IV Drip in Rabbits

[RebeccaUK]

Hi Everyone

My rabbit has been pretty ill for the last two days - I took her to thevet on Wednesday because she was straining to urinate and justgenerally looking a bit unwell and the vet gave her some shots and gaveme some baytril to give her twice a day. On Thursday morning she wasreally cold and limp in my arms so I rushed her to the vets again andthey told me she was not at all well, severely dehydrated and wouldneed to be connected to an iv where they would get some fluids intoher, she stayed there until this evening when they told me I could pickher up and since I've brought her home she has absolutely no interestin food or drink and is barely moving - when she does move she cannotput any weight on her front paw where the drip was and it's almost asif this paw is broken she kind of hobbles about on three of herremaining feet and is falling all over clumsily. Has anyone anyexperience of their rabbits having been on an iv drip and whether thisis common - I'm starting to worry now that it's not the drip at all andthat she has fallen somehow. I just wish I could get her to eatsomething which would make me feel a little better.

Any help you could give would be appreciated,
Rebecca xxx

 

[naturestee]

Oh no! I really hope she pulls through. I have no experience with this.

ray:ray:ray:

 

[Flashy]

I'm so sorry,but I have no experiencein this area either. But I will be thinking about you both and hopingthat she keeps fighting.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

So Sorry, I have no expirience with the IV drip,but since you think it's her paw that's hurt, maybe you should get somepain meds (Metacam) for her, if she's in pain because of her foot,maybe that's why she's not eating. Good Luck. Ihope your girl comes around soon.

 

[RebeccaUK]

thanks for the kind words. I have justtried feeding her some liquid food througha syringe as directed by thevet but I feel that her condition has actually worsened as the vet saidshe was swallowing this liquid food but I can't get her to swallow shejust lets it run out of her mouth.

 

[Flashy]

Could you call the emergency vet at your vets surgery?

 

[polly]

Thats awful i hope your bunny pulls through,usually the vets give sub Q fluids rather than a drip as bunnys feetand legs are pretty fragile sometimes a bit of peppermint tea can helphave you got water in a dish rather than a bottle? also can you maybetry some critical care or some veggie baby food ? sometimes if you putit on a teaspoon they will eat it off that its less stressful thansyringe feeding, maybe a heat pad as well for your bunny to lay on ifyouv'e not got one someone on here mentioned dry rice in a sock andheat it for a minute.

Good luck ray:

 

[ra7751]

Hi Rebecca,

I was asked to look at your bun's situation since I work a lot withsick rabbits. I would really like to have more information onwhat your vet diagnosed and what drugswereadministered. There are a couple of things thatreally concern me. First is the difficulty inurinating. My first thought there is always a urinary tractinfection or possibly a bladder stone and/or sludge. Somerabbits are prone to these. They really make a rabbitlathargic. I suspect by the use of Baytril that the vet issuspecting a UTI also. However, we are finding more and morebacteria becoming resistant to Baytril. And the urinary tractcan hold some very tough bacteria that Baytril might notbe upto fighting. My suggestion is to get some radiology of thelower abdomen with a couple of different angles on the bladder/kidneyarea. A good doctor should be able to spot most stones andbladder sludge would be obvious to anyone as it will show up verybrightly. I would also like to see a urinalysis.The proper way to collect urine for this is a procedure calledcystocentesis. It is somewhat nerve racking in that asmall needle or catheter is inserted thru the abdominal cavity andextracts urine directly from the bladder. That way assuresyou are getting avirgin speciman to insure a properdiag. And there is much more sinister possibility if yourgirl has not been spayed. These are also signs of uterinecancer. A blood panel showing blood values and renal valueswould be very valuable in helping your doctor diagnose this problem.

As far as the IV....they are never comfortable. Rabbitsgenerally freak when you are trying to get a vein. And theonly possibilities are the front legs and the ears. I don'teven try to get an IV in a rabbit that has not been sedated.Too much stress on them. And it's easy to injure the rabbitas they are certain to attempt to pull away violentlyduringthis procedure. While IV is much faster than sub-q, it's notworth the extra stress on the rabbit.

Regardless of all that, it sounds that your rabbit is in some degree ofpain...and the cold and limp conditions are shock. I wouldconsider this a life threatening emergency and your rabbit should bereceiving advanced care. I think pain meds....aggressive painmeds...are in order. Since we have established that she isdehydrated, I would keep the fluids going...preferably by sub-q toprevent excess stress. And her body temperature has got to bemaintained. Normal temp is 101F-103F...if my metric knowledgeis correct, that's about 38C-40C. We use an electric heatingpad on lowest setting and place it under whatever we have the rabbitin....it's a wildlife trick to prevent shock in them. Warmedfluids can be given sub-q...another trick we use in wildlife to warm upshocky patients. If all else fails, heat up bottled water andwrap in a towel and place around the rabbit....uncooked beans or ricecan be tied up in a sock and heated in a microwave and will remain warmfor quite some time. Some vets also use certain steroids tohelp patients in shock but there is a huge debate on it's value andlong term implications.

If you can get us as much additional info as you can....medsprescribed, breed, weight, age and anything else you can thinkof...maybe between everyone on this board, we can be of some help toyour rabbit. Best wishes.

Randy

 

[RebeccaUK]

My vet tested for urinary infections in thefirst instance and diagnosed a mild cystitis, she took a urine sampleand used a test which looked similar to pH paper and said most of theresults were not out of the ordinary - this was on Wednesday.I'm not sure what the injections given were - apparently one was anantibiotic to kill any infection and another was to help her gutmovements. When we returned yesterday morning the vetinsterted a rectal thermometer and said the temp was barely registeringwhich was a major cause for concern and she was rushed off for her ivinserting - I have no idea whether this was done under sedation as Iwas asked to leave her at the surgery.

She has been spayed. The medication prescribed on the firstvisit on Wedneday was 0.5ml baytril twice per day, she is a mixed breedrabbit - possible English spot/ butterfly cross and weighs 5.5lbsalthough I should probably weight her again to check for anyweight-loss recently. Her age is unknown as she was adoptedover two years ago from the RSPCA as an 'adult' rabbit.

 

[RebeccaUK]

I have found my broken down bill from the vetsyesterday so if this helps I can confirm the treatment Twinkle wasgiven as follows - if doesn't mean a lot to me as I'm no expert so I'mjust going to write it as it appears on the bill:

Fluid Therapy 1st Day
Aqupharm 11 500mls
Jelco Cannula 24g 0.75"
Hosp Fluids/ Intensive TX
0.15 Rimadyl injection
0.2 Metoclopramide injection

Hope this means something to someone?? I'm taking her back to the vetsin an hour but it's not looking good - she is freezing cold and has notimproved overnight. I've stayed up with her all night tryingto force feed some of the liquid food but she will not take it.

 

[Pipp]

I wrote this earlier, I don't see it, must have messed up before 'send'.

I would think warm sub-q fluids fluids would have been prescribed --they should have showed you how to administer alactatedringer.

Food is another issue, but less important than the warm fluids, and as Randy said, aggressive pain meds.

I wouldn't worry about the paw at all. The vet has never beenable to get an IV in my bunny, and the one time he tried, she wasobviously hurting. But she limps even when she has a hardlanding, doubt it's anything to be concerned about.

Hope she pulls through... I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. I'm sure everybody is. :rose:



sas ray:

 

[RebeccaUK]

Just to let you all know that thirty minutes agoTwinkle was put to sleep at the vets. As she was notresponding to medication and not eating or drinking, her temperaturewas barely registering on the thermometer and she waslifeless. The vet said that the damaged paw looked like nervedamage from a minor fall and the iv in her leg would have added tothat. She is now at peace. I have brought her homeand have left her body out in the run with Benjamin her bonded partnerso he can see what has happened to her - he seems disinterested andhasn't gone anywhere near her yet - how long do you think I shouldleave her with him as my hubby is keen to bury her soon and give her afitting send-off.

Rebecca

 

[Pipp]

:bigtears:So sorry Rebecca...

I'm not totally convincedthe final goodbye is thebestway to go, so I'd say a brief visit will suffice, butthat's just me.

Poor Benjamin. Poor Rebecca.

:rip:little Twinkle. :sosad



sas :cry2

 

[RebeccaUK]

I'm not sure if it's too soon but hubby hasalready suggested that we go round some of the rescues this afternoonand start looking for a new partner for Benjamin - he was the happiestbunny in the world when he was with her and I'm not sure that he wouldcope being a single rabbit. Do you think it's too soon tostart looking and start a new bonding process within the next week?

 

[Pipp]

I personally don't think it's toosoon. You don't really have a lot to lose. If itdoesn't work, there's always next week, as long as you're not lockingyourself into anything. But maybe it will work better thisweek and he'll be more receptive, and not so much next week.

Andit couldbe a much-needed distraction for both you and Benjamin.

I'm not a rabbit, but I know if I only had one bunny mate and she wasgone, I'd be comforted by having others around. To be honest,I was so terrified of losing Pipp, and that overwhelming fear neverleft until I ended up with a second heart bunny, Dill.

Even now, I find great comfort hugging all my bunnies when faced with even an indirect loss.



sas :hug1

 

[Flashy]

I am so so sorry to hear this.

She will be at peace now.

With regards to what you said about leaving her with her bonded bunnyand also looking for a new bun, there is not really a right nor wrongthing to do, just do what you feel is the best at the moment

Hang in there honey.

 

[ra7751]

Hi All,

I have one small comment to make to the group about thissituation. I will have more details later, but this is notthe time for too much. My brief comment on this is to pleaseseriously consider the use of gut motility drugs under anycondition. That is another of the old school ideas that workon many other species but cause major problems in rabbits. Wesee many gut problems but we have never used any of thosedrugs. Not saying this is the major cause here, but somethingto consider. More on that at a more appropriate time andplace.

And Rebecca, please accept our sympathies on the passing ofTwinkle. She obviously has been, is, and will forever be in aspecial place in your heart. From what you have posted, itseems you were doing everything you possibly could for Twinkle and theyreally know when someone really cares...I am totally convinced ofthat. May she binky free while awaiting you at the RainbowBridge.

We just went thru something similar just last week so the memories arefresh for us. But we knewit wastime. Ionce read something that I have alwaysremembered that gives me great comfort in times like this.

We sent you on a journey not because we didn't love you, but because we love you too much to force you to stay.

Binky free Twinkle.

Randy

 

[naturestee]

I'm so sorry, Rebecca. I don't thinkthere's anything wrong with you looking for a new friend for Benjamin,as long as you are up to it too. Don't feel that you have todo it immediately if the idea makes you feel upset.

She was such a beautiful girl. Binky free, Twinkle.

:sad:

 

[dajeti2]

:bigtears:I am so sorry sweetie. I know nothingI say or do will make the pain easier. My heart truly goes out to you.I didn't post here because I didn't want to tie up the valuableinformation you were getting. I'm in tears, I'm sorry.

 

[Usagi_Chan]

I'm so sorry to hear aboutTwinkle. You should go where your heart leads but I thinkgetting another bunny would help everyone there. Like Pippone of the reasons that I got a second bunny is because I saw howdevistated I was when Usagi took sick.

Usagi_Chan