My Benjamin is not doing well, and I don't know why

[dyky71]

You should take him to "All Creatures Animal Hospital" to Dr. Kenneth Welle. He is great. I think he is is listed in The House Rabbit Society list if I remember right. He is good. He's in Urbana. His number is 217-328-4143
I hope he gets well . It sounds like he won't without intervention soon.
Rupert wishes his daddy a speedy recovery!!

 

[edwinf8936]

Let's start from the begiinig, I may have missed some info.

What are his poops like, normal, small, runny?

Besides not eating much hay does he eat any hard food, pellets etc.? Usually with teeth problems they will stop eating the hard food first.

Since he is losing weight, I think the vet needs to runblood tests,maybe even a urnalysis.

Also, the vet may want to try a vitamin B and C injection to see if that perks him up.

I think from what you described there the blood test may reveal the most oneway or the other. You will need to be a little agressive at this point, maybe even leaving him with the vet a day so they can work all the test they need to do. If this vet cannot do this, you will need to see a more rabbit savvy vet. You have to find outwhat is going on because his organs could start shutting down.



ed

 

[gentle giants]

Edwin, his poops are normal. He wasn't all thatenthused about carrots before he got sick, so I haven't tried those onhim. He is definalty loving the pumpkin, though, he is perfectly happyto lay on his back in my lap and eat it out o the syringe.
He hasan appointment with the same vet I took Big Mama to on Monday am, theysaid they can check his teeth to see if that is the problem. If itisn't, they will refer me to a vet they know of in Champaign ( I thinkthe same on dyky mentioned, the name sounds right) and he will takeover. They said he really knows his rabbits. I will let everyone knowthe outcome of Monday's visit, please keep us in your thoughs andprayers.

 

[SAS]

gentle giants wrote:

He is definalty loving the pumpkin, though, he is perfectlyhappy to lay on his back in my lap and eat it out o thesyringe....

Ohhh that's good news! :colors:

Wanting to eat is 3/4 of the battle.

Sound more like teeth problems with every post. If the firstvet wasn't all that experienced, could have misread the bug thing.

And Ed, the only thing my bunny would eat with her molar spurs werepellets, go figure. She stopped eating hay. She'dpick up the greens and drop them. She wasn't really enthusedabout much other than pumpkin, grated carrotand banana andsomepellets (although she even stoppedthatstuffwhen she stopped drinking).

My vet didn't believe me when I said she was sick, 'cause she had gained weight!! :rollseyes:

SAS

 

[Rinoa]

Why don't you give him dark green leafy veggiestoo. I read that they help build up the good bacterias in theirstomach... and lots of hay too, to aid their digestion.Nottoo much veggies, though... hehe...

Don't change the diet too often, it will cause more upsets. =)

 

[gentle giants]

SAS,
I think the first vet I took him to really wasn't sure what she waslooking for anyway. After looking at the fecal sample, all she said was"there was a lot of bacteria in there". I think mabye she just gave himthe antibiotics to feel like she was doing something. She was reallytrying, bless her heart, and there is no clinic I would rather take mydog or cat to than that one, but she just doesn't know rabbits. Anyway,I will post back after his appointment tomorow morning.

 

[2bunmom]

Awwww, I hope that once and for all they canfigure out what is going on with your baby!!! Thatmust be so frustrating!!! I will be following thispost to see what the new vet says. Hang in there!Beckie

 

[m.e.]

Don't know how I missed this thread...

Benjamin will be in my thoughts and prayers. Let us know how things work out.

ray:

~Emily and the Fuzzbutts~

 

[gentle giants]

Ok, here is what we've got so far. His temp iselevated, 102 degrees. The vet, Dr. Drake, said he didn't feel any kindof abdominal mass, and couldn't see anything wrong with his teeth. Heis on an anibiotic for ten days, if there is no improvement in 3-4 dayswe do abdominal x-rays to check for any masses/tumors. Dr. Drake saidthe antibiotic that the first vet put Ben on was "really not one hewould have chosen" for a rabbit. So we are trying a different one, andfor a longer time. Ben did great, and he took his first dose of medlike a champ. I promised him for the next dose he would get a pumpkinchaser to get the taste out of his mouth, LOL.

I have to say--one thing I am worried about is cancer. I am thinking,though, that cancer wouldn't cause an elevated temp? Can anyone confirmthis?

I was really shocked by how much weight he has lost--FOUR POUNDS! He's gone from a slightly chubby 17.8 to 14 pounds.
I feel really bad that I haven't made more effort before this to gethim competent medical help. Well, we will see how this new medicinedoes, hopefully we will have him on the road to recovery now.

 

[Maureen Las]

Well at least you have a plan now so that is very good. Hopefully the new antibiotic will bring his temp down. Let us know.

 

[Bunman]

Best wishes!

 

[SAS]

um...pretty sure 102 degreesis normal for a rabbit.

did he do another fecal exam? did he give a reason for thinking an abdominal problem?

how closely did he look at his teeth?

what the first antibiotic? what's he on now?

SAS

gentle giants wrote:

His temp is elevated, 102 degrees. The vet, Dr. Drake, said hedidn't feel any kind of abdominal mass, and couldn't see anything wrongwith his teeth. He is on an anibiotic for ten days, if there is noimprovement in 3-4 days we do abdominal x-rays to check for anymasses/tumors. Dr. Drake said the antibiotic that the first vet put Benon was "really not one he would have chosen" for a rabbit. So we aretrying a different one, and for a longer time. . .. I have to say--one thing I am worried about is cancer. I amthinking, though, that cancer wouldn't cause an elevated temp? Cananyone confirm this? . . . I was really shocked byhow much weight he has lost--FOUR POUNDS! He's gone from a slightlychubby 17.8 to 14 pounds.

 

[KeltonB]

I hope Benjamin feels better soon.

Kelton

 

[edwinf8936]

102 is in the normal range.

Personally, I would go ahead and do the xrays. Was he given fluids?

Ed

 

[2bunmom]

Oh my goodness!!! He has lost a lot ofweight!! Poor baby, I hope you figure outwhat iswrong soon!!! Maybe you could supplement what he is eating bydoing some syringe feeding. I have to agree with Edwin, Iwould go ahead and get the xray. I just do not understand whythe vet would automatically assume he needs an antibiotic.The vet did not say anything about trying to keep his weightup? Sorry, I just expected to come back and findthat the vet had figured out what is going on or at least washelping you with suggestions of things to try until you could figureout what is going on. Beckie

 

[Bunman]

Time for a second opinion?

 

[Maureen Las]

How's Benjamin doing? Is their any better response to the new antibiotic?

 

[Garden Flowers Rabbitry]

coccidia is a parasite, not a bacteria.but with an animals immune system compromised, it is easy to get thenumbers up,.. a bacteria can be present too,

even if itisn't that, getting the bunny on acidophilus will help . ifit's coocidia

Ok, foundanother article about dental care that says an otoscope may not beenough to tell if there are problems with the teeth. It'sfine for annual exams but if dental problems are suspected, the rabbitmay need to be put under.

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/dental_disease.htm



Of course, it may not be a dental problem if he had bacteria issuesbefore. How long was he on the antibiotic and did he have arecheck to make sure the problem was gone?

 

[Garden Flowers Rabbitry]

also, with coccidia symptoms canpresentwith EITHERdiarrhea or with harddroppings....at least from what I've seen with chinchillas orprairiedogs

 

[gentle giants]

Well, his poops have been normal, wouldn't coccimake those different? And wouldn't my other rabbits have come down withit? The vet told me that a normal temp for a rabbit was 100 degrees. Myproblem is, I don't know enough myself to be able to tell all that muchabout someone else's knowledge.
I WAS a little surprised that hedidn't pay more attention to his teeth, he looked in there and movedhis mouth around and such, and said it looked ok. To be honest, I hadthought he might have a temperature before I brought him in to the vet,because his ears just felt REALLY warm, especially for a coolnight/morning.
He didn't give him any fluids. I have been giving him canned pumkinmixed with orange juice twice a day for several days now, and he isdefinalty perking up since I have been doing that. He was so eager forthe pumpkin last night he bit the tip off the syringe! He seems to bedrinking well, his bowl is usually empty, or close to it, when I go outin the evening for my evening bunny check. Dr. Drake gave me the phonenumber for Dr. Welle, if Benjamin isn't showing marked improvement inthe three or four days Dr. Drake mentioned, I will call Dr. Welle.Right now I don't know if the improvement I am seeing in him already isbecause of the syringe feeding or the medicine. I'm thinking itprobably was the pumpkin, I don't think the antibiotic would have hadtime to really be effective yet. Am I doing the right thing here?