nd opinion if only to find out if another vet has some different suggestions on how to live with her condition. Sometimes just simple tips can make a big difference, and if a vet sees her, she may be able to show you exactly how to help her in a comfortable way, for you and for Norma, that works better. There may be an interim step in treatment before a “tummy tuck.”

[tobyluv]

One of the other volunteers that I know at the Rabbit Sanctuary, went through this with her rabbit a couple of years ago. Here is part of the article that her vet wrote, which we included in one of our newsletters:

Thus the story of Pez, the slightly underweight rabbit begins. Pez was rescued and adopted by a well-intentioned caretaker, who essentially became her “mom.” Pez was in good health and was fortunate to have a wonderful new home and family and her new mom was well educated in rabbit husbandry and management. Although mom was very concerned about her new rabbit’s trim physique of 6 lbs., her veterinarian was not. It is well documented that normal to slightly underweight people and animals have fewer health problems and a longer life expectancy than their over-weight counterparts.

In subsequent veterinary check-ups, Pez’s weight was recorded at 7.2#, then 8.0#, and finally reaching a full-figured 8.2#. Pez’s body weight had increased over 30% in a two and one half year period! Pez was so fat she had difficulty cleaning herself. Her skin was reddened and irritated from urine scald and her feces were clumpy. Her mom diligently cleaned Pez, applied medication to he skin and worked with her diet to correct the clumpy fecal material, but nothing seemed to work. During one of Pez’s daily baths, her mom noticed she had a belly pouch that inverted her skin, forming a pocket around her uro-genital region. The pocket was collecting her urine and feces, causing them to get caught in her skin folds. When the skin-fold filled, clumped fecal material just fell out into cow-patty-like piles.

Two problems needed to be addressed to treat Pez’s condition: she needed to lose weight and she needed a modified “tummy tuck.”
Pez’s skin had stretched out so much that weight loss would not alone correct the problem, so corrective surgery was scheduled. A large crescent-shaped flap of skin and underlying fat was excised to evert the pocket so it no longer could collect urine and feces. This amounted to a fairly radical tummy tuck according to standards in the human and animal world.

Fortunately for Pez, surgery was a complete success. Her mom was a wonderful nurse, giving Pez her post surgical pain medication, antibiotics, and keeping her incision line clean. Pez recovered completely from surgery. The fecal clumping and urine scalding were resolved. Now Pez is on a strict diet, being encouraged to exercise more, and is losing weight. Her mom has learned that even vegetarians need to watch their dietary caloric intake to maintain a waist line. Nibble like a bunny…yes just make sure it’s low calorie and it’s worked off.

[Sarita]

That’s interesting tobyluv….thanks for posting that.

[tobyluv]

You’re welcome, Sarita. I know that the situation is different in Norma’s case, since she has already lost weight, but she has evidently developed the skin folds and the pouch, so I thought this might be helpful.

[chefcv3]

 Thank you tobyluv, it was helpful.  I know I can continue this I don’t want Norma to be uncomfortable, that’s all.  Constantly cleaning out her flap is such a big task and I know the tummy tuck would probably work but I just can’t afford the operation.  I’m going to talk to the vet tonight to see if there is anything else I can do.

 

[chefcv3]

 I am going to try and give her a bowl for water and see how she is with it.

[tobyluv]

Most rabbits prefer a bowl instead of a water bottle. They can access the water so much easier, not only for drinking, but to get their lips extra wet and then moisten their paws to help with grooming their face and ears. Make sure that you use a heavy, crockery bowl so it won’t tip over. Since Norma is eating a lot of veggies, she is getting moisture from them, so it may be perfectly normal that she has decreased her water intake.

I’m sorry that you are going through this with Norma, which is stressful for both of you. I hope that the vet can come up with some other ideas to help her.

[KK]

Hi, I know this post is 4 years old but I’m hoping you still receive this. I have a bunny with what appears to be the same problem as Pez. I volunteer at the humane society and a rabbit came in last week with compacted feces. After cleaning it away, I noticed a pouch of skin or flap that hangs down over the genital area and seems to be collecting urine and feces. The humane society wants to euthanize the bun saying the surgery is too risking and not something they do for rabbits. My friend Carol and I (both volunteers) are trying to save poor Oreo. Can you please tell me who performed your buns surgery? The name of the animal hospital and vet? We are a few hours from Cornell University and we are thinking of taking Oreo there to see if they can do the surgery. Was the recovery difficult? What were the odds they gave you that the surgery would be successful? One concern we have with Oreo is that he is a boy and unfortunately this extra skin just above his genitlas also contains his testicles. I would think that makes the surgery much more difficult.

[Bam]

KK: Normally we ask members not to revive old threads, but in this case it’s easier to revive the thread than explain the whole matter over again, seeing that Tobyluv who write about the bunny Pez’s in 2012 is still a very active member.
So I’m leaving this thread open and everyone who wants to say anything can do it in this thread.
Thank you for caring about Oreo!

[tobyluv]

Hi KK. I can answer some of your questions, but not all of them. The surgery was performed by Dr. Sue Ann Hurlbert of Healthpointe Veterinary Clinic in Duncan, South Carolina. She is a wonderful, caring vet, and very rabbit savvy.

Since this was not my rabbit, I do not know how difficult the recovery was or if the vet gave any odds about the success of the surgery. I know that Pez recovered completely. I could email Pez’s Mama and ask her about it. Since it’s been more than 6 years, she may not remember all the details. By the way, Pez is a senior rabbit, 10 or more years old now. She does have some health problems (not related to her problem or the surgery), but she is still with us.

[KK]

Thank you so much. I will reach out to the vet for questions. Unfortunately I am on a deadline with the shelter to make a decision to adopt or they will euthanize the bun. If he can have a good quality of life, I will adopt him and have the surgery performed. Thanks again!

[Bam]

I wish you the best of luck with this. It’s wonderful that you’re trying to save him

[Author]

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