Pain med for Beau

[Maureen Las]

I have been giving my mini-lop Beau antibioticssince I attempted to grind his incisors myself with an electric nailfile and apparently irritated the upper gum area of his mouth creatingan infection. He behaved normally but stopped eating hay completely andalso veggies and would only eat pellets. When I took him to the vet Ilet her clip his teeth (no one grinds in this town) and sheaccidentally cut his mouth ..that was about a week ago. The infectionin his upper gum line was improved when I returned to vet on Wed. buthe still will only eat pellets. Now maybe I am dense but I was thinkingtoday..Why didn't anyone give him pain meds.? Well the vets here arebarely rabbit saavy and their is a reluctance to give them pain medsand all at once I'm thinking that is probably what he needs. It is Sat.night with no 24 clinic and I am wondering if I can give him babyAspirin or something similar without hurting him more. He weighs3.4lbs. Thanks guys

 

[Haley]

Im not sure..maybe someone else can weigh in on the pain meds.

I just wanted to say my vet is the same. I actually decided to switchvets recenty bc of this. I had been thinking of switching fora while, but wanted to stick with my current vet bc they're so great(and very close-which is wonderful when you work and go to school fulltime). Anyway, they werent gonna give Max pain meds after hehad surgery to have his front incisor removed...I complained and theyfinally gave him an rx for meticam (and I had to tell him that this wassafe for rabbits.geeze!)

Anyway, hope your little one gets to feeling better..anyone have any advice on the over the counter pain meds?

 

[tofuhead]

i would suggest not to use the aspirin and ask the vet for pain meds specifically for rabbits.

 

[Maureen Las]

I can't get to anyone who knows anything aboutrabbit medicine until Tues...maybe I could do that on-line vet thingwhere you pay $15.00. The problem is I don't trust the vets and I don'tknow everything myself. It is so nerve-wracking to live like this ..Ireally don't trust that the vets in La Crosse know everything aboutrabbits. When I went the other day the vet assistant wrote "too manysea-gulls when I said "too many cecals. I mean that is too idiotic tobe real..she said that Beau was producing too many seagulls. Then thevet taught me to give Baytril IM and I learned today on another sitethat it should only be given SQ...Haley I know what you mean aboutMetacam....one vet here gave me carprofen for dogs and wanted me tobreak it up in tiny pieces. I had to insist on Metacam which she had toget from another clinic. Anyway Beau is not in acute distress so I 'msure he can wait until Tues but if anyone knows about baby aspirin Iwould appreciate hearing about it.

 

[tofuhead]

I see. Sorry I can't help. But i'm going to pray for Beau!

 

[Maureen Las]

Beau says thank you

 

[Pipp]

Baby aspirin (as long as there's no bleedingissues -- no recent surgery, no pending surgery)will work ina pinch, as will Ibuprofen, but let me check on the dosages, hangtough...



sas

 

[missyscove]

tofuhead wrote:

I see. Sorry I can't help. But i'm going to pray for Beau!

:yeahthatBeau will definately be in my prayers as well.

 

[Pipp]

Ack, so sorry Maureen! I got sidetracked by a missing bunny. (Sherry went missing, but I just found her).

Here's a blurb from Susan Brown (DVM) on common pain relievers forbunnies. Still working on the dosage. (I haven'tchecked to see if you posted on Etherbun, but I'm assuming you did).

So sorry again!

Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)

NSAIDs are agents that both control inflammation and are analgesic.They vary greatly in potency from the weakest, aspirin, to a strongerdrug such as carprofen. To date there are no documented reports ofserious side effects with these drugs, however it is known in otherspecies (horses, dogs, humans) that long term use at the upper end ofthe dosage range may result in gastric ulcers. In particular,corticosteroids should not be given at the same time as NSAIDs becausethe potential for gastric ulcers is greatly increased. In addition,these drugs should probably not be used 24 to 48 hours prior to surgerydue to potential renal (kidney) complications. NSAIDs can be giveneither orally or by injection. They have an apparent long duration ofaction, ranging from 12 to 24 hours for most agents. NSAIDS arecommonly used to control pain in GI disease and for at homepostsurgical care. These agents are also useful for chronic painparticularly if it is caused by inflammatory disease such as arthritis,acute ear infection and abscesses. If NSAIDs are used for extendedperiods of time, they should be used at the lower end of the dosagerange and the rabbit should be monitored to prevent potential gastriculcers. However, neither our clinical experience nor that of others Ihave spoken to indicate that gastric ulcers are a problem in rabbitsgiven long term NSAIDs. Common NSAIDs that are used include; aspirin,carprofen, diclofenac, flunixin, ibuprofen, indomethacin, ketoprofen,meloxicam, acetominophen and piroxicam.

 

[naturestee]

It's pretty common (and safe) to give babyaspirin. Here's a link to a rabbit dosage calculator so youcan figure out how much to give him.

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

And I totally hear you on the vets! Mine are better, but itlooks like the guy that usually treats my rabbits has left.There's a new vet that treats exotics there but I haven't found out yetif she does rabbits. That leaves a surgeon who spays most ofthe rabbits and a cat/dog vet that owns a rabbit and has picked up someinfo from working with my regular vet. After this clinic, Ithink I have to drive an hour+ to find a rabbit vet.

 

[Maureen Las]

Thanks everyone (Pipp and Angela)..Ihaven't given him anything yet as far as pain.This is his situation. Iground his teeth several weeks ago and did not notice at first that hewas not eating hay or veggies as he is with Babette. When I did takehim to the vet she and I found the slight infection under his upper lipand he was started on the IM Baytril (the other site has now informedme that it is fine to give it IM). I had her switch it to Ciprofloxicinlast Wed because he has had really good results with that in the past(orally). I gave it to him bid for 2 days but his behaviour got sosluggishwith No appetite that I stopped it. I had acouple of Baytril tabs here (originally for him) so I switched him backto oral Baytril. His behaviour is now much better..he eats pellets buta lot of them and is alert again. This is what I really think...THATTHE VET TECH DID NOT MIX THE CORRECT DOSAGE OF CIPRO WITH THE FLAVORINGSYRUP. Now I cannot prove that but I honestly think this is what ishappening. I am now in a quandary as to how to proceed with him. I amwondering if the grinding injured the nerves of hisincisors (although it was gentle grinding) and thinking that thesolution to all of his teeth problems would be to have the incisorsremoved. No one here in La Crosse would touch that. I would have to goto Madison and I have no idea how I could afford to be running him backand forth . I feel, honestly that I am doing the right thing byrescuing the shelter rabbits here in La Crosse as I will give them thebest life that they can get here., however, I am thinking that it wouldactually be unethical for me to bring another rabbit here fromsomewhere else because I don't have the kind of medical support andcare that a true rabbit owner needs. I am so frustrated. I canunderstand how people felt many years ago before there was advancedmedical care for people because I feel that the treatment isavailable but I can't get to it. Beau is only 3yrsold and is bonded toanother lop. It has occurred to me that if I can't get his problemsstraightened out that he will either die or have to be PTS....I don'tmean now but eventually