Harper has lost 20% of his body weight!

[MyBoyHarper]

... and the vet doesn't seem to be alarmed. In the last few weeks, Harper has went from 5 pounds, to barely above4. The vet said that's 20% of his body weight. Harper refuses to eat. Anything. He nibbles on a bit of hay here and there, but that's it. He acts fine, loves to binky, and seems happy.

I brought him to the vet this morning and I was appalled at the amount of weight he lost. The vet checked his molars, incisors, his stomach,felt everything and couldn't find an answer. His poop was fine, no mucus in his stools, no lethargy, nothing. He acts and appears completely healthy. Except he is starving himself slowly. And the ve treally didn't seem alarmed. He told me to give it another WEEK and if he continues to drop weight, bring him in for some extensive tests that I can't afford.

Any idea's as to what could be going on?

 

[gwhoosh]

Poor Harper I hope he gets better / you find out what's wrong soon. Did you try giving him some herbs? After my bunny's spay, she was in pain and didn't eat anything, but then she ate some basil. :?

 

[MyBoyHarper]

He'll nibble a tiny bit on his veggies, but otherwise shows no interest. He seems active, perky, happy, and just generally his happy self. But he has no appetite whatsoever.

:dunno

 

[pamnock]

Have you tried Nutri Cal? It's very high in calories and can help him hold his weight until you find out what's going on.

Praying for Harper ray:



Pam

 

[MyBoyHarper]

He lives on NutriCal and Laxatone, per the vets orders. Any idea's as to what it could be Pam? He checked his molars and incisors and said they were fine and not overgrown. He checked for abcesses. He checked for blockages, and worms. No mucus so he said it's not inflammation of the intestines.

Other than that, he was stumped. In one week, he wants to do a bunch ofx-rays and run some blood tests. Unfortunately, that won't be happening as I don't have any money.

In your opinion, since you have such a long and knowledgeable history of rabbits, what do you think some of the possibilities could be as to why he isn't wanting to eat anything?

 

[Haley]

Max also lost a pound. He's on critical care right now. Have you tried giving Harper some of that to get his weight back up? Im giving Max that and pumpkin 4x a day.

 

[MyBoyHarper]

We don't have critical care. I've asked the vets around here before, none carry it or can order it for some reason.

Harper gets pumpkin every now and then, but he hates it. I have to force feed it to him, which he resists, and it stresses him out. So I do it only every now and then. Because I already have to syringe feed him NutriCal and Laxatone 3 times a day.

 

[ec]

I'd definitely want an x-ray of his teeth - there's a lot that can't be seen by visual inspection alone.

 

[MyBoyHarper]

ec wrote:

I'd definitely want an x-ray of his teeth - there's a lot that can't be seen by visual inspection alone.

True. But they cost money, so unfortunately they'll have to wait. :?

 

[JadeIcing]

I don't know what to say. I know the feeling though whenyour rabbits weight loss gets like this.For the last year Ringos weight has gone up and down. He has been anywhere from 3-4#. I constantly half to moniter is weight and watch everything he eats.

 

[Bangbang]

there is medication u can get from the vet to increase appetite, im not sure of its name or if its used with rabbits,i'll ring work and ask though and get back to u on that, may be an option to consider

 

[lalena2148]

MBH, your vet should be able to order CriticalCare straight from Oxbow by phone, so what they're telling you is bullcrap. See the info on the website:
http://www.oxbowhay.com/link.sp?page=CriticalCare

Give him the phone number and ask him to order it. Critical care is not expensive (the foil bagged one cost me about $12) and it really helped Latte gain some weight after his tilt. Or maybe you can call the number and ask them if they have any products similiar that you could order yourself.

Good luck!

 

[Snuggys Mom]

You can order Critical Care yourself here:

http://www.diazrock.com/products.php?cat=158

Come on, Harper. Everybody's pulling for ya, little guy.

ray:

 

[pamnock]

MyBoyHarper wrote:

In your opinion, since you have such a long and knowledgeable history of rabbits, what do you think some of the possibilities could be as to why he isn't wanting to eat anything?

Unfortunately, there are numerous causes of sudden unexplained weigh tloss. Cancer is one cause, a viral infection can be another.

Sometimes the cause is never determined.

Pam

 

[bunnee mom]

I'm sorry to hear about Harper.

Your situation sounds alarmingly similiar to what happened with Ellie last month. I posted it in this forum for advice.Did your vet check his ears? If not, PLEASE have your rabbit's ears checked as soon as possible. I don't know if that's Harper's problem, but that's what ended up being wrong with Ellie, and as soon as her ears were cleaned out and she was on Baytril for a couple weeks she was fine.

Harper is acting just like Ellie did before she was diagnosed....somewhat active, but not eating. Ellie also lost20% of her body weight and our vet was VERY alarmed. That's a significant weight loss in a short period of time. Once Ellie got better though, she put the weight back on.

Good luck, I'll be praying for you and Harper

 

[MyBoyHarper]

Thanks bunee mom, I'll mention it to the vet.

I really think it's Harper's teeth. I've been gone all day gathering mardi gras beads for a parade I am in tomorrow and I just got home. The first thing I noticed is he didn'ttouch his food from last night and he is rubbing his mouth. He's licking his tongue all inside his mouth and he looks like he's chewing something, but nothing is in his mouth. He's also pawing the side of his face. I'm almost positive it's his teeth.

*Sigh* I swear...


EDIT: Forgot to mention that he's also sneezing. No discharge, however.

 

[Haley]

It could just be spurs, which would be cheap to treat. Heres hoping ray:

Do you have any metacam on hand?

 

[MyBoyHarper]

No Metacam on hand. No pain medicine at all. I can't even afford a office visit right now, let alone x-rays. Then if it is spurs, I can't afford that either.

I dunno what I'm going to do. Sitting here thinking...

 

[Haley]

Any chance you could talk to your vet about a payment plan? I know youve been there a lot, maybe they would cut you some slack?

 

[MyBoyHarper]

He lets me charge things on the clinic's personal account because I've been going there so long. However, he wants things paid off in a timely manner (a couple weeks, max.) and I have no cash. And I'm still calling him every other day explaining why I still have some of harper's surgery bills on there and when I'm going to pay. Plus I have his visit from the other day on there, and medicines. I've hit my max. and can't afford to pay off what I have on there already.