Help!! Sick Tofu

[Irina]

Hello all. Please help if you can. I woke up this morning to find Tofu (almost 5 month old male, neutered 6 weeks ago) very lethargic. He won’t walk and barely moves. He will not eat or drink. I can pick him up, flip him over and do anything I like to him without protest- and I mean NO PROTEST! He is like a rag doll- but will put his legs back in place if I stretch him out a lot. I have palpated him all over, but he doesn’t react, is not tender anywhere, doesn’t seem to be in pain. While on the carrier in the car, he dido e himself from
Facing frontwards to facing backwards. I have him at the vet now- unfortunately my vet (the ONLY rabbit savvy vet within a 4 hour drive) is on vacation. The vet that is seeing him has no idea what is wrong with him. He was perfectly fine yesterday- eating, drinking, flopping and binkying! Because of the sudden onset, I thought if injury, so have requested an X-ray which was just done and I am told is normal (bones and belly too). The vet says his temperature is normal, his heart and lungs seem fine. I have no idea what to do! I am so worried and she doesn’t know what is wrong with him. She is going to call my vet and see if he has any ideas… Tofu is just so sad looking- he is like a rag bunny on my lap- not movingly anything. I have given him some Oxbow critical care and water via syringe. Please- if anyone has any experience with any if this- please reply ASAP. Any information may help. I don’t want to watch him die not being able to do anything.

[bpash89]

That sounds horrible. I don’t have any idea what could be wrong really, but can you have the vet call around and find another rabbit savvy vet in the area who might be able to give ideas of what is wrong? Even if it’s just over the phone, maybe another vet will have an idea of where to start looking for the source of the problem.

[tanlover14]

Have you given him any simethicone? Did the vet give you any pain meds?

I wonder if he is in stasis. My bun became very lethargic and I could literally flip him over, hold him, ect. when usually he bites and kicks just from being held. If he has some tummy problems, simethicone and some metacam can do wonders. Did the vet give you any Reglan? Reglan helps stimulate the appetite if he’s not eating. Have you seen poops? Are they smaller than usual?

[Irina]

Thank you. She has gotten in contact with 2 vets who deal with rabbits. They do not have any other suggestions. They will be giving us Metacam and Baytril as empiric treatments. He received some subcutaneous fluid. They do not have any simethicone, and apparently the other vets said Reglan is not indicated now. We have no idea what is wrong with him. We are just trying what we can. I am very upset but don’t know what else to do. I also have to separate Tofu from his newly bonded Butterscotch (In order to watch his bowel and urine output) which I don’t want to do but have to. Any other ideas? Please?

[Irina]

Tofu just died.

[tanlover14]

Oh my god, Irina. I am SO sorry for your loss.

Please do keep an eye on Butterscotch though (even though I know how tough it can be for you right now). A few reasons: since she is bonded she MAY go into depression from being lonely (hopefully being a newly bonded bunny this won’t happen) AND because you don’t want whatever happened to Tofu to happen to her. Not to scare you at all, just keep an eye on her for a few days.

Binky Free, Tofu <3

[Irina]

TL- thank you so much. As I have said I am heartbroken, and shocked. I have been reading about loss if a bonded mate and know Butterscotch may have a really hard time. We are giving him extra attention and he has two stuffies to cuddle with.

As for him getting whatever Tofu had, I am almost sick over it with worry. I have disinfected everything that can be, and thrown out everything else. I have done everything in my power to stop his exposure to whatever it was. Unfortunately, they have been housed together for over two weeks, and were together until three hours before Tofu died. I am afraid that if he died if something infectious/contagious- it may be too late. I am keeping a close eye on him- so far he is himself. But Tofu was great until a few hours before he died… So there aren’t even any signs to look out for. It us very stressful… Thanks for the well wishes. I will post progress… Thx.

[Roberta]

It sounds like Floppy Bunny, which can be sudden onset… I am so sorry for your loss.
Binky Free Tofu.

[Irina]

What is floppy bunny? Is it contagious? I have two other bunnies on close contact? I will do a search for it but could you please give me more information? Thank you so much. My whole family is very upset.

[Roberta]

Floppy Rabbit (Bunny) Syndrome… There does not seem to be a definite consensus on the cause but there are two likely culprits..
One being a vitamin E deficiency and the other an intestinal parasite EC… No one seems to be 100% sure…
The treatment appears to be Vitamin E supplements and fluids.
Hopefully someone else here might have more knowledge, I could not find any information on whether it was contagious or not. It is all very much assumptions and conjecture..

[Irina]

Thanks Roberta. I found similar information on line. I will talk to my vet about it. I will ask if I should supplement my other two with Vitamin E- all three were siblings. I appreciate the information- I was very uncomfortable having absolutely no idea what could have killed him so fast. At least it is a start. Will likely never know for sure. Thx.

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