Loki's Mystery Illness: Likely Bone Marrow Cancer

[JadeIcing]

How old is Loki now?

 

[JimD]

ray:

 

[naturestee]

Alicia, Loki is 7ish. He's been with me for just over 6 years.

He seems back to normal today, or at least his new normal. His nose is still a little wet but he's not down in the dumps like he was yesterday. Also, he likes his herbal medicine because I mix the powder into diluted cranberry juice. I'm giving him astragalus, a Chinese herb for immune system support that has some promising scientific tests done on it (unlike echinacea, where scientific tests have poor results).

 

[JadeIcing]

Normalish is good.

It's very scarey as are buns get older.

 

[Pipp]

So sorry, it is stressful on you but you're doing an awesome job, I certainly can't do better or offer any better advice.

Just about anything can stress out my current sneezers from skipping a salad to dealing with a pig of a pen mate to treating somebunny else in the room with meds to having dirty litter to going away for a night to turning on a ceiling fan, and those are just the few things I noticed, lord knows what I haven't noticed.

I think bugs just run their course as well. Or at least I hope so.

A number of bunnies here had been sneezing for the last month or more, a full course of Baytril didn't do much and I ran out of Chlor Palm a few days short of the prescribed period and couldn't get more before it was too late. They had seemed pretty close to symptom-free but maybe not for the full 72-hours (it's recommended that antibiotics are continuted for at least 72 hours after symptoms disappear), and I was having trouble telling whether Mickey was wheezing or snoring (he normally doesn't sleep with me) so I finally got back to the Vet on Monday to make sure his chest was clear and I got $150 worth of more antibiotics. I haven't heard one sneeze or wheeze from anybunny since I got back so I'm holding off.

I think observation is the best tool and the most stress-free, although it's tough to know what they're thinking and the body is reacting to.

It also sounds like there isn't much in the way of stress-free treatment options other than the holistic approach you're currently on.

Hope Loki hangs in there for years to come.

sas :clover:

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Sorry you're going through this too. It's no fun having a sick bunny with no real obvious cause.

Rue

 

[naturestee]

Well, Loki definitely seems to need pain meds on a consistent basis now. It doesn't take much to make him feel better as he is on the minimum dose of Metacam for his size, but when I waited to give it to see if he actually needed it he started hunching up in his litterbox again. We'll see if the vet finds anything tomorrow, or if it is mystery cancer pains.

 

[naturestee]

Got back from Loki's recheck. He does have a minor URI, but his lungs sound clear so that's good. He scared me today because when I went to put him in his carrier, he was laying in his litterbox with his head propped up. He hasn't propped his head up on stuff since I first got him and his massive amount of fat made it hard to breathe (I'm not kidding, that's what the vet found).

I opted not to do another CBC. Whatever the results are, it wouldn't change his treatment, plus we're having some unexpected money problems here. A second antibiotic was added- trimethoprim sulfa. We also filled up on Cipro and Metacam, since he seems to need it on a regular basis. If the Metacam doesn't seem to cover his pain, my vet will add Tramadol on top of it instead of just increasing the Metacam doseage.

Loki is not excited about having yet ANOTHER twice-a-day medication. The new antibiotic makes three things twice a day, plus Metacam once a day. I'm getting lots of bunny butt.:bunnybutt:

Also, I met another bunny owner and gave her the website. She has an adorable lionhead!

 

[naturestee]

I think it's time for an update! Loki had a checkup a few weeks ago. He is doing fantastic. I stopped needing to feed him extra away from Mocha, and he is back up to his healthy weight of around 4.5 lbs with good muscle tone (although IMO not as good as before he got sick). He stopped needing pain meds for his arthritis after it got cold. Weird, because most people have worse arthritis in winter. Thankfully, his teeth haven't gotten too uneven yet thanks to the incredibly coarse hay I've been getting from my in-laws. That means we won't have to risk anesthesia for a molar grind yet.

I had weaned Loki off both antibiotics both to see what happened (nothing) and to give his body a little break. He is now back on just one as a preventative. His red blood cell and white blood cell counts are slightly higher than they had been, but still low, especially the white blood cells. Also, the proportions of the different white blood cells are strange, but I didn't get a copy of the lab report this time so I can't remember exactly what was wrong.

Short version: Loki is doing surprisingly well and could possibly be with me for a long time yet if he doesn't get some sort of infection.:biggrin:

 

[ZRabbits]

Wishing Loki the best. So glad that he's doing so much better.

K

 

[Maureen Las]

Just saw this Angela and I am also glad that he has improved