Help request

[mpp]

Hi there,

My partner's rabbit has been struggling lately, she's been to two different vets with no diagnosis besides a slightly misshapen spine that is pressing on some of her internals. She has been losing weight, grinding her teeth, and producing smaller feces than normal.

My partner is going to take her to the vet today, but the bills are adding up since she was just there last week. She lives in Philadelphia, and I wanted to reach out to see if anyone has any tips for affordable care for a bunny who may be entering stasis due to an undiagnosed underlying cause. Q Tip is 2 and a half years old, and has had these symptoms for about two months now. She's still eating but she's clearly in some pain and losing weight. She has slight tooth spurs, but one of the vets said they weren't big enough to be causing the problem. She's been sneezing and mucus-y recently, with some discharge from her nose and a tiny bit from her eyes. We have no idea what this could be, but my partner is scared and I just wish I could guide us in the right direction.

Thanks for any advice you might have.

 

[mpp]

Hi all,

Nevermind my last post. My partner went to the vet today and they told her Q Tip has about 24 hours left.

Any advice on remembering the pet and the grieving process? It was my partner's ESA.

 

[Critterfan87]

I'm so sorry to hear that. One of my friends found a really great glass artist that uses pet ashes in making beautiful pet memorials, most people generally have something like a pendant made. He's lost two pets in the last few years and went to this artist each time. I don't have any details on that particular artist but it's apparently a fairly common way to memorialize pets and there are many glass blowers around the country that do it.

 

[JBun]

I's sorry it wasn't good news. Have they said why she doesn't have long left and what the problem is? Are they still attempting to treat her?

 

[Imbrium]

I'm so sorry! If they don't know the cause and she does, indeed, pass away then be aware that it's an option to pay for a necropsy (animal autopsy) to find out more about what happened [if she dies after vet hours, the body can be wrapped up and refrigerated (NOT frozen) overnight to preserve the tissues].

While we've never gotten any of our animals certified as an ESA, I'm sure my husband could qualify for one if he tried and we certainly consider our pets emotional support to help with depression and anxiety. Losing one of our pets is always difficult but cremation helps. We have a ritual of giving "offerings" to the urn - placing a treat or toy or something the animal would've liked on the urn for a while (or in Layne's case I put stuff in his tin) as a tribute to their memory. When our sweet Polish mix boy died last January, we could barely afford the vet bill and basic cremation - I just couldn't justify spending another $15+ to upgrade to a nicer urn at the time... but I ended up making a trip to the dollar store and getting out my hot glue gun:

I carried him in my purse for like 2-3 weeks and slept with my arm around him... it definitely helped me grieve and accept that he was gone. We also took him to the zoo at the start of February and scattered a pinch of his ashes by each of our favorite birds and animals.

Also, it's possible to buy a necklace on Amazon that's meant to have some ashes placed inside it - search for cremation jewelry. When my husband's 17.5 year old cat, Roo, had to be put to sleep, we picked out this necklace set (a BFF style pair of necklaces so that we could each wear half of the heart).

 

[mpp]

My partner took her in and they examined her, and determined that she was in stasis. They said that her underlying illness (which has been causing her to lose weight, fall over, and grind her teeth) is making her too weak to get through this bout of stasis. We've been doing everything of course, abdomen massages, keeping her warm, critical care, some sort of GI medicine that the vet gave us, syringe feeding water, etc. She hasn't produced feces since yesterday and they were very small. They were almost microscopic at the vet's yesterday. She's on some pain medicine and she's been slightly active, but she's not showing any real progress and everything is becoming so expensive.

 

[mpp]

Also, thank you so much for the suggestions on grieving and remembering if she does end up passing away. Things like this will be useful for me and especially Q Tip's mama!

 

[Imbrium]

Having lost two rabbits to stasis, I know how terrifying and heartbreaking it is to watch them going through that. Without being able to identify and treat the underlying illness, it does sound like the stasis may do her in . She's in our thoughts and prayers, as are you and your partner.

 

[JBun]

If she manages to pull through this and you want to keep looking into her illness. If you haven't already had xrays, blood work, and a fecal float done, that could give you some indication of what's going on, but it's also possible it won't give you any answers. The simplest cause and easiest to treat would be a severe intestinal parasite(with or without a positive fecal float). There is also hepatic coccidiosis that can cause sudden weight loss and liver problems, and if that hasn't caused irreversible damage to the liver it can be treated with sulfa antibiotics or ponazuril.
https://www.rabbitnetwork.org/educa...abbit-health-articles/weight-loss-in-rabbits/
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Parasite/Parasites_main.htm

If you just can't do anymore testing but still want to see if there is anything left to try, I would want to treat based on the weight loss and the most likely and easily treated causes. I would want to give albon(sulfa antibiotic) to treat for possible hepatic coccidiosis or other possible infection and give a dewormer like fenbendazole for possible intestinal parasite. It may or may not help, or it may just be there's not much that can be done at this point. I really hope she can pull through, but I know that there's also a point where you've tried all that can be reasonably tried and sometimes the kindest thing is to let them go.

 

[mpp]

So she's actually seeming better at the moment. More active, been giving her gas drops and all of the prescribed medicine. Keeping her warm and feeding her hay, critical care, and water. Her feces are mixed, some are close to normal size but others are very small. When my partner took her in last week, they tested her feces and she ended up negative for coccidia. Right now we're waiting her out since it seems like she's improving, but our hopes aren't getting too high yet given the undiagnosed problem.

She's had xrays and bloodwork done, and the xrays showed a strange birth defect near where her spine meets her head. There is a small u-shaped dip in her spine that pushes slightly down on her lungs. The vet said she's had it forever so it probably isn't the cause of things, but interesting nonetheless and makes her unique In terms of bloodwork, I recall my partner saying that there was something very slightly off about her white cell count, but that it was probably nothing? I'll confirm with her.

I apologize for being so final in my post about "24 hours" but that's what the vet told us.

I also noticed something strange: Q Tip grinds her teeth and shakes a bit when I pet or scratch her on the back of her head, near where her spinal deformity is. I don't know why this is, since she seems to not grind and shake when my partner pets her there. It's probably nothing, but I felt it was worth noting.

Thank you for the suggestions and links!

 

[A & B]

I also noticed something strange: Q Tip grinds her teeth and shakes a bit when I pet or scratch her on the back of her head, near where her spinal deformity is. I don't know why this is, since she seems to not grind and shake when my partner pets her there. It's probably nothing, but I felt it was worth noting.

That actually means she's happy! It's like a cat purring.

I'm glad she's doing a bit better. I hope she pulls through.

 

[mpp]

Hi everyone,

I've just found some time to log back in here and give a quick update.

Q Tip passed away early Sunday morning. She was in bed with my partner and was loafing until about 4:00AM. At that point she laid down on her side pressed up against her and started breathing heavily, and we knew what was happening. She was on Meloxicam, so hopefully she wasn't in any pain, but she did have some spasms on one side of her body and was arcing her neck back to try and breathe. It was difficult to watch, but we kept petting her and loving her and telling her to let go. After a few minutes of this, she gave one last deep breath and passed. Part of me wishes that she had died peacefully in her sleep, but there was some comfort in being there when she went and being able to hold her paws and scratch her one last time.

We're having her cremated, and my partner has been talking with someone on Etsy who makes beautiful natural stone rings with the ashes of pets. It'll be the perfect permanent remembrance of sweet Q Tip. We love you, Q!

View media item 9697

 

[Imbrium]

Poor baby (and poor humans)! I'm so glad you guys were able to be there for her and comfort her, both for her AND for you - that can provide a certain level of closure that helps the grieving process a little. Q Tip was really a cutie and the ring sounds like a really great way to memorialize her.

Binky free, sweet girl!

 

[Playdoh52]

My partner took her in and they examined her, and determined that she was in stasis. They said that her underlying illness (which has been causing her to lose weight, fall over, and grind her teeth) is making her too weak to get through this bout of stasis. We've been doing everything of course, abdomen massages, keeping her warm, critical care, some sort of GI medicine that the vet gave us, syringe feeding water, etc. She hasn't produced feces since yesterday and they were very small. They were almost microscopic at the vet's yesterday. She's on some pain medicine and she's been slightly active, but she's not showing any real progress and everything is becoming so expensive.

I haven't had a rabbit in stasis so I don't know how much help I can be. Will Q Tip eat anything if you offer it to him?I guess if theres a blockage that would stop the poop from coming out, but could eating more Hay help push the blockage through?? JBun??

 

[Playdoh52]

Hi everyone,

I've just found some time to log back in here and give a quick update.

Q Tip passed away early Sunday morning. She was in bed with my partner and was loafing until about 4:00AM. At that point she laid down on her side pressed up against her and started breathing heavily, and we knew what was happening. She was on Meloxicam, so hopefully she wasn't in any pain, but she did have some spasms on one side of her body and was arcing her neck back to try and breathe. It was difficult to watch, but we kept petting her and loving her and telling her to let go. After a few minutes of this, she gave one last deep breath and passed. Part of me wishes that she had died peacefully in her sleep, but there was some comfort in being there when she went and being able to hold her paws and scratch her one last time.

We're having her cremated, and my partner has been talking with someone on Etsy who makes beautiful natural stone rings with the ashes of pets. It'll be the perfect permanent remembrance of sweet Q Tip. We love you, Q!

View media item 9697

Aw I am so sorry. It is always so hard to lose a pet that you love so much.

 

[mpp]

Aw I am so sorry. It is always so hard to lose a pet that you love so much.

Thanks so much for your kind words! It is tough, but I keep trying to remind myself that we had such wonderful times with her and that she gave us so much. Pets really do change your life!