struggling with arthritis

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This topic has 5sd replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 3 months ago by mrs. coach.

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- 01/22/2015 at 2:28 PM
  mrs. coach
  Participant
  52 posts
  I’m struggling with Mrs. Coach’s arthritis right now. She has been maintaining well with a very small dose of metacam and joint health tabs, and had been back to her old self for nearly a year. I added the “old bones mix” to her diet in December and saw her get even more active — almost to the level when we first had her.
  
  She sees the vet regularly…last visit the vet told us she must be a lot older than we had thought (she was rescued from a shelter) because her arthritis is advanced. However, the vet noticed much healthier extension in her back legs.
  
  But for the past few days she’s hardly moved. She comes out for pellets and salad, but not always immediately like she used to. She’s been spending most of her time in her litterbox or in her “condo” area (she has free range of our den). I’ve noticed she’s had more trouble grooming herself and she seems to be leaning (her spine area has always been off ever since we got her) to the side more than usual. And she is not putting a ton of weight on one of her back feet. This has always been a problem, but it seems more pronounced lately. She is still excited about treats, tooth purrs for pets, and occasionally flops (in the litterbox). This happened last year around this time and gradually went away, but I was hoping since she has her regular med regimen now she would do better this winter.
  
  Do you think this is just a winter thing? I don’t want to push her to move too much but at the same time, the less she moves, the worse it is for her joints. I don’t know if this is something to ride out or a sign that her condition is progressing. I know with arthritis it’s mostly about pain management and keeping them as active as possible. I hate to ask this, but are there signs that would indicate that the arthritis is impacting her quality of life so much that we should consider putting her to sleep? I love her and don’t want her to have a low quality of life. She just seems “down” right now. FWIW, she is just finishing a big shed, which also does impact her mood…
  
  Any support/thoughts would be appreciated.
- 01/22/2015 at 2:39 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  It definitely could be a winter thing. Have you tried laser therapy to see if that can help give her some relief?
  
  Arthritis certainly can worsen with age too.
  
  I will tell you my experience with arthritis in aging rabbits and I’ve had a few….quality of life is definitely a consideration, however I wouldn’t let a few bad days be a consideration – if it continues to worsen and none of the pain medications help, then it’s time to have a talk with the vet. I have found that vet’s will be very objective in giving you advice on how they feel that your rabbit’s condition is improving or not and whether it’s time to consider making that decision.
  
  I know with my rabbit Maxine, we tried laser therapy and it helped considerably the first go round of treatments and then the second round not so much. We tried accupuncture but that was not helpful and of course all the pain meds out there. Her back legs started to atrophy and in the end she was basically just scooting around (and she was a very large New Zealand White Rabbit) – that’s when I knew it was time for her to be put out of her misery and it was after some discussions with my vet.
- 01/22/2015 at 2:44 PM
  mrs. coach
  Participant
  52 posts
  Thanks, Sarita! I know I shouldn’t get stressed by just a few bad days.
  I like and trust my vet and at her last visit in November things looked good; I know if it looked otherwise we would be able to talk about it. My vet practice does do laser therapy (but it has not been recommended for her as of yet), so I can definitely ask about it. Do you have any idea of the frequency or cost?
- 01/22/2015 at 2:53 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  I believe the frequency at least when Maxine had it done (which was probably over 5 years ago) was a total of 6 treatments – 3 the first week, 2 the second week, and 1 the last week…it was a new treatment though with my vet at the time and pretty much an experiment for the vet at the time so that may not be the case with your vet especially if they have more experience with this procedure. I cannot remember the cost but they gave me a deal to be able to try it out on different animals in the clinic…best to just inquire at your vet because I find that costs vary greatly for vet care from place to place – heck even in the city I live in. Definitely discuss it with them though and see what success they have had with it.
- 01/23/2015 at 4:41 PM
  mrs. coach
  Participant
  52 posts
  I ended up making a vet appt for tonight…it’s with a different vet at our practice, but she also specializes in rabbits so hopefully we’re good. Mrs. Coach flopped out in her litterbox today (a good sign!), but then couldn’t get back up without thrashing for awhile (I finally steadied her back). I’ve never seen that before and it really worried me, but of course now she seems fine again (she just hopped out of her box when I got home and ran to get pellets, and took a few steps out of her enclosure area for the first time in a few days)…hard to figure out what’s going on. Hopefully the vet can help.
- 01/24/2015 at 4:18 PM
  mrs. coach
  Participant
  52 posts
  Just as a clarification update — Mrs. Coach had an ear infection, which was likely what was messing with her balance the past few days. So she’s on oral and eardrop Baytril in addition to her Metacam. Her arthritis is still progressing, but the vet and tech were confident her mind is still working well and she’s still happy. I’m making her enclosure area a bit more cushy to improve comfort since she’s spending more time there now. Hopefully once the ear infection clears up she gets moving a bit more.
  
  If anyone is going through anything similar — the vet was actually happy that I brought up quality of life issues, as she says owners don’t often do so. Right now doesn’t seem to be the time to have the discussion, as we need to see where things go after the ear infection, and she still seems relatively spunky. They estimated her age at around 7, so we’ll see where we go from here. I had a comforting thought yesterday, which is that she would have developed this arthritis whether I was her bunny parent or not, and I’m glad she’s with us through it because we are taking care of her the best we can (let’s be honest, she’s spoiled ).
  
  The vet didn’t think they offered laser therapy for rabbits, but I will follow up again when we see our regular vet next time since she is also the practice owner.
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