(RIP) Chest Congestion, Possible Pneumonia or Heart Condition

[plasticbunny]

She's doing well, just very quiet and hiding under the couch. I mixed her a mush out of pellets, pumpkin and parsley, and she seemed to tolerate having that syringed to her more than the pumpkin alone. Before bed she'll get her meds and another feeding and hopefully there will be many many poops in her crate tomorrow morning!

Praying for poop :litterhealthy:

 

[plasticbunny]

Oh, not so good news. I administered Molly's meds tonight, and she did not enjoy it. In fact, she got all worked up but she couldn't get enough oxygen and ended up sitting in a corner, gasping for air. At one point I thought she was actually suffocating and I moved her towards me and she felt slightly limp. I thought she was about to leave us

Now she is resting in her crate by herself, where I hope she can relax and get some rest. At this point I'm not even sure she'll make it through the night. My boyfriend is calling around trying to find a 24 hour pharmacy so we can buy the nebulizer the vet said we didn't need. I'm assuming I can use it with just water, I don't need any medication?

 

[TinysMom]

I've used this before with rabbits and need to find it again to have it ready (and get more of the little things you put in it).

If you can't find a vet - this might be a reasonably priced option if you have a 24 hour pharmacy or Walmart or something.

 

[plasticbunny]

Thanks Peg, I'll definately try that. None of the 24 hour parmacies/Walmarts carry nebulizers, and said we'd have to go to a medical supply store, which of course wasn't open at one in the morning :rollseyes. And today is a holiday, so nothing is open.

The good news is she's still with us. Bad news is she's the same as last night. I'm actually dreading giving her her meds, for fear that she'll panic again. And I'll have to syringe her some food to take with the metacam, so there's 5 things to syringe now. Oh, dear.

 

[naturestee]

Will she eat canned pumpkin on her own? I've hidden meds in that before. Or applesauce and such.

You can "make" a temporary humidifier by just putting Molly in the bathroom with you when you take a shower.

Actually, you could also ask your vet about borrowing a nebulizer and giving her the antibiotics through that. It essentially makes the animal breathe in the medication, so it goes directly into the lungs. My local humane society uses one all the time with sick cats because it's very effective.

 

[plasticbunny]

No, she won't eat anything on her own. And she really hates the pumpkin so thats a big no.

Oh, my poor girl. I wanted to try the shower, but do you think she'll get chilled afterwards?

 

[naturestee]

Since she's just in the steamy bathroom, not actually getting wet, she should be fine. I've done it with cats and my baby daughter to help them breathe when they were sick.

I just remembered that there is more information about nebulizers in our Library:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=16807&forum_id=10

If the steam helps her breathe a little easier, maybe give her the medications afterwards while she's still breathing well.

 

[plasticbunny]

Well, I gave her the medicine while you were responding, so I'll give that a try tonight. She didn't do quite as badly as last night but she spit out a lot of antibiotic . Hope that doesn't ruin the whole dose. She did give me foot flicks when she hoped away so that was good to see!

I only managed to get maybe a teaspoon of puree into her with her Matacam but it's better than nothing.

 

[gmas rabbit]

tempt her with anything that she will eat, banana, dry whole grain bread, dandelions from the produce store if you don't have them, alfalfa hay for now, broad leaf endive, romaine lettuce, clover anything that will help get something into that gut. Antiobtics will make her feel nauseated if you don't.

 

[Maureen Las]

Is the medication liquid ? is it flavored. ?


We have a compounding pharmacy here with a pharmacist who takes the prescription and compounds the meds into a liquidwith a flavor that the animal likes ..

makes it easy to give meds

 

[plasticbunny]

I promise you, she will not eat anything. I have tried EVERYTHING.

What are the odds of her not making it through this??? Her breathing is not getting better, it's worse since she saw the vet yesterday.

 

[pamnock]

Nutri Cal for dogs/cats is an excellent way to get in a lot of calories in a small amount- with less stress than supplements such as Critical Care. It'll help give her the extra energy boost she needs to recover.

 

[plasticbunny]

Do you know where I can get that? What about Kitten Milk Replacer?

 

[TinysMom]

You don't need KMR - that is for young bunnies that need milk....you could use Pedialyte for drinking and the Nutrical has calories too (it is in the pet section).

 

[TinysMom]

The humidifier thing I sent you a link to - I bought in Walmart. I have also bought Nutrical in the pet section (I think I got it at Walmart) and I buy the pedialyte in the baby food section.

As you know, in spite of any sugars in it - I'm a big big big proponent of banana baby food - especially if it is Beechnut's Chiquita banana. I open that up and bunnies come running and hope it is for them.

Perhaps try mixing that with her med to get her to take her med?

 

[TinysMom]

I just got off the phone with Erin. Molly passed away a few minutes ago on her way to the vet. She got worse throughout the day.

I will let Erin provide more details if she wishes when she is up to it - and I will link to the Rainbow Bridge thread if she starts one later on.

 

[naturestee]

She was so young.:bigtears:

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

So, so sorry to hear about Molly. :tears2:

 

[gmas rabbit]

I have been watching Molly all weekend, when she was diagnosed with pneumonia we all thought that there was hope. I am so,so sorry Erin for your lose. She was still a baby. Man some times life is really hard and harsh. Hugs and prayers from Benjamin and me. I wish I could give all of you that have had such a lousey weekend with your little loved ones a hug in person, but we are with you.

 

[Pipp]

Very, very sorry, Erin.

I'd actually guess that it was viral pneumonia and I don't think anything could have saved her.

Viral pneumonia is there but symptom-free for a couple of weeks, by then by the time the symptoms do show up, like weight loss and congestion, it's beyond life-threatening.

Even if miraculously caught early, aggressive antibiotics wouldn't have helped. Nothing really would have, it was up to her body's ability to fight it.

You took such good care of her. It was just bad luck.

:rip: Molly.


sas :sad:

PS: I edited out the reference to it not being bacterial, because viral pneumonia can lead to bacterial pneumonia.