Advice needed for arthritic bunny please

[pookie]

We have a dwarf rabbit who is about 8 or 9 (we don't know as she was pregnant and fully grown when we adopted her from the petshop).

About 2 months ago we noticed that she was on her side and unable to get herself up, she had obviously been like that for most of the night as she had a lot of faecal matter attached to her backside.

We cleaned her up and took her straight to the vets where we were told she more than likely had arthritis.

She had lost a fair bit of weight and had lost some muscle mass from her hind legs.

Was prescribed loxicom @ 0.45ml to be taken every day. We've increased her roaming time and purchased a giant dog crate so she has loads more exercise room and more toys and entertainment.

It was working until probably the last week where she has been found on her side. Its got to the point where I have installed a camera so I can monitor her and upright her when she seems stuck on her side.

At this moment in time I am thinking if just medicating and uprighting is now verging on being cruel.

Once she is upright she eats, and drinks as normal all day then I get up the next morning and she is on her side again.

I knew from the outset that she would never be back to normal, but I was hoping that I would see more of an improvement.

To add she now doesn't groom. I'm assuming because she can't reach her backside anymore so she is also having to have a light wash every other day to remove the built up poop.

If she does go proper downhill then obviously i'll take her back to the vet.

I just want some opinions really about whether its now become cruel to keep her in this condition.

Or whether some of you fine folks have some different advice to what the vets have suggested.

I can't really take medicinal advice though as I'd prefer that to be left with a vet.

Its pretty frustrating, I just want her to be happy and able to do some of the things she should be able to do like the basics of grooming again.

 

[Popsicles]

I really wonder whether it is just arthritis, as although this is painful it shouldn’t stop her being able to get up? Is the vet certain it might not be something else?
What kind of flooring do you have? Maybe something softer for her old painful joints?
It might be a case of getting stronger/different painkillers from your vet. I know gabapentin is really good in chronic arthritis cases (but might be expensive? I don’t know). The pain might be what’s stopping her from grooming.
I’m sorry for your poor bun and for you, it can be a really frustrating and sad time with an older pet keep us updated, please x

 

[squidpop]

Are you sure the built up poop is cecotrophes= and not mushy poop from an imbalance in the gut? Maybe feed her mostly hay, and less pellets and other greens and see it poo stops sticking to but.

.... About putting to sleep, I am wondering the same things about my very old dog- she's getting to the point where I have to carry her outside because she can't go down three steps. And if she lays down she struggles to get back up, makes me afraid to leave the house for very long cause she might get stuck. Whether to put down a pet is a hard decision— I'm not good at giving advice on that.

 

[pookie]

She basically has a giant palace now with nice soft bedding so not really much more I can do about bedding really. It's borderline more comfortable than my own bed

If she is over again tomorrow I will ask if any other medication they can prescribe but at last visit options were try loxicom or put to sleep. But will see.

She has a really good diet. Plenty of hay and good quality pellet food, as well as fresh fruit and veg. Its definitely not mushy poop because some fell off and she ate it after up righting.

But yea putting down a animal is an awful experience but one we have to accept as a responsible owner unfortunaltely

I'll update tomorrow

 

[JBun]

It sounds like your rabbit could have spondylosis. I had an older rabbit with this that eventually lost use of her hind legs, but could still use the front ones pretty well. She adapted and would scoot herself around, but gradually couldn't move around more than in a 2 ft space. So I did have to adapt her space so that the urine was kept drained away from her, and her food and water was within scooting range of her. I did have to check on her at least every 4 hours to make sure she hadn't got stuck and was able to get to her food and water. She was still happy to eat and snuggle with her bunny friend, and seemed content even with her limited mobility. She pretty much just ate and slept most of the day, so I just let her live out her life. She lived for another 4 months. But I know every rabbit is different and what is right for one rabbit might not be the best for another, so you would have to evaluate your own rabbits mood and response to her change in health.

Key is first getting the pain under control so you can better evaluate the situation. As long as a rabbit is experiencing significant pain, it will always negatively affect their behavior and quality of life. My rabbit was getting 0.5ml of meloxicam(loxicom) twice a day and she was 1.7kg. That dose kept her pain under control so she could enjoy her remaining time as much as possible. If you are only giving the loxicom once a day, I would want to be giving it twice a day(which is a recommended dose for rabbits) and would want to discuss increasing the dosage with my vet. There are also other pain med options such as tramadol. Also carprofen, though I have no experience with it. Better pain control won't necessarily help keep your bun upright, but could help control the pain better so she can continue on with a good quality of life.
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Spinal_abnormalities_rabbits.htm

If you are unsure if your vet is rabbit savvy or you would like a second opinion and you are in the UK, you have several excellent rabbit savvy vets and specialists. Crab Lane Vets in Harrogate is very good if that's not too far from you, or you can look at this link for recommended rabbit vets.
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ve...s-that-have-been-recommended-by-rabbit-owners

 

[pookie]

Sorry for the delay in updating, its been a couple of hectic days.

Vet is pretty certain its an arthritic condition. She was reweighed and had a slight increase in dose of loxicom.

She was on a lower dose before because she had lost a bit of weight. But because she has put on more weight I guess the dosing became less effective.

She's been upright now for 2 days on the new dosage. So fingers crossed that should be good now.

The vet herself did call another vet in another practice as they had a bit more experience with bunnies so am happy with the vets themselves.

Just waiting game now.

Thank you for all your replies, they're much appreciated and gave me some peace of mind at least.