My bunny struggle for air and sometimes breathing heavily (RIP)

[the fluffies]

I woke up this morning to find my Shiro laying in his cage. Nose and ears are cold. I put a heating pad and hot bottle near him.

He is dehydrated. Tried to feed him some water and critical care, but he is no longer interested to swallow them. His nose is not twitching as always. He is breathing heavily. He looks really tired and doesn't struggle everything i pick him up to place him on the heating pad.

I have a feeling that he cant make it. But i will try to take him to any available vet for fluid therapy.

ray:

 

[Maureen Las]

I am so sorry for you hon

 

[the fluffies]

Shiro has left us this morning...
I feel like crap

 

[jujub793]

oh no! I am SO sorry!!! you have tried so hard to help him and did everything you could. :cry4:

 

[the fluffies]

http://thefluffies.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/goodbye-shiro/

 

[tristaw.]

I am so so sorry. You did all you can do.. so sad and painful. My heart goes out to you..:hug:

 

[Maureen Las]

I am so very very sorry for you :sosad
You have worked like a little trooper to help her and you did an outstanding job considering the difficulty that you had getting supplies etc.

She could not have had a better 'MOM " and you are an absolutely fantastic rabbit owner.
I admire your persistene, patience, love and devotion to her :hug::feelbetter:
She is a bunny angel now but you were also an angel to her.

O:bigtears:nce I again I am so sorry

 

[BabyMei]

I cried as soon as I seen that your Shiro has passed on D: ... May he rest in the Lords arms forever in paradise♥

 

[tonyshuman]

I am so sorry. I wish I could have helped more, although you really did do everything you could for him. Poor little guy and poor you. Binky free, sweet Shiro. You were well loved.

 

[the fluffies]

Yesterday before he passed on, we sent him to the vet for fluid therapy because he was dehydrated.

The vet gave him an injectable Baytril. The vet said, Shiro was constipated. At that moment, he said the tummy was the issue, not Shiro's lungs. So he asked me to stop the Prednisolone and Denxin until shiro starts eating again.

Then, I saw the vet draw Sodium Chloride in a 20ml syringe. I didnt notice if he draw other than Sodium Chloride, but told me, "Now i'm going to give some glucose to your rabbit"

He inserted a small needle (this needle attached to a 1' length tube) into Shiro's skin. He then injecting the liquid from the 20ml syringe from the other end of the tube. He injected 20ml liquid into shiro's body.

I wonder was he doing the right method to re-hydrate Shiro?

We drove home right away. We reached home about 1 and half hours after that treatment. I put Shiro is his playpen. At first he looked really tired, but after 10minutes, he suddenly moved here and there and peed in his playpen. I quickly hold him, and saw he tried to catch air from his mouth. He was gasping and shaking his body about almost 30minutes before he passed on. It was really heart wrenching to see him like that. He died in my arms.

I wonder what happened to him. But it looked like he was having lungs failure.

 

[maxysmummy]

that is so sad! me and my fiance read your story today and shed a little tear.

it's so hard losing a bunny.

i wish you the best x

 

[Flash Gordon]

oh my....im so so sorry.

 

[tonyshuman]

It's hard to tell exactly what was going on. It does sound like your vet was doing the right method for rehydrating Shiro, although the liquid should have been at body temperature--if it was very cold, he could have a serious drop in body temperature. The sodium chloride solution was probably the right solution to use for hydration, unless it was concentrated sodium chloride and not "normal saline", which is at a concentration similar to what is in the blood. I don't know why he would call it glucose unless there was glucose added to the solution that you couldn't read on the container. However, giving 20mL of body temperature normal saline to a bunny his size with that type of needle, tubing, and syringe would be fine.

 

[the fluffies]

He didnt take any body temperature before giving the fluid therapy. He just took Shiro's weight.

May i know what do u mean by "the liquid should have been at body temperature"? Shiro was cold (i touched his ears) before we took him there. We put a heating pad under his body. When we reached the vet, i touched his ears again. It felt normal.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

we're so sorry for your loss.:sad:

 

[tonyshuman]

I mean that the fluids shouldn't have been at room temperature (around 20 degrees C) or refrigerated (around 4 degrees C). They should have been at a temp closer to what his normal body temp would be: around 37 degrees C.

 

[the fluffies]

I see.. which means the fluids have to be heat up a bit? Is there any method to heat it up before given to animal?

What is happen if the fluid given colder than his body temperature? Sudden drop of body temperature my lead to death?

 

[Bunny parents]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[tonyshuman]

Sudden drop in body temperature could lead to shock, which if untreated could lead to death. The fluids are usually warmed up by putting them in a warm incubator (kinda like the opposite of a fridge). There are other methods, but you wouldn't want to do something like microwaving it--it can get too hot and have uneven heat distribution.

I do think that Shiro had a lot of things going on, though, and it's hard to say exactly what caused his death.

 

[jcottonl02]

I'm so sorry.

You tried your best for him

RIP Shiro

Jen