bunny not able to walk properly

[JBun]

I'm so sorry. I think the medications he has been given are making him sick. He didn't sound like he was this bad before you went to the vet. I don't know what can be done to help with this, but it would help if you could tell us exactly what medications were given and the mg of the medication and the amount administered. In the meantime, was the saline given, sub q fluids. If your rabbit isn't eating or drinking on his own, he needs to be syringe(no needle) fed water, possibly electrolytes, and food. You need to do this slowly and carefully, a little bit at a time, giving him time to swallow so that he doesn't aspirate anything. For food, if you can get a hold of Oxbow Critical Care for herbivores, that can be mixed with water and fed to him. Or if you have a vegetable baby food, plain canned pumpkin, or if his food is pelleted rabbit food, you can soak it in warm water and feed him some of that. But don't give him milk. Rabbits can't digest the lactose in milk and it could be causing some of the digestive upset. Do you have any plain electrolyte drinks or mixes, maybe something used for children, without any chemicals or artificial ingredients in it?

Does he have diarrhea now? I'm afraid one of the vets may have given him a medication that is bad for rabbits and may be causing these problems. If he has diarrhea it needs to be stopped with certain medication, but we need to know what medication he has been given that might be causing these problems. Also exactly what ingredients are in all of the supplements or anything else he has been given.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Your rabbit needs to be syringe fed water and food as soon as possible! Go to a vet and get some critical care (made by oxbow) my baby gunner all of a sudden was lateral when I went to look at him in his cage he wouldn't move at all. Rushed him to the vet and they did x rays (radiographs should have been the first thing done before any medications were prescribed for your rabbit!). Radiographs showed a possible fracture on his cervical vertebrae. Per the vet there was nothing obvious. I started gunner on critical care (syringe feeding about 30mls 3 times a day. I had to keep him warm to avoid slowing his gut too much and syringe feeding water the same amount. My vet gave gunner a pain injection I believe. It almost looks like the first injection from the docs writing is dexamethasone but I can't tell for sure. Gunner slowly got better with critical home care and he started hopping again in a week. I was so proud of my strong man. I pray for your bunny but he needs more treatment than what has already been done

 

[aozora]

I found this ingredient list for "verol" if it helps-- I don't know enough about rabbit medications to know if any of the ingredients are harmful, but maybe someone else can help?

http://www.petsgonuts.com/dogs/pfiz...25521-cat.html#variant_id=1758144-92176125521

 

[v4vikas]

Your rabbit needs to be syringe fed water and food as soon as possible! Go to a vet and get some critical care (made by oxbow) my baby gunner all of a sudden was lateral when I went to look at him in his cage he wouldn't move at all. Rushed him to the vet and they did x rays (radiographs should have been the first thing done before any medications were prescribed for your rabbit!). Radiographs showed a possible fracture on his cervical vertebrae. Per the vet there was nothing obvious. I started gunner on critical care (syringe feeding about 30mls 3 times a day. I had to keep him warm to avoid slowing his gut too much and syringe feeding water the same amount. My vet gave gunner a pain injection I believe. It almost looks like the first injection from the docs writing is dexamethasone but I can't tell for sure. Gunner slowly got better with critical home care and he started hopping again in a week. I was so proud of my strong man. I pray for your bunny but he needs more treatment than what has already been done

i need to wait till tomorrow to take my bunny for xrays as there is no vet near our place on sundays, however i will take him to the nearby emergency vet in an hour. i doubt if it is a spinal cord injury because it is not letting me touch him except his face. Should i not move him to avoid him feel pain? please let me know what i should do now....im giving him water and the liquid grinded and extracted from cauliflower leaves. do i need to give him more supplements? can i mix a pinch of glucose to his water?

 

[v4vikas]

I'm so sorry. I think the medications he has been given are making him sick. He didn't sound like he was this bad before you went to the vet. I don't know what can be done to help with this, but it would help if you could tell us exactly what medications were given and the mg of the medication and the amount administered. In the meantime, was the saline given, sub q fluids. If your rabbit isn't eating or drinking on his own, he needs to be syringe(no needle) fed water, possibly electrolytes, and food. You need to do this slowly and carefully, a little bit at a time, giving him time to swallow so that he doesn't aspirate anything. For food, if you can get a hold of Oxbow Critical Care for herbivores, that can be mixed with water and fed to him. Or if you have a vegetable baby food, plain canned pumpkin, or if his food is pelleted rabbit food, you can soak it in warm water and feed him some of that. But don't give him milk. Rabbits can't digest the lactose in milk and it could be causing some of the digestive upset. Do you have any plain electrolyte drinks or mixes, maybe something used for children, without any chemicals or artificial ingredients in it?

Does he have diarrhea now? I'm afraid one of the vets may have given him a medication that is bad for rabbits and may be causing these problems. If he has diarrhea it needs to be stopped with certain medication, but we need to know what medication he has been given that might be causing these problems. Also exactly what ingredients are in all of the supplements or anything else he has been given.

i stopped giving him milk as u suggested and started giving him water and leaves juice with a syringe through mouth. he doesnt have any diarrhea and also i didnt find him urinating since last night. The last time he passed urine was when he was given saline. I will find out the medicines that were given to him and let u know

 

[Imbrium]

I'm so sorry he's getting worse... poor little guy . Deciding whether it's time to let a beloved pet go or to keep trying to get them better can be one of the toughest decisions in the world to make. I agree, it's entirely possible that one of the treatments he's been given has made him worse instead of better.

Bunnies are lactose intolerant, by the way, so he shouldn't have milk. If he's not eating on his own, you might be able to syringe feed him. Here's my copy/paste instructions on syringe feeding a rabbit:

You can buy a syringe at any grocery store. If you have critical care food (comes from vets), you can syringe feed that. If you don't, you can make a pellet slurry - take some pellets and add water or pedialyte; microwave. Let sit for 5-10 mins so the pellets can "fluff", then mix together (breaking up the pellets as much as possible); add more liquid if needed to get it to a good pudding-like consistency for syringe feeding (using a food processor (before adding liquid to the pellets), a blender or a mortar and pestle (again, before adding liquid) will make it easier to break up the pellets). Critical care will work with a syringe as-is but with the DIY slurry, you may find it necessary to cut the tip of the syringe off to make the opening larger.

You can also offer a little bit of canned pumpkin (PLAIN stuff, not the pie filling kind) and/or some fruit or squash flavored baby food... not a whole lot, as these foods are sugary - maybe 2 tsp or so. If he won't eat the pumpkin on his own, you'll need to water it down with water or pedialyte in order to easily syringe feed it. These things could also be mixed into the pellet slurry or critical care to make it tastier.

You should syringe water or pedialite if you're worried he might not be drinking enough and/or if you're feeding pellet slurry/critical care.

When you syringe feed a rabbit food or liquids, you want to aim for the gap between his front incisors and back molars and always squirt the food/liquid in sideways - never straight back - to make sure he won't accidentally inhale it. Remember to give him time to chew/swallow. I find it easier (especially with liquids) to have the bunny wrapped in a towel, as things can get pretty messy.

Here's a great video showing how to syringe feed - [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGZVYVm5Bg[/ame]

 

[ladysown]

s/c is subcutaneous I think. Looks like Neuvert? Neuvert is a med from what I can tell.

Depare??? Can't really determine what this is.

 

[aozora]

s/c is subcutaneous I think. Looks like Neuvert? Neuvert is a med from what I can tell.

Depare??? Can't really determine what this is.

S/C does mean subcutaneous, yes

Thank you for the Neuvert heads up! Since all the hits I was getting for "verol" when I looked that up indicated it was a local dog product from India, I started searching for common veterinary drugs in India to see if I could match up any possible names so I completely forgot to actually try and search for what I think it looks like.

From what I can tell, Neuvert is the Indian trade name for betahistine-- an antivertigo drug used to treat Meniere's disease (an inner ear disorder that causes balance issues). Vertigo is that feeling of spinning (whether things around you or feeling like you're the one spinning around) you sometimes get when you're dizzy or nauseous, so... I honestly have no idea why on earth that first vet prescribed it. The typical side effects to betahistine is stomach upset and headaches; not sure if bunnies actually get headaches, but I can see it causing GI issues with your bun since their systems are quite sensitive.

BTW, the remaining number is just how much of it he gave to your bun, which is 0.5cc but without the dosing calculation he made (which should always be based on weight and thus varies from bun to bun) it's hard to tell whether he overdosed or not. Either way, though, your bunny didn't seem to be showing any signs of vertigo so why did he give him that injection instead of try and warm him up since he even noted right on the paper that he's hypothermic??

 

[JBun]

I would certainly think that medication, and maybe the other, could have made the rabbit feel unwell. Hopefully it didn't do any permanent damage and as it wears off the bun will start feeling a little better.

I was just asking if your rabbit had gotten xrays. If the vet has to use anesthesia on your rabbit to take some xrays, it might not be a good idea until your rabbit is feeling a little better, as anesthesia can be really hard on a rabbit, plus I worry if your vet isn't experienced with rabbits, that they may use anesthesia that isn't safe for rabbits. If your rabbit will hold still and the vet can take xrays without using any medication or anesthesia, then that would be ok. I'm just a little worried about whether your vets there are experienced with rabbits. They need to be treated differently than cats and dogs, and medications that are safe for cats and dogs, can sometimes be fatal if given to rabbits. You will just need to be very careful about any medications used on your rabbit and double check to make sure that it is safe, before letting the vet administer it to your bun. Here is a list of medications safe for rabbits, as well as a list of dangerous medications. Some medications you have there, may not be on the list at all because they aren't used in the US and Europe, or they are new, or they haven't ever been used on rabbits before.

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Safe_drugs_main.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/Unsafe_medication/Unsafe_drugs_main.htm

Your rabbit does need more food than he is getting or he may continue to get weaker. Can you get this or something like it from the vet?
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/vets/products/critical_care
It's a powdered food mix for sick rabbits. Or is there a way you can mash up the food you normally feed your rabbit and feed it to him that way. You want to try and feed him foods he is already used to, if at all possible, as new foods can upset their stomach if given to a rabbit too quickly. I'm not quite sure what to recommend as I don't know what you have available where you live.

Is your rabbit just weak or is there paralysis? If your rabbit isn't peeing, he could be dehydrated, or if there is paralysis, he may not be able to pee on his own now.

 

[lovelops]

I do not want to sound selfish but please do not give up on this little guy. I feel you and know how you feel but think if you can get him to a good vet that has experience with rabbits he could turn around. I have to agree with the others on it could be the meds making him sicker. I also dealt with a paralyzed mother so I know about how it is when someone or something you love is sick .. one time my mother was in ICU and her dog was paralyzed and I could not tell her and he recovered. I cried like you are now.. but I did not give up and had to take him to three doctors until I could find a specialist who knew what was wrong with him and he recovered. I was going through hell also thinking I was going to have to put him down but knew if I had to do that my mother would die.. that dog was the only reason she was living after she could no longer walk...

 

[lovelops]

Another idea... do you know if your bunny has a blood disorder? Deal with me for a minute.

My dog that became paralyzed had a blood disorder that we had no idea he had until he had surgery-got
fixed and pulled his stitches out and bled and bled and bled. He had to get a blood transfusion to live.
He had von Willebrand Syndrome, and his blood was sent to Cornell University Vet School
which is one of the leaders in studying this in animals... it's also found in rabbits, not only
dogs or cats..

What would happen with my guy is that he would play, bump his back, leg,paw whatever (he loved to play
fetch and would play with the ball himself if you did not play with him) on something like a tree stump, he would
take a tumble in the back yard by getting hit by one of the other dogs, trip or fall trying to jump and catch
a ball or stick, and a day later he would not be able to walk. He would bleed internally and the first day he would hurt
himself he would look ok, second day lethargic, next day forget it no activity. Couldn't move, couldn't eat.
Nothing. No action I thought he was dying. After checking his skin at certain areas I could visibly see the blood under
the skin if he had hit his leg on a tree stump while running for his ball, etc... other times NO DICE and this is what
happened the time he became paralyzed. He hit his back on a tree stump while running to chase a ball and
caused a blood clot on the spinal cord. Once the blood built up on the spinal cord he became paralyzed.
It took a month to two months for the blood to become reabsorbed into the body and then he could walk again.
I thought it was a miracle. But he was standing in the kitchen trying to eat, limping and then fell over.

I screamed and rushed him to the emergency vets..they knew he had the bleeding disorder because he had a tooth pulled
and be bleed for three days and I had to take him back to get a blood transfusion. He lived a good full life with this but I had to be careful because he loved to play and run.

Von Willebrand is a common inherited disorder of hemostasis-
it's similar to hemophilia, however, it's INTERNAL. You do not need your pet to cut themselves to
have Von Willebrand.

von Willebrand disease has been described in over 50 breeds of dogs. The disease does occur in pigs, rabbits, cats and horses but has been recognized in only a few individuals of the latter 2 species. In general, spontaneous bleeding tends to occur from mucous membranes lining the nose, mouth, urinary, reproductive, and intestinal tracts. Excessive bleeding in puppies may be noticed after tail docking, dewclaw removal, tattooing, or when the pup is teething. I[B]n less severely affected dogs, abnormal bleeding is seen only after surgery or trauma. Concurrent stress conditions such as viral and bacterial infections, hormonal fluctuations associated with heat cycles or pregnancy, and endocrine disorders causing deficiencies of steroid or thyroid hormones can all exacerbate signs of hemorrhage in dogs affected with vWD. [/B] This can also apply to RABBITS.

Please talk to the vet and see if any blood work had been done at all and if so see if he had or has any blood disorder...
if so , this could be the reason for everything and believe you me, I went through hell with my chihuahua with this but he was worth it to me, every penny I ran up on credit cards, loans, etc to get him well time and time again...

This is just an option to think about because in retrospect this sounds like something that happened to Buttons one time and of course, with the spinal injury, the bathroom functions go as well. I had to turn him in his doggie bed so he would not get bed sores and clean him up for the two months he was paralyzed but it all was worth it. After he came through with flying colors I was so happy and prayed every day... during the time he was sick every day was hell and I really doubted the doctor but putting him down was NOT an option this was my mother's dog and my mother loved that dog more than life itsself. I think he was keeping her alive...

 

[v4vikas]

MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!! bunny z able to walk :woohoo .....last nyt it was critical and when i woke up in the morning, i found bunny sitting next to her bed, when i helped him a little, he was able to stand, walked for about 4-5 steps, urinated and went back to sleep, now he woke up again and had some leaves...... all our prayers were answered......this is the best christmas gift i got from the GOD.....thank you for all your prayers, luv n care :yahoo: :hug2::group2:

 

[pani]

I'm so happy to hear that, v4vikas!! :bunny17:

 

[v4vikas]

 

[lovelops]

I am so glad to hear this. I have been checking your postings to see the updates on your bunny!! I'm soooo happy to hear this! Please keep us posted!!!!

 

[v4vikas]

thank you pani and lovelpos it had some food and water, it was weak in the morning, did not come out of its room, and now it is roaming all the house and checking each and every corner, i think it will stake some time to walk fast or run, as of now it is just walking freely without any support and is not even limping ...... anyone plz suggest me what kind of care i should take during its recovery, any changes in its behavior i'll update once again i would like to thank each and everyone for your support and suggestions :hug1

 

[Imbrium]

I'm so very glad he's starting to get better!

 

[v4vikas]

also i would like to know what breed it is....can anyone say by looking at the pic posted?

 

[lovelops]

I have no idea but you got a cutie! Keep on eye on your baby to make certain he doesn't get into anything or get hurt again while roaming around or while getting some air!!!!

 

[lovelops]

How is your bunny doing now?

Vanessa