Help! Bunny has bladder sludge!

[Maki_p29]

I’ve been trying to treat my bunny at the vet. She has a bad bout of bladder sludge( it’s been a chronic on going problem for a few years now) with a bit of GI Stasis. Her usual vet is not in on week days since the Covid virus outbreak and a different vet that has never dealt with my bunny before has been seeing her but refuses to do proper treatment that has been helpful to stablize my rabbit in the past or even look at current and past records. She has been shedding a lot and the pet store ran out of Timothy Hay at the most inconvenient moment. We subbed this hay with a different one that had clovers( we have Timothy Hay now). I think this has contributed to her current condition.

I’ve been trying to get her back on track but this new vet refuses to prescribe the necessary medicine and wants me to opt for unnecessary highly expensive treatment instead. Times are tough on everyone and I can’t afford thousands of dollars worth of treatments. Their prices are outrageously high at this practice since Covid and they want me to open a credit card but my life situation doesn’t allow me to do that.

My bunny has been reluctant to eat critical care and has had fluids inserted by the vet under her skin to stay hydrated. She is also on pain medicine. She eats hay sometimes and I’ve been trying to encourage her to move around as much as possible.

I wonder if anyone has dealt with bladder sludge problems and what was helpful for their bunny?

 

[Mac189]

What treatment are they recommending and which treatment are you hoping for? It sounds very irresponsible for a vet to refuse a treatment you can afford for the one you can't. Can you call your regular vet even if they're not at the clinic? They may play on your side.

 

[helena]

Oxbow Animal Health Hope maybe this will help. I'm not very familiar with bladder sludge with rabbits. That seems very irresponsible of the vet to refuse treatment like @Mac189 said. Make sure your rabbit is eating/drinking. You might have to syringe feed if he won't eat/drink. Hope he gets well soon!

 

[Maki_p29]

What treatment are they recommending and which treatment are you hoping for? It sounds very irresponsible for a vet to refuse a treatment you can afford for the one you can't. Can you call your regular vet even if they're not at the clinic? They may play on your side.

This different Vet wanted to do surgery which would cost thousands of dollars and do a ultrasound (despite one recently being done) which would be at least 1000$( they quoted me 400$ but it ended up being that much and had to have help from relatives to be able to afford it or they wouldn’t allow me to have my rabbit back, not to mention 180$ to do CPR incase something goes wrong).

Fortunately I emailed her regular Vet and they recommended the treatment of Cisapride to start her digestive system up again and to come in for fluids and pain medicine again( this has been helpful in the past for her condition). She started to improve after getting this combination of treatment but I had to fight the Vet and staff about it because they were saying I absolutely had to do a ultrasound if I wanted to come in and they hated that I wanted to put her on GI mobility drugs despite her having all symptoms of GI Stasis( with the different Vet swore washing going on but the other day I found poop with hair linking it together that she expelled, a big sign of GI Staisis). They also just told me to open a credit card account to pay them.( which I’m not allowed to do because of my life situation)

I just hope it wasn’t too late for her to get the medicine. I really hope she recovers. She been improving steadily but it’s a fight. She less lethargic and moving do much more. Eating hay much more too. I’ve been up with her syringe feeling her and giving medicine. I haven’t been eating much or sleep my self. I hope she pulls through. Then I could discuss more options with her usual Vet.

 

[Maki_p29]

Oxbow Animal Health Hope maybe this will help. I'm not very familiar with bladder sludge with rabbits. That seems very irresponsible of the vet to refuse treatment like @Mac189 said. Make sure your rabbit is eating/drinking. You might have to syringe feed if he won't eat/drink. Hope he gets well soon!

Thanks for the well wishes. I really hope she pulls through been constantly trying to help her since Wednesday this week been to the Vet 3 different times. My bunny hates Oxbow food and everything from that brand. It doesn’t agree with her digestive system since they changed their recipe. The Vet loves to give this brand but she refuses it every time. I got a different brand of critical care for her. She seems to tolerate it better.

Improvement has been slow. ( the different Vet delayed her getting the medicine for almost two days and refused until I referred to what was discussed by email with her usual Vet. It’s almost as if they wanted her to get worse so they could make a profit off of her. They also belittled their co worker since they themself have 20+ years experience. Bladder sludge has become a problem within the past 7 years and there is no known cause or cure for this condition that can develop). I just know that if the proper care had been given she would be much better by now.

 

[zuppa]

It is hard to suggest anything because your rabbit is already on lots of medication and any new treatment can go wrong because of different drugs can conflict, it looks so very complicated now I am really sorry you have to go through this, poor bun. For mild cases and as prevention you could use apple cider vinegar adding to drinking water.

 

[Mac189]

Thanks for the well wishes. I really hope she pulls through been constantly trying to help her since Wednesday this week been to the Vet 3 different times. My bunny hates Oxbow food and everything from that brand. It doesn’t agree with her digestive system since they changed their recipe. The Vet loves to give this brand but she refuses it every time. I got a different brand of critical care for her. She seems to tolerate it better.

Improvement has been slow. ( the different Vet delayed her getting the medicine for almost two days and refused until I referred to what was discussed by email with her usual Vet. It’s almost as if they wanted her to get worse so they could make a profit off of her. They also belittled their co worker since they themself have 20+ years experience. Bladder sludge has become a problem within the past 7 years and there is no known cause or cure for this condition that can develop). I just know that if the proper care had been given she would be much better by now.

I've worked at a vet clinic for the past year and I am horrified by the behavior and lack of awareness your vet is displaying. That' deeply messed up, it sounds like you're working really hard for your girl. Is there another rabbit savvy vet clinic you could go to? That one sounds like a mess and I know there are vets out there who operate with only the animals wellbeing in mind. Good luck!

 

[LopLover89]

Good luck to your bun