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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Rabbit’s dying?

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    • Crumplit
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        Initially I thought my bun ate one too many pellets instead of hay. Went to the vet, got two injections and the next day she’s still not eating. Now apparently x-ray scan revealed there’s no blockage and one of her kidney is twice the size to the other one.

        You think it might be a kidney failure from all the kale she eats? I feed a handful of kale roughly twice a week.

        Update: Saw the x-ray scan myself and one kidney was huge, no white spots indicating kidney stones. The vet said it could be a kidney failure of some sort, perhaps an infection, or a tumour at worst.

         

        My bun was given metoclopramide injection, baytril 5% injection and a Vetark Critical Care Formula (no fibre in it!) yesterday and it’s done nothing.

        Today she’s was given panacur 5g, baytril 2.5% oral, emeprid 5mg injection, fed Oxbow Critical Care, and had fluid therapy. Aside from the x-ray she’s had her blood sample taken which showed signs of urine/kidney problems.

        Got to bring her back for more fluid therapy for several more days before another blood sample examined to see if the results are back to normal.If not I’d have to consider ultrasound to check if it’s cancer etc but that’s going to have to wait since I can’t afford to spend more than I already have.

        I brought my bun home and she was practically splattering all over the place, having difficulty hopping on wooden floor which she normally has no problem. She’s able to hop on carpet. I think it’s because blood was taken from her leg so she’s weak?

        I spent 1hr 30 min commuting today with my bun. Can’t feel my arms anymore. Need to do this another couple of days for the fluid therapy… and maxed out my credit card to pay the bills. The only good part of today is the veterinary nurse is smoking hot lol. And poor bun.


      • Bam
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          I don’t think the kale is to blame. many rabbits eat kale every day, all their lives. A handful isn’t that much. Did the vets see any kidney stones? Have you seen bladder sludge?

          Here is some info about hydronephrosis, which is when one or both kidneys are enlarged: http://www.vetstream.com/treat/lapis/freeform/kidney-hydronephrosis

          As you can see in the article above, this is not necessarily a death sentence, it all depends on the cause of the enlargement. It can be caused by something serious, or it can be caused by something treatable.

          We’d be very happy for updates.


        • Crumplit
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            After several days of intravenous fluid therapy the next blood sample test had much better values, last time her creatinine was insanely high and now it’s gone down to 2.5 times above normal value which is still bad.

            She’s still not eating, had to be syringe fed and managed to poop a bit. I think it’s likely to be urolithiasis which I can see the only solutions are aggressive intravenous fluid therapy or surgically removing calculi from the kidney and that carries a high risk of complications.

            Waiting for the ultrasound scan. I was told it’s unlikely to help without a renal biopsy and I’m not sure if I want to carry on paying for the intravenous fluid therapy and hope it works, or opt for surgery to try removing calculi or the bad kidney altogether. Does a bad kidney even need to be removed in case it infects the other?


          • Bam
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              If its calculi, it wont be “contagious” to the other kidney . I found testimony of a person feeding their rabbit a special diet to save a bun’s kidney. It is on Medirabbit, which is a trusted source: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/Stone_reduction/Stone_red.htm

              Even rather big (pea-sized) uroliths can make their way out via the urethra , so fluid therapy can help.


            • Crumplit
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                After a couple more days of the fluid therapy my rabbit is still needing syringe fed Oxbow critical care. The ultrasound results were not good, calculi completely destroyed one kidney and the nurse said based on the blood results and my rabbit still not eating, removing one kidney via surgery is likely going to kill my rabbit.

                I can pay to have that remaining kidney tested to see if it’s working decently, but if it is my rabbit wouldn’t refuse to eat. I’ve brought her home, she’s ate a small amount of fresh hay and keeps trying to eat cardboard. She’s refused pellets, willing to eat a small amount of romaine lettuce and just really wants to eat the cardboard. I think she’s terrified of the pellets after getting ill and wants the cardboard for the fibre? The hay I use is fresh ing from hay for pets, not the hay you get from supermarkets.

                I frankly cannot afford for the surgery, and even if I can I doubt it’s going to work, my rabbit will either die on the operating table or die from the remaining kidney if it’s not good enough. I’m about £1k in credit card debt, the surgery will cost about £1.5k and more if I opt for a specialist in a vet hospital.

                Should I just see if force feeding my rabbit critical care every day, letting her eat a small amount of romaine lettuce and hay, and using the fluid therapy several days each month a good plan to keep her alive for her remaining couple of years? I can afford the fluid therapy perhaps 1-2 times a month unless I relocate to a cheaper place, but I currently live in a place that’s large and picked it because of how much room there is for my rabbit to free range. Without my rabbit I would’ve rented somewhere £400-500 a month cheaper.

                I don’t want to give up on my rabbit just because of money, but I obviously don’t want to bankrupt myself or borrow so much money I have to give up on saving up for further education. Won’t go asking my employer for an advance, that’s one way ticket to getting sacked or cutting myself of any future promotion chances.

                Urg… think I sprained my shoulder and wrist carrying my rabbit back and forth the vets.

                Just gave her some romaine lettuce, she only went for the one without Oxbow critical care sprinkled in it. I folded both romaine lettuce leafs and although she can’t see the critical care, she can smell it and avoided bite the leaf I snuck the critical care in.


              • Kiki
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                  I have a little experience with something sort of similar. My kitty had kidney disease for the last 2.5 years of her life. I gave her sub q injections every other day. She HATED them, but she did thrive for quite some time. I got to the point where I wouldn’t give her the shots every other day because she really did hate it, and I felt terrible for her. I think sub q fluids are a life saver , but I don’t know if critical care force feeding long term is something that either of you can sustain. If she fights you on it what kind of life would that be for her to have? I understand all too well how you feel, and I would have done anything to save my Nova, but in the end I had to think about what would be the best course for her. I wish you peace and clarity with whatever decision you feel is appropriate and i am so sorry you are having to go through this. Truly.


                • Bam
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                    If you could ask your vet to show you how to give sub Q fluids at home, that could be very good. It would be less of a financial burden on you plus your bun wouldn’t have to go on as many trips to the vet (all trips to the vet are of course stressful for a rabbit). Forum leader LittlePuffyTail gave her boy Bindi daily sub-q fluids for a very long time, although not because of kidney problems.

                    Critical care has calcium, because it is a complete food. Perhaps eliminating as much calcium as possible from the diet could be useful? Have your vets talked to you about adjusting her diet?

                    I do understand that there’s a big quality of life issue here. Financial issues apart, even if we were billionaires, it’d still be our duty as pet owners to seriously consider the pet’s quality of life.


                  • jerseygirl
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                      Did the ultrasound show there is calculi still present in the enlarged kidney or ureter?

                      The vet hasn’t prescribed any analgesic at all?


                    • LBJ10
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                        I agree with Bam. Fluid therapy could be continued at home.

                        What do you mean that the kidney is destroyed? Has something ruptured? Or are we talking scar tissue? Just trying to get an idea of what we’re dealing with here.


                      • Crumplit
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                          The x-ray showed one kidney twice the size of normal, the ultrasound showed what looked like a pile of mess and no kidney anymore. I was shown the other kidney where you can see the shape and the hole in the middle for the urine to excrete, but the other one… the structure of the kidney is gone, all you can see is a mass flooded with calculi. Her tummy is normally white but it’s now quite red, I think that’s the enlarged kidney causing that but the vet said that’s just over grooming, a side effect from the ultrasound scan.

                          My rabbit hasn’t been moving much, perhaps in pain all the time. The pain medication from Friday must have worn out. She’s had pain medication a couple of times already, but obviously can’t keep being on it.

                          Last night I soaked one Fibre First in water and she managed to eat one third of it then refused more. She’s eating about 1-2 remaine lettuce leafs per day, a dozen strands of hay twice a day more or less as I didn’t count. She’s not drinking from her water bowl anymore, I give her water in the critical care and also wash the romaine lettuce first. I hope that’s enough water…? I now have to place all the food near her litter tray and bedding, she’s refusing to hop to the middle of the room or other side where I normally leave food to temp her to move around more often. She’s also wetting her bedding which is near her litter tray, doesn’t want to hop in and out of the litter tray any more. Hurts seeing my extremely intelligent rabbit lose all sense of litter training.

                          My rabbit hates it when I force feed her, but doesn’t scream or try to bite because she recognises me and knows I’m only making her eat.

                            Just waiting for hear back from the rabbit specialist regarding chances of success for surgery. The nurse already told me the prognosis is bad and doubts the specialist can do any further for my rabbit, and even if that bad kidney is removed there’s no guarantee my rabbit remaining kidney will be enough to keep her alive.

                          Can’t believe I’m actually now considering putting my rabbit down against force feeding her until she gives in.


                        • Crumplit
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                            My rabbit has passed away this evening.

                            I had been force feeding her critical care once a day or every other day, she was willing to eat hay and romaine lettuce. Since she was putting up a fight with the critical care I gave more romaine lettuce to her, slowly increasing the amount so I can up her water intake. She didn’t drink even one bowl of water in the past couple of weeks, she normally drinks one bowl of water per day.

                            I think she had gas today. She was writhing about in pain, I tried massaging her stomach and brought her to my bed to monitor her. She managed to poop a huge wet smudgy poop two hours ago so I thought all is going to be fine, was going to see if she’s able to eat and poop later on tonight before dragging her back to the only vet open on a Sunday.

                            I popped out for 10 minutes to get some air and when I came back she was no longer on my bed, she was on the floor slayed out like she had a seizure. Part of me feels she didn’t want me to see her die so she hanged on until I left, or perhaps she tried to hop down my bed to get to the litter tray and slipped or something.

                            Don’t know what to do with her corpse now… I put her body back on my bed for now.


                          • Bunny House
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                              I’m so sorry you went through all of this, it seems like no matter what you did and could do, it wasn’t going to reverse the damage. You can take her to get an autopsy at the vet or you can bury her in your backyard or get her cremated in a urn, they even make necklaces for ashes, I have one for one of my buns.


                            • TitanFalls578
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                                Posted By Crumplit on 3/31/2019 2:30 PM
                                My rabbit has passed away this evening.

                                I had been force feeding her critical care once a day or every other day, she was willing to eat hay and romaine lettuce. Since she was putting up a fight with the critical care I gave more romaine lettuce to her, slowly increasing the amount so I can up her water intake. She didn’t drink even one bowl of water in the past couple of weeks, she normally drinks one bowl of water per day.

                                I think she had gas today. She was writhing about in pain, I tried massaging her stomach and brought her to my bed to monitor her. She managed to poop a huge wet smudgy poop two hours ago so I thought all is going to be fine, was going to see if she’s able to eat and poop later on tonight before dragging her back to the only vet open on a Sunday.

                                I popped out for 10 minutes to get some air and when I came back she was no longer on my bed, she was on the floor slayed out like she had a seizure. Part of me feels she didn’t want me to see her die so she hanged on until I left, or perhaps she tried to hop down my bed to get to the litter tray and slipped or something.

                                Don’t know what to do with her corpse now… I put her body back on my bed for now.

                                im so sorry for your loss <3


                              • LittlePuffyTail
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                                  I’m so very sorry for your loss. I’ve had all my beloved passed bunnies cremated and put in beautiful urns. I like to still have them with me in a sense.

                                  ((((((Binky Free))))))


                                • Kiki
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                                    I am sorry for your loss. Our pets often know/sense what will be best for us and react accordingly.


                                  • Bam
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                                      I’m so sorry you lost your dear girl.

                                      I have had my lost pets cremated. There are small animal cremation companies, you dont have to go through a vet clinic. I have my lost pets’ urns in a bookshelf so they are always here with me. In a sense, like LPT says.

                                      Binky free, little bun, you were so dearly loved.


                                    • meridiian
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                                        I am so sorry to hear your beautiful bunny passed.

                                        You are a credit, a beautiful and loving bunny mummy. You did so much to help her and this is really tragic. She knew the effort you made for her and I’m sure her spirit will live around you and bless you always.

                                        I’m so sorry.

                                        xx Binky free little one.


                                      • Crumplit
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                                          I spent half of last night staring at her remains, then slept on one side of the bed with her body slumped on the other side. She was taken away tonight for cremation, going to cost me £150 for a scatter ash tube. Ouch. I’ll probably keep her ashes with me and eventually bury her ashes in some park or lob into the ocean lol. Already miss the little bugger pestering me for head rubs and treats. At least I still have photos of her and videos of her when alive, and also a t-shirt and hoodie with her face on it.


                                        • Muj Mom N Bun
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                                            So sorry for your loss of your dear Bun… you went the mile for her. She knew it… Binky. Free!!!
                                            Hang on to those memories! All of those wonderful days full of head rubs, hand nudges and binkies.

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                                        Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Rabbit’s dying?