Ear infection + weight loss

[Slush]

Hi.

 

I have a 6 going on 7 y/o dutch female who is behaving like a healthy, active rabbit. Even the vets are confused. She had an ear infection, now treated and clear. One side of her mouth dropped somewhat, I thought due to the ear infection. She has history with spurs and so because she had some I was advised a dental so teeth have been taken care of.

However she is losing weight. Over the last week or so she has gone from 1.6kg to 0.96kg but she is eating, drinking, pooping, jumping around and running around otherwise behaving like a healthy happy bunny.

They have sent off bloods today but I am concerned there’s not much weight left for her to lose and I don’t know where to turn for advise as nobody and nowhere has a clue what even could be wrong  🙁

Thank you in advance

From Luna and her partner Slush

And myself

[Bam]

You should start to support feed her as soon as possible. Moderator Dana has used Emeraid recovery food for her buns in the past, it seems rabbits like that recovery formula. Critical Care (Oxbow) seems less popular with rabbits, but it’s a very good product and some buns will eat it from a plate if you mix it with something yummy, like canned pumpkin (plain, not pie filling). If your bun doesnt eat it voluntarily, you should syringe it to her.

This is just to try and stop the rapid weightloss and give her important nutrients. Since she’s lost so much so rapidly and she is a tiny rabbit, she badly needs extra food.

Have your vets condidered E cuniculi? EC can make buns lose weight rspidly, it can also have similar symptoms as an ear infection. A bun can have both an ear infection and EC, the ear infection can clear with antibiotics, but EC is treated with Panacur (fenbendazole).

Have you had blood tests and body x-rays? Sadly buns can get cancers. I had a young bun that got a big tumor in his abdomen.

How is her poop and pee?

 

 

[Slush]

Hi

Thank you so much for your response. I was giving her recovery food, it made no difference and I was advised to stop to ensure she keeps eating hay. We are giving her a more variety of foods to keep encouraging eating as well. We are waiting for blood results I believe EC is included in the tests.

Poop is fine, I’m seeing her drink and use the litter box but she has had two hospital stays to try and collect urine which they struggled with so I am guessing that’s not as good as it should be.

The vets words though “everything is functioning as it should”. There is nothing showing other than the weight loss 🙁 I can only hope the blood test comes back so we can get her back on track though

I don’t know about X-rays, I can’t recall but I think they did at least one while she was asleep to check her ears as they still bother her from the infection.

Luna, slush, and me 🙂

[triangulumlock]

Sounds like Luna is quite the trooper! It’s so puzzling when they’re losing weight despite acting all happy and healthy. You’ve done the right thing by getting her checked and sending off bloods.

Hopefully, those results will shed some light. In the meantime, maybe try giving her some extra nutritious treats to help with the weight? Fingers crossed for Luna, and big hugs to both her and Slush!

[Slush]

Thank you. We are spoiling her rotten with various treats and.such with our fingers crossed that something puts the weight on. It’s just so hard knowing we could also be triggering gut stasis with all the different goodies. Bunnies are so complex.

We have everything crossed with the bloods though and I will update here as soon as I find anything out

[DanaNM]

I would probably opt to reduce the treats and do the supplemental feeding instead. Emeraid is very good at helping poorly rabbits maintain their weight and is nutritionally balanced and not going to trigger stasis, unlike treats. The treats could also be causing her to eat less hay.

. . . 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.  

[Bam]

It is important that a rabbit eats hay, but are your vet aware of this with this very rapid weightloss? She’s almost lost half her weigth?

Some buns benefit from a bit of alfalfa hay mixed in with the grass hay. Alfalfa is richer in protein. The downside is that it aldo contsins a lot of calcium, which would not be good if there’s a urinary tract problem like sludge. Have you seen her straining to pee? Does she drip pee or pee in unusual places? Ec can affect kidneys, causing scarring.

EC will typically not be seen in a normal blood panel, its a specific test. In a blood panel you’ll see things like red and white blood counts, platelets, blood calcium, immunoglobulines, liver enzymes, kidney creatinine, blood sugar. It gives an overview of the buns health status, but it doesnt test for specific diseases. The test can show if there is an ongoing infection, but not which one.

(Sorry for the late reply, I thought I replied yesterday but my post didnt go through).

[triangulumlock]

Just keep a close watch on her and maybe focus on high-fiber treats to keep her digestive system happy. Hopefully, the blood results will give some clarity soon. Hang in there, and definitely keep us posted on any updates.

[Slush]

Clarification on the treats – the treats are tastiest that hold different values of foraging stuff, she still has MORE hay but we just want to keep encouraging the eating as much as we can.

The reason we were on board with stopping the recovery food is it wasn’t making a difference. She was having that alongside the hay and it did nothing for her she was having two sachet’s a day and how much hay she eats hasn’t decreased. If anything she is eating more hay than she used to.

 

Thank you yes we are watching and observing and looking for any behaviour or quirky changes I think it’s just fingers crossed and wait for now

I appreciate all of the responses and will definitely update when we know more

 

Luna, Slush and me

[Slush]

Update: we have seen a second vet who was just as baffled by Luna’s condition and recommended we make an appointment with a specialist, which we did.

Unfortunately it’s taken some time for him to receive her history and so was unable to do much today but given her age and what he can see, he is thinking kidney failure and asked for a urine sample which we will try to provide. We are also still waiting for blood results but he said that for EC  you need several blood samples as 95% of UK house rabbits have it and there can be a lot of false positives, this can also cause kidney damage and so there are a lot of things to consider but first stop. Pee sample …and yes, she’s lost MORE weight

[LBJ10]

Yes, EC can damage the kidneys. And the test for EC is notoriously unreliable. Most bunnies have been exposed to EC at some point in their life. The presence of EC in their blood doesn’t necessarily mean that is what is causing the problem. Vets generally treat based on suspicion (at least in the US they do). Incontinence and weight loss are symptoms of EC. If it were me, I would start the treatment now (instead of waiting for the test) since it is a slow acting drug and it takes time to see improvement.

[Slush]

Sorry everyone I had trouble logging in, I have been dying to update you on little Luna!

All the tests were showing normal and negative for everything and up until I last spoke to my vet we were waiting on blood results – I have sent those to him since but he hasn’t been in touch but when I spoke to him I asked about EC treatment as a jic and he set me up… I have booked an appointment with him for a check up tomorrow for confirmation but my little girl is feeling heavier (she’s still quite bony on top) and she is more herself than I have seen in a month!!

She’s drinking more again, she’s not following me around as much, she’s not as clingy, she’s not passive with me anymore, her face is clearing up (she had a touch of dermatitis making it look like it was a mouth issue, drooling so much she couldn’t keep up with cleaning), she bit me! She runs away from me. My little girl is back. And it’s been 3/4 days of EC treatment ..I think we found the culprit.

She was so small the vet had to prescribe a puppy/kitten dosage as the normal bun dosage is for over 2kg. She was 0.86. I’m hoping she’s at least back to 1kg tomorrow when she gets weighed ..fingers crossed!

 

Thank you to everyone for your responses and advise ..I will let you know how much she weighs tomorrow 🙂

[Slush]

On the mend!

She weighs 1.13kg (she was 0.86) 🥰

Been advised to give pellets for protein to help build her back up and monitor her weight but her behaviour is normal and she’s functioning normally and we have even had a couple of flops. It’s nice to see her laying down properly and actually chilling out, she deserves it

 

Thank you again 🙂

[LBJ10]

That’ wonderful! Thank you for the update! It sounds like she is on the mend now.

[Author]

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