Rabbit with excessive water consumption/ Weight loss

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 9sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 4 months ago by Hantero.

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- 06/01/2020 at 10:32 AM
  Hantero
  Participant
  5 posts
  Hello everyone, this is my first official post. I often read the forum for information or just entertainment, but never posted before.
  
  I wanted to ask for advice, since I’m a bit desperate with the matter. I have a male mini lion lop which is 5 years old now, he is not neutered, he hasn’t had many major problems in the past except for maybe two episodes of GI stasis in two different years, we believe it may have been due to hair accumulation in the stomach, as it was in the same period of the year.
  
  Lately he has been losing weight and has started to drink and pee a lot, which is becoming a problem for his cleanliness. He has always weighed about 3.53lb, and now he is at 2.86lb. Also we notice in the past month that he has a case of alopecia, the hair on his back is falling off. We are already following the case with our vet, she is a specialist in exotic animals. We took samples of blood and urine twice in the past few months, in the first analysis his glucose levels were a bit low, and we suspected it could have been due to diabetes (which is rare in rabbits) so we took a second sample around two weeks ago, and all levels came back as normal. His kidney function seems to be ok aswell, as nothing came back from the blood tests. He hasn’t had any significant changes in his behaviour, he is still quite active, specially during night time, his apetite seems to be normal, and we have also tried different types of hay to see if the greeness of the hay could have had an effect. All the hay that we feed him is very good quality, and he has a normal diet, pellets in the morning, hay all day, and greens in the afternoon, but no matter what, he keeps losing weight.
  
  About a week ago we did an ultrasound scan on him to see if there was any evidence of tumours or anything abnormal. We didn’t discover anything notorius, and it is also quite difficult to see much with this technique in rabbits, but we didn’t see any signs of tumours, which is a relief, but left us with no answer yet…
  
  Right now we are giving him a Panacur treatment for 25 days, to see if it has any effect, he is on his 10th day now. The vet said that if he has E.cuniculi he would respond well to the treatment, but we can also test him for that in the future. He doesn’t have many symptoms that correspond with that anyway, only thing I’ve noticed is a small loss of balance, but it may be because of the weight loss.
  
  Any help will be much appreciated, and sorry for the long post, I wanted to cover all I could.
- 06/01/2020 at 1:42 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17014 posts
  I’m so sorry you are going through this. I have a bun that had trouble keeping weight on due to a serious dental problem. It didnt cause him to lose his appetite until it became acute. Have you had his molars checked? It’s not something you can do yourself, due to the anatomy of the rabbit oral cavity, a vet needs to look with an otoscope. Skull x-rays can show if there are “dead” teeth or inflamed and/or very long tooth roots. I doubt that is what’s wrong with your bun, but tooth problems can definitely cause a bun to eat less than he needs. How is his poop?
  
  Untreated diabetes mellitus would never cause low blood sugar, but wasting and excessive drinking and peeing are of course the cardinal signs of diabetes. Did you do a full CBC? (Red and white blood count, platelets, immunoglobulines, liver and kidney function etc)?
  
  E c can absolutely manifest with kidney and GI-symptoms. It’s best known as a neuro disease, and when it manifests as hind end paralysis or head tilt it is sometimes referred to as a “bunny stroke”, but it can actually affect all organs with high blood flow, I e heart, kidneys and intestines. Treatment is as a rule very slow to take effect, long courses of panacur (4-6 weeks) are often needed before you see significant improvement. The bun often needs repeat treatment every year or so. In combination with panacur, metacam (an NSAID) is often prescribed, because it helps bring down the tissue inflammation that the ec causes.
- 06/01/2020 at 8:29 PM
  Hantero
  Participant
  5 posts
  Thank you very much for your response, it definitely provides me with some more solutions I can present to my vet.
  
  He has been eating the same amount of hay I believe. Lately he likes the stems more than anything else, teeth don’t seem to bother him but anyway, I would like to get him x-rayed next time so we can check for any molar issues, just to get that out of the picture at least. His poop is usually ok, in the morning when he is in a more relaxed state, it is smaller, (sometimes I get worried about this because of the amount of hair that this breed has) but as soon as he gets active again they are good in size and consistency. Usually they are quite black, which tells me that the hay is quite humid and not dry.
  
  I want to get him a full CBC next time, in his last one we checked him for glucose, proteins, BUN, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase and AST. All of them came back normal, but just to be sure I want to check everything else.
  
  His current treatment is only fendebanzole as we don’t exactly have Panacur here in Spain, though it’s pretty much the same. I would definitely like to know if we need to add metacam to his treatment. E.cuniculi seems to be a plausible cause, but he doesn’t have any head tilting and his eyes seem to be ok. Another thing I didn’t mention is that he does a strange thing with his back legs as he starts running sometimes. He sort of extends them as he is starting to run, and then he just runs normal. Before I though it may have been due to feeling of discomfort for having his paws dirty (he gets them from urinating constantly), but I’m not so sure now.
  
  Thanks again for your answer, it is most appreciated.
- 06/01/2020 at 9:18 PM
  Wick & Fable
  Moderator
  5827 posts
  I’m sorry to read about everything you and your rabbit are going through. It is clear you care so much and are not hesitant in taking action to figure out how to help him. I can’t offer knowledge from experience with the medical conditions you describe specifically, but in terms of working with a rabbit mystery, I can relate.
  
  I have found it helpful to occasionally step back and consider symptoms and signs in isolation. Sometimes I got overwhelmed by thinking about everything at once, considering timing, context, environment, etc. and that can restrict what are potential options. It’s something I definitely did not intend, but I know sometimes I would accidentally over-complicate things in my mind and it would make me very stressed. Posting here can be a great sounding board and keeping open communication with your vet as well.
  
  Lastly — one day at a time! I’m sure you’re constantly thinking about quality of life weeks and months from now, but it can sometimes be relieving to stay in the moment as well 🙂
  
  Best wishes to you and your rabbit!!
  
  The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 06/02/2020 at 6:55 AM
  Hantero
  Participant
  5 posts
  Thank you very much for your message. He definitely means a lot to me, so I’m trying to figure out what’s going on no matter what.
  
  What you’ve said is true, it happens to me specially during night time, I start to get overwhelmed by the situation and I don’t think clear. Hopefully something will come up that will solve things a bit, I just want to do everything that is in my hands to do.
  
  In the meantime I should enjoy the time spent with him.
  
  Thanks again 🙂
- 06/02/2020 at 3:32 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17172 posts
  A member on the forum had an EC bunny with urinary symptoms only. It is not the usual manifestation of an EC infection, but it certainly does happen. It all depends on where those lesions form. Sometimes they form on the kidneys.
- 06/03/2020 at 3:23 AM
  Hantero
  Participant
  5 posts
  To be honest with you, at this point I will definitely prefer an EC infection rather than any other thing, at least he is already following the treatment and with the given time, he might improve. Anyway, tomorrow I have an appointment with the vet and I will probably discuss to do a pcr test to find out if he has it, just to be certain that we are not going in the wrong direction.
  
  Thanks for your answer.
- 06/03/2020 at 5:35 AM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  Is the fur on his back thinning all over, or complete bald patches? Any specific areas? Does the fur grow back at all?
  
  Did they check testicular tissue with ultrasound also?
  
  Ultrasound can be limited in how much they can see, but it’s a start. I wonder if he has changed in adrenal glands. Some of the symptoms sound similar to Addison’s disease in other animals but I do not know how that presents in rabbits.
  
  Perhaps some hormone tests could help find out more about the what’s going on.
- 06/03/2020 at 7:05 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17014 posts
  Here is a links to info about Addison’s and Cushings in pets. Both conditions are due to malfunctioning of the adrenal glands:
  
  https://cedarcrestvets.com/topics/diagnosis/adrenal-disease/
- 06/03/2020 at 7:44 AM
  Hantero
  Participant
  5 posts
  The fur is thinning specially in the back. He doesn’t have bald patches, but the hair does not seem to be growing back at all.
  
  I asked the technician who did the ultrasound and he said it is difficult to check the testicles, I might ask the veterinarian on our next appointment about that.
  
  I will definitely mention about Addison’s and Cushings, she has mentioned in the past that it could be something hormonal, so maybe we can check for that, perhaps with a full CBC?
  
  Thanks very much for the ideas guys, it’s really helping us out. All that you said it is worth checking at the vets, and is giving us a bit more hope.
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