(RIP) OMG whats wrong with Hiccup

[Ofelia]

I went to check on my bunnies, did the rounds of fresh hay, greens, water, cuddles etc when I saw Hiccup on his side.

he is ONLY 12 weeks old, there ARE NO dangers in his pen that I can see.
He has not been out running free.
He was inside for a few hours today, playing etc this morning but he was fine when I put him back outside.

He has had no contact with another bunny, his pen is almost 1.7 meters tall and is made of a super sturdy predator proof outer with a hutch in the middle.


OMG I don't know what to do. I have given him some metacam , a hottie, a heater on low, greens, a sleep sack, water, food and OMG.....

Hiccup has lost the use of his back legs. I can feel no breaks but will not risk hurting him further.
Only a few hours to go until the vets:sad:

 

[Ofelia]

All my rabbits have been vaccinated except for Iggy and Hiccup as they are babies and their vaccinations were to be done by October.

He seem sot have injured himself somehow but for once on my life, I do not feel horribly horribly guilty. I know my bunnies have a good life, I care for them for hours every day, which is why this is so damned confusing!!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Oh, no. Randy, Sas, anyone? It could be paralysis (sp) due to many health issues as well.

I know I have heard that this can be the start of EC, but, best to get tests done first. Best not to speculate on this.


I'm hoping/praying for the best. ray: Please keep us posted.

 

[Ofelia]

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Here's the thread, in case it might help you.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12044&forum_id=10

 

[Ofelia]

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Get him to a rabbit savvy vet, asap!

Keep us posted! I am praying!ray:

 

[Ofelia]

I am making arrangements as we speak for a babysitter.
We will be offline and at a vets asap.

I am reading up frantically, thank you for the links.
My only solace at the moment is that with the quick discovery of him in this state MAY mean I have some time on my hands, I mean he is not going to die is he??

Actually I better not think that way, whatever he has came on so fast, he could get worse.

Off to phone vet AGAIN

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I hope he'll be fine. I am just wanting to hear what the vets say.

I'm praying for you guys.ray: Hope it's nothing serious.

(I have to head off, I hope another Mod comes on to help you.:?):thumbup

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Can any Infirmary Mods help? They're going to a vet now. Please, if any of you can keep an eye on this.

If in any doubt, call your vet with any questions, no matter how silly you think they may be, ok?:hug:

 

[Ofelia]

this is Hiccup a few minutes ago, he is obviously fading!! Spoke to the only emergency vet near me, he is in the middle of work and has people waiting, he is calling back soon.
given him baytril and metacam and fluids
vet is confident he is going to make it until morning but i need to take him in tonight.

going to get his mother in with to see him, he may not make it

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

:nerves1

 

[Ofelia]

Okay vet is coming to me!

OMG Hiccup is going downhill so fast. He may have a virus, have removed jazz now, she has been vaccinated but taking no chances.
Hiccup is shallow breathing and totally limp now, I am going to be with my rabbit now.
There is not much more me or anyone can do. Vet will be here asap.

:bigtears:

 

[cheryl]

Oh no..i'm so sorry to hear this...poor little Hiccup

I'm praying for the little guy

Keeping you both in my thought's.

 

[pla725]

Sorry to hear about this. Any update?

 

[Maureen Las]

Well I went to be and missed all this..
It sounds like a spinal injury to me but the vet will have seen him by now.
I am so sorry Ophelia..

 

[Ofelia]

I am totally exhausted so I will keep this brief.
Hiccup is with us still.

Vet came to the rescue but did very little different to what I was doing.

He was very very frank and to the point.

Animal sick
Quick diagnoses, no apparent broken anything
Antibiotics
Anti inflams
Metacam
some sub Q which he deemed unnecessary but precautionary
Booked in for xray tomorrow
can't move him as he is too fragile and a bit touch and go etc
possible bacterial infection
and goodnight

And he left

I don't think he was compassionate or terribly interested, definitely not much concern about him.
He said ...hmm..yes yes, these rabbits are a bit fragile. Could be gone soon. Keep "it" away from the other ones in case.

I mean he probably just views them as pests, he likely sees a lot of rural animals, sheep, horses, cattle, dogs and cats and rabbits may well feature at the bottom of the list for him.
But I don't blame him, he was the only vet I could get for a call out. He was polite, just not very wet about bunnies.

Oh well, thats that, Hiccup is possibly responding to the antibiotics.
Good little man.
He is warm, hydrated, in no pain and sitting up half and half. this is quite different from the nearly comatose looking position he was in before.

So in all, kind of positive. If I do lose him, then I will very very sad but we have done all we can and I need to be practical too, whatever he has, he IS responding well, so yeah,

goodnight folks, thank you and lets just hope for the best

 

[Maureen Las]

Geez...I never heard of a bacterial infection that came on so fast ..

You did a great job Ophelia and are still doing a great job.
If he doesn't make it you have done everything possible..
I will be interested in the x-rays....

and in the meantimeray:

 

[NZminilops]

Oh my gosh , I am so sorry this happened to you and he Ofelia. I have replied to your PM please feel free to call me anytime for someone to talk to if you're feeling overwhelmed.

 

[TinysMom]

I'm so glad the vet came over to see Hiccup. I'd like to suggest something that you might want to talk to your vet about - its a little known thing called "flopsy" and I know that there are going to be people laughing at me for suggesting it. However, I've come to believe in it.

One of my litters was about 3 months old when Val came down with something - when I found her she was on her side - paralyzed in the hind quarters. I wasn't able to save her even though I tried - and because I remembered about Flopsy - I tried giving her vitamin E - and we did see improvement - but she was just too far gone.

When her sister Bandita came down with the same symptoms (and we weren't sure if it was feed-related)...we started her on Vitamin E....and she is still with us now and you'd never know she was ever sick. Later on she came down with it twice more -she'd lose control of her back legs and just lay there...she hadn't injured herself anywhere. After a few doses of vitamin E ... she started getting better.

I don't know if she is susceptible to flopsy or what - I now give her some vitamin E every once in a while (I need to get it on a schedule) and I have switched brands of feed and she hasn't had any problems at all.

Here is a link to the thread about it - you can read what we went through with her...

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=35166&forum_id=8

Another suggestion that was throw out in the thread was that perhaps Bandita got hypoglycemic and if I remember right...Randy felt that might be possible too - that her blood sugar had dropped. I am not sure though.

Anyway - this is another possibility. I've had people tell me quietly, "yeah...we've had something like that ... but we don't really discuss it 'cause we don't have proof that what we did worked...all we know is that it did work."

It might be something to consider since the vet has stated that there is no injury present.