Struggling with rabbits health for over a year, please help!!

[Splentaforous]

I’ve never posted on a forum before, but I am absolutely desperate for answers at this point. This may be long, but I want to be thorough. I’ve been struggling with my rabbits health for a year now and thought I’d ask some experienced owners if they have any idea what might be going on as I’ve gotten some very questionable and unreliable answers from vets. So, my girl is 6 years old and lives with her brother. Her brother is neutered, but she is not spayed, which I know is very concerning. Last year I was going to get her spayed, but that’s when her health issues came up and our vet said it would be extremely dangerous and unnecessary to spay her. It started in November last year, she was super healthy and then suddenly and drastically started dropping weight. She’s a Holland lop and prior to this she was always about 3 pounds. Suddenly within the span of a week she lost an entire pound. She was still acting normal, eating, drinking, and using the bathroom, but obviously I made her a vet appointment because she had lost so much weight in such a short time. Our normal vet couldn’t take us in (They we’re understaffed and overwhelmed because of COVID) so we went to a different exotic vet near us. They agreed her weight was extremely concerning and we went over her diet, they said there were no problems there and that she was eating exactly what she was supposed to. She didn’t seem depressed, she didn’t seem ill other than the weight loss, she wasn’t in any pain and she was acting otherwise normal. They took her and did blood tests and scans to see if she had tumors but there was nothing. All they could tell me was her white blood cell count was low, but they couldn’t give me an explanation or tell me how to fix it, so they referred me to another vet. We went to the other vet the same day, and they basically said the same thing, but told us it was cancer because she was getting old and she wasn’t fixed. They told me she wasn’t going to live till Christmas 2020. Thinking she was going to die within a month, I spoiled that rabbit with treats and high fat foods to help her gain weight and be comfortable. She had lots oats, which I read could help her gain some weight, and to my surprise, they did. Christmas came and left, and I was still just waiting for her to die, but she didn’t. She got better. She gained all her weight back, and by February I thought for sure they had misdiagnosed her. She was perfectly normal again. She was fine, until last night. I went to spend time with them, feed them, and clean their pen like I do every night, and I noticed she was losing weight again. Lots of it, she was considerably skinnier than a week ago. I’ve been researching vets because I didn’t like the other two we tried, but today I went to check on her and am now extremely worried. Just like last year shes very underweight again, but this time shes also having accidents outside of the litter box which is extremely unlike her. I weighed her, and again she’s down to 2 pounds. She’s still eating, and acting completely normal besides her accidents. Because of COVID, no vets in my area have emergency hours, but I am going to get her checked out first thing in the morning, but I don’t even know what could possibly be going on. Is it cancer? Could the symptoms of that go away for a year and then reappear? I am so upset and confused. I love these buns like they’re my kids, I don’t know what else I can do. I’ve already spent thousands of dollars for tests that didn’t yield any important results. What could be going on, if anyone even has an idea I’d so greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[JBun]

So a bunch of questions. Did the blood test show no kidney or liver problems? Was a chest and belly xray done? And a thorough dental exam and head xray to check the teeth? How's she eating? Any reduction of appetite or selective eating(will eat one food like pellets but won't eat hay, etc)? Any drooling or odd chewing behavior? Was a fecal float test done to check for parasites? Was your rabbit ever treated for parasites? Were antibiotics ever given in case of a possible infection? Or was an anti inflammatory ever tried? Did any of the vets ever bring up the possibility of e. cuniculi and test for it? Did you recently change anything in her diet? Are you seeing any other symptoms or changes besides the weight loss?

In an older unspayed female, cancer is always a risk for them, so it is possible. But there are other possibilities like parasites, dental problems, kidney or liver disease, thymoma. Though not sure why the problem would have stopped for a year and returned, unless it's e. cuniculi. That can become asymptomatic then reemerge later, and can cause urinary incontinence as well.

Are you on the wasatch front? What vet offices have you tried so far?

https://www.rabbitnetwork.org/educa...abbit-health-articles/weight-loss-in-rabbits/

 

[Splentaforous]

So a bunch of questions. Did the blood test show no kidney or liver problems? Was a chest and belly xray done? And a thorough dental exam and head xray to check the teeth? How's she eating? Any reduction of appetite or selective eating(will eat one food like pellets but won't eat hay, etc)? Any drooling or odd chewing behavior? Was a fecal float test done to check for parasites? Was your rabbit ever treated for parasites? Were antibiotics ever given in case of a possible infection? Or was an anti inflammatory ever tried? Did any of the vets ever bring up the possibility of e. cuniculi and test for it? Did you recently change anything in her diet? Are you seeing any other symptoms or changes besides the weight loss?

In an older unspayed female, cancer is always a risk for them, so it is possible. But there are other possibilities like parasites, dental problems, kidney or liver disease, thymoma. Though not sure why the problem would have stopped for a year and returned, unless it's e. cuniculi. That can become asymptomatic then reemerge later, and can cause urinary incontinence as well.

Are you on the wasatch front? What vet offices have you tried so far?

https://www.rabbitnetwork.org/educa...abbit-health-articles/weight-loss-in-rabbits/

• I can’t thank you enough for this! Okay, so first of all, now that you’ve mentioned it, they did say she was having problems with her liver but that it was related to the cancer they claimed she had. Because of Covid, I wasn’t able to go in with her so I don’t know everything they did, but to my knowledge her teeth were never checked and parasites were never even mentioned. They did an X-ray, but I’m not sure where. She’s eating absolutely fine, no selective eating. She still enjoys her hay, pellets, and salads. I haven’t noticed any drooling and she’s chewing absolutely fine. They never gave me medicine or anything to help her. Never even tried, all I was told was it’s cancer and she’s going to die. And this was after 2 different vets. The first vet we went to was Mountain View Animal Hospital, and I can’t remember the name of the second one. I could find out though.

 

[Splentaforous]

• I can’t thank you enough for this! Okay, so first of all, now that you’ve mentioned it, they did say she was having problems with her liver but that it was related to the cancer they claimed she had. Because of Covid, I wasn’t able to go in with her so I don’t know everything they did, but to my knowledge her teeth were never checked and parasites were never even mentioned. They did an X-ray, but I’m not sure where. She’s eating absolutely fine, no selective eating. She still enjoys her hay, pellets, and salads. I haven’t noticed any drooling and she’s chewing absolutely fine. They never gave me medicine or anything to help her. Never even tried, all I was told was it’s cancer and she’s going to die. And this was after 2 different vets. The first vet we went to was Mountain View Animal Hospital, and I can’t remember the name of the second one. I could find out though.

I’m pretty sure the other one was Wasatch Exotic Pet Care.

 

[JBun]

So the best rabbit vet on the wasatch front is Dr. Harris at Wasatch Exotics. Dr. Harris is very experienced. So if your rabbit was seen by a different vet, I would specifically ask for her when booking an appointment, if possible.

The only thing I don't like is that they tend to cost more. But if you want the best rabbit vet regardless of cost, Dr. Harris is who I would go to. There used to be a rabbit vet in Draper, but I'm not finding a current listing for him. The one I use is in Payson, Dr Ipsen. I like him because he's good about working with you to try and keep costs down, but he's definitely not as experienced as Dr. Harris.

Just like with people, sometimes you can have every test done to try and figure out a health issue, and still not find a definitive answer. But I would say that Dr. Harris would be your best chance at finding one.

If your bun has had no changes in eating and is eating the same amounts, then dental problems aren't likely. It could be parasites. Coccida can affect the liver and cause weight loss, and can spontaneously go away. E. cuniculi can as well. Kidney problems can cause weight loss even though food intake is normal, it can also cause urinary problems. Heart problems could be another possible cause for the symptoms you're seeing. Blood tests, xrays, ultrasound, and a fecal test would be able to determine if any of these is the problem.

So if the vet can't find anything definitive, I would maybe want to try treating for parasites with fenbendazole(Panacur, Safeguard liquid dewormer) for a month. And maybe the antibiotic smz/tmp or albon for a possible infection, but will also treat the possibility of coccidia. Then if kidney function is normal, the anti inflammatory meloxicam. What giving these three meds will do is cover the possible causes of e. cuniculi, intestinal parasites, coccidia, possible bacterial infection, and any inflammation and pain as contributing causes.