Poor Lucy just isn't herself? (RIP)

[sarahsop]

Hi

As detailed in my blog one of my 6 rabbits had to go to my sister-in-law to be looked after for a while (we had babies and needed Lucys hutch for the father) so Lucy went to be pampered down the road.



TonightI went down to clean her out and give her some fuss and she met me witha really funny growling noise? I lifted her out of the hutch and noticed that she was wet underneath? It was discharge from her bottom, green/yellow and very snotty. She is eating/drinking/weeing/pooing normally but just doesn't seem to be her normal happy self.

Any ideas?



Off to the vet first thing.



sarah x

 

[naturestee]

Mucous on her butt means that there is something really wrong with her intestines. She definately needs to go to a vet. Did your sister feed her anything different? Or different amounts? Could she have nibbled on a plant that isn't safe (in the yard or house) or could she have had contact with cleaning chemicals, pesticides, etc.?

 

[TK Bunnies]

Oh that sounds scary. You should get her to the vet ASAP!!!!

I hope she's okay,

-TKray:

 

[sarahsop]

Hi

No sis is just as carefull with bunny bellies as I am! LOL they eat better than we do!

I was so worried this morning, to make things worse I had to work today so sis was having to take prescious bun to the vet, I think I would have been happier if she was taking one of the kids LOL!

Ok so the vet (thankfully was the senior partner) was fantastic! He thinks that Lucy has a virus, her temp was fine and he gave her a really good going over! So she has had a dose of Anti-biotics/steroids and some other feel good bunny stuff, plus she came home with a drink and some bunny build up. I haven't been to see her yet as I have just come in from work, once my boys (2 &3 yrs) go to bed I will be down the road! Sarah (sis) has spent all day helping Lucy to eat the special build up with a syringe and a spoon, aparently she is loving it!

How absolutly awfull is it when your bunny is ill!

She is back to the vet in the morning, not the senior bloke but hey we'll see



Thanks again



sarah xx

 

[sarahsop]

Poor Lucy has declined again..........she is making awful noises and looks terrified when we are by the hutch then when we go away she looks fine and is eating her hay?

Back to the vet in the morning



sarah x

 

[ellissian]

I'm sorry she is ill, hope she gets better real soon.

 

[Haley]

hmm that does not sound good. Good for you for getting her to the vet straight away though!

Any chance you could bring her inside until she's better? Sounds like she enjoys having you around if you say she sounds better when youre there with her. It might be easier for your sis to watch her that way too.

PS. Does your sis have any bunnies? If not, she needs to get some, she sounds like a bunny person to me!

 

[Mikoli]

If she lives outside, it's possible that she just nibbled on a funny plant or something. I'd go out to your sister's backyard, and give it a thorough check over for poisionous plants. This could be helpful information for your vet if you think anything might be wrong. I'm sure that your sister wouldn't feed Lucy anything on purpose, but she might have done so accidentaly. Has she been being fed bread, rice, odd types of lettuce, strange plants, any screws or chewed wood on her hutch? Any of these could possibly cause something to go wrong with the digestive system.

Does your sister have any dogs or cats? Might she have accidentally dropped Lucy when she took her out of the hutch? I'm just trying to find an explination for her nervousness.

Good luck, I hope Lucy's alright,
Rachel.

 

[Ivory]

She could have eaten an alkaloid plant such as caladiums ("elephant ears"). Maybe get the vet to do a fecal sample to see if there are any bits of it in her feces.

Hope she does better!

 

[sarahsop]

No she hasn't eaten anything, sis has a huge hutch which is low down and goes straight to an enclosedrun on the grass, which is short and relativly weed free. As she has bunnys herself she only feeds them the odd carrot/leafy greens such as Cabbage.

I wondered if they had a fox visiting? she is slightly more exposed there than she is here.

Once the vet has seen her again today we should know more.

Whats the average age for a rex? Lucy is almost 5 we think?



Thanks again



sarah x

 

[Mikoli]

sarahsop wrote:

Whats the average age for a rex? Lucy is almost 5 we think?

Do you mean the average life expectancy? 5-6 years for unneutered/spayed, and 10 years for neutered/spayed.

Rachel.

 

[sarahsop]

Lucy had cancer. It had spread from her uterous to her lungs.

Not very happy with the vet yesterday.

gutted



sarah

 

[MsBinky]

:shock:

I'm so sorry. I never suspected that was it! :tears2:Big hugs. That is so terrible. I'm shocked.

 

[ellissian]

I'm so sorry Sarah, poor Lucy. :bigtears:

 

[naturestee]

Oh no! OMG I'm so sorry, this is awful.

:sad:

 

[sarahsop]

Thanks guys n girls

I am so cross, not that she was sick, but that she had to suffer another 24 hours of pain because a vet couldn't be bothered to find what should have been obvious, I am considering my options, changing vets is the first thing I am going to do.

The vet today found lumps in her tummy which just shouldn't be there and connected the discharge with cancer of the womb straight away, this was the fist thing I thought off to be fair...but you trust the professionals don't you and of course we hoped that she would make a "full recovery" as predicted by the vet yesterday. I wasn't with Lucy at the end as my sister-in-law took her yesterday and wanted to take her again today, so with family commitments she took her. At the end apparently she started bleeding through her nose, which when she asked the vet if that was normal she said no but that it was obvious that we had made the right decision. They didn't have the cheek to charge for anything other than the £15 follow up appointment.

Well we have 5 other rabbits at home, Charlie and Lola and their 3 kits, who of course are all staying here so we still have bunnies to care for, I will never forget Lucy though, her fur was sooo soft.



Thanks again for all your advice



sarah x