Kidney failure/ diabetes

[Boing]

Does anyone have any experience with this?  Cincinnati and Daisy went to their annual check up today.  Daisy is in excellent health.  Cincinnati’s teeth are in excellent shape, but the vet is concerned about the rest of him.  His weight history shows a marked decline.  He doesn’t have parasites.  They took care of that in March.  He has always drunk about a half litre or more a day and urinated a lot (since I got him – three years ago).  However, the vet says that he is concerned, because of the weight loss and lethargy (new symptoms).  He said he can feel his bones in places he shouldn’t be able to.  

I’m to bring him over a month, so they can track his weight, and then they’re going to do blood work.  Meanwhile I’m supposed to dramatically up his pellets and veggies to see if that helps.  He gets the same diet Daisy does only twice as much, because he used to be twice as big.  The vet has already ruled out a UTI.  No one knows his real age, but he seems young for this.  

[BunnyFriends]

No… only weight loss! (Ahem… chubby rabbit over there, that means you.)

I don’t really know what to say, except this – Good luck and get better soon, Cincinnati. Also, if they’re bonded, make sure Daisy isn’t stealing some food from Cincinnati. I know this isn’t the main problem but it could be there still.

[Bam]

I don’t know if it’s the same with buns as with humans, but people with untreated diabetes that’s causing them to waste have acetone-breath from the ketones in their blood. It can be very marked.

I know we have had bunnies here with kidney issues. I hope someone with experience sees this.

Btw, did he have parasites in March? Do you know what kind? There is one type that can hurt the kidneys, e cuniculi. It’s treated with a dewormer (Panacur). Is that sth you recognize at all?

[Boing]

@BunnyFriends. Thank you. They live amicably, but don’t share pellets or treats. They get those separately. Water and hay are all you can eat so it isn’t Daisy.

@Bam. I will try to get him to come near my face and see about that. Yes, he had hook worms in March. So did Daisy. No idea where they came from. They were given fenbendazole. I think it’s another name for panacur. After the round of treatment their stool was tested again and both were negative for all parasites.

[Bam]

Hookworm eggs can be in the soil where vegs grow, then they hitch hike into the house on the veggies. It’s not something you can completely prevent by rinsing veggies. I’m glad he was treated. Fenbendazole is the name of the active substance in Panacur. For e cuniculi you treat with fenbendazole for 28 days, ie much longer than for any type of worms. e cuniculi is not a worm, its a much smaller organism and it is known to cause damage to the kidneys.

Kidney function is evaluated through a creatinine blood test. Diabetes is very rare in rabbits. Kidney problems are far more common.

[Boing]

Hmmm… The hook worms sound unavoidable. That makes me feel better.

I have booked him in for blood work tomorrow. The uncertainty is unhelpful and stressful. I really need to know.

[Bam]

It really is awful not to know. It makes one feel so powerless.

Kidney issues can to an extent be managed with the proper diet, ie a diet very low in calcium. You can add natural diuretics like dandelion to his diet. Even parsley can be given now and then, while it’s not low in calcium, it is a diuretic and that helps the kidneys.

[Boing]

Thanks for the reply, Bam.

The vet called. His kidneys are fine. His liver is not. He apparently has too much Alanine Aminotransferase in his blood. It’s mainly from the liver and is apparently released into the blood in excessive quantities when the liver is distressed. The vet suspects that some parasite may have left his intestines and lodged in his liver. Sounds awful, but is apparently not uncommon. They are going to do cyclical fecal samples. They apparently only breed in the intestines so you need to ‘catch’ them before they leave.

If it’s not that they are going to look into dietary causes, like allergies.

But the good news is that he is not imminently headed for the Rainbow Bridge! Though he may be in for more vet visits. He’s started thumping at me when he’s in his carrier.

[Bam]

So glad about the Rainbow Bridge
You seem to have a good vet. Parasites can lodge in the liver of cattle, so it makes sense it could happen to buns too.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Oh yes that’s good news Boing – well sort of – I mean there’s nothing worse than knowing something is wrong but noone finding out exactly what.
As bam says – sounds like you have a good vet there…

[Boing]

Thank you, Bam and Vienna Blue. I’d never heard of any parasites being anywhere but the digestive tract, apart from heart worms. So this was a bit shocking. I’ve been reading and it seems likely that it’s either liver flukes or coccidiosis if it is a parasite. I hope not though, as they sound really bad.

[Author]

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