Enlarged heart, murmur, and fluid in lungs

[Southern]

Hello all,

So we got Teddy probably two months ago from my brother’s ex-gf who could no longer take care of him. He’s a little over a year now. We noticed he had been breathing weird recently. Very loud, almost wheezy sounding breaths at times. Not all the time, though. Other than his breathing, he appeared to be a happy, healthy boy. No issues with his eating or drinking. He’s such a gentle, sweet boy and he has been such as joy to us.

 We took him to his vet probably two weeks ago, and he assumed it was pastuerella and placed him on Baytril for two weeks so see if there’s any improvement. After the few weeks were up, we really didn’t notice any difference. Fast forward to a few days ago, his vet decided to take an x-ray and revealed to us that Teddy has an enlarged heart, a heart murmur, and fluid in his lungs   the vet said that heart disease is particularly rare in bunnies; he was probably born with it and essentially chalked it up to bad luck. He also claimed that there probably wasn’t much we could do other than make him comfortable until he goes. He said eventually he would get to a point where he is gasping for air and we’ll have to put him down   he said it could be anywhere from weeks to months. Needless to say, we were devastated. He did mention that we could probably go see a specialist in Houston (we live in South Texas, Corpus Christi to be exact) but we’re probably looking at around $5,000 if they were to perform any procedure. He also added, that if it were his bunny, he wouldn’t choose to put him through the stress of open heart surgery. This hurts me to say, but between his vet trips, xrays, medications, and our other bunny’s two bouts of stasis recently, we just can’t afford that. He placed him on a diuretic (to hopefully get rid of some of the fluid in his lungs) and asked us to continue to Baytril. 

Does anyone have any experience with heart disease in their bunny? We are just completely shocked. He’s been acting perfectly fine besides the breathing. We can’t bear the thought of having to put him down. Ever  We just don’t know what to do.

Thanks everyone,

Southern

[Mikey]

Make an appointment with the specialist and get advice. You dont need to agree to any procedures the day they are mentioned if you dont feel comfortable. You can wait a few days to talk to family, check out your financial situation, ect before telling the specialist if youd like to act on any procedures recommended or not.

Opinion: If it does get to the point your rabbit is gasping for air, cannot breathe, and is in a ton of pain: put him down. Putting them to sleep lets them pass in peace without any pain. Watching him gasp for air for the last few hours/days of his life because he cant breathe but you dont want to put him down would be horribly inhumane.

[Bam]

Diuretics is what you use to treat this condition with, in humans as well as buns. It drives out excess fluids and helps the heart work. This is sth that as a rule happens to old people, not youngsters like your bun. The frequency of congenital heart disease in rabbits is largely unknown, because most rabbits are never necropsied. It’s sadly not very uncommon for rabbits to pass unexpectedly at a young age. In many, many such cases, congenital heart defects are suspected, but never confirmed through necropsy.

I’m reallly sorry that he has a weak heart, but it’s good you found out though so you can give him medicine and provide him with what relief there is to be had. He’s very lucky to have found humans who love him. I think it sounds wise to keep him on Baytril, because with his condition, he’s vulnerable to respiratory infections.

I don’t know if anybody here has/ has had a bun with a known heart condition, but we can bump the thread over the next couple of days to enable it to be seen by as many people as possible. Maybe there are people that have some tips or suggestions for you.

[jerseygirl]

You’ve obviously bonded quite a bit with this little one. I’m sorry you are facing this diagnoses.
I do remember one of our member here whos bunny had congestive heart failure and medicating did improve things and give him some more time.
Here is the thread about him: https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&aft=121293
They are not very active on the forums these days but I don’t think they would mind if you sent a private message.

Would there be a less invasive procedure where they can remove some of the fluid? As bam mentioned, being on a diurectic would help with that too. Im surprised then vet only prescribed baytril. Maybe get a copy of the xrays and seek a second opinion?

Sending {{{vibes}}} for Teddy. Hopefully you can get him more comfortable.

[jerseygirl]

This is from House Rabbit Society. It would be worth a read: Cardiac Disease in Rabbits

[Southern]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

@Mikey, of course if/when he ever got to the point where he’s gasping for air/suffocating, we’d most certainly do the right thing and put him down. We don’t want him suffering any further. I was just simply expressing it would be tough. We have a follow up appointment with his vet this week to take another xray and see if he’s lost some of the fluid from the medication, and we’ll explore our options with the specialist.

@bam, thank you so much for the information. Yes, we love him so so much and we’re doing all we can to make him feel as loved and comfortable as possible. We’ve also been spending as much time with him as we can. He seems to urinating much more frequently; I’m assuming that’s from the diuretic? All in all, he seems to be okay. Still eating plenty of hay, loving his veggies, and drinking plenty. We have noticed, however, that he does tire pretty quickly

@jerseygirl, thank you very much! I will take a look at the thread ASAP and shoot them a message as well. And thank you for the article, I’m about to check it out. As I stated above, we’re meeting with his vet again this week for a check up and we’ll explore all of our options. So far he’s on Furosemide 2x a day, and Baytril 2x a day. Is there another medication you’d suggest we inquire about?

Thanks again, everyone. We will keep you all posted.

Sorry for the lopsided pics, not too sure what happened. Here’s our boy Teddy:

 

[Bam]

What a beautiful boy!
The diuretic will make him pee more. That’s how it’s supposed to work, so that’s good.

The article Jersey links to mentions ACE-inhibitors, a blood pressure lowering type of medicine. It seems tricky to give that to rabbits though, because of the GI side effects. This is sth for you and your vet to discuss.

[jerseygirl]

Adorable!!! I love agouti rabbits. He looks like my boy, Rumball.

The tiring quickly could be due to his laboured breathing, so his getting some extra oxygen might help. See if the clinic has take home options with that or if bringing him in to be put on oxygen when he’s really struggling is something they do.
After surgeries, animals are often put in an oxygen tent to help in their recovery.

[Author]

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