ra7751
Well-Known Member
Hi,
This is a tough situtation but I wanted to add a couple of thoughts and a request for more info. First, exactly what drugs is Carmel on? Names, dosing and times per day. I am also sort of stunned by the blood panel and everything normal. Do you have a copy of the lab report? If it is possible, I would like to take a look at that. I know what the "book" says the values should be. But I see a lot of these labs and have noticed a trend or twoand I am starting to see some "markers" of things that are technically within accepted limits....but. I know you have spent a lot of money and we all know that diagnostic testing isn't cheap by any means....but has a urinalysis been performed? If this were my rabbit....I would be very interested in what this test would show. I would prefer it be done by a procedure called "cystocentesis" (hope I spelled that correctly). It is a somewhat challenging procedure in which a small needle is inserted thru the abdominal cavity and draws a virgin urine specimen directly from the bladder.
As far as your vet, it never hurts to get a second opinion. From what I have seen in my travels, I suspect the vet you are using now is probably pretty good. Most vets won't even consider giving rabbits lasix. And there is not a lot of good information to do a lot of known effective treatments....vets are really in a tough spot sometimes since there is very little true research with rabbits. That is why I do so many of the "outside the box" treatments.
And having said that....I am going to mention one of my "outside the box" treatments here. I am not suggesting you to do this. As with any type of treatment, there is risk involved. And remember that I am not a vet.This is something to discuss with your vet. Many things have to be considered....including overall health and the medicationsCarmel is now taking.But we have had some rabbits to have fluid retention like this. It is difficult to deal with. But I have had some success by acidifying the urinary tract.Changing the pH can sometimes have anegative effect on certain drugs. Now, I suspect that every piece of material in the references available to vets are very specific to not do this. But....and there is that word again....I have used this method in several rabbits with urinary issues secondary toE Cuniculi. Ascorbic acid is the best way I have found to do this. It's Vitamin C. It's water soluble....and boy have we had success with passing fluids when using it. It's something that needs to be introduced very gradually since it can also upset the GI...like anything else that is changed too quickly. We have used the C supplements for guinea pigs and most of our rabbits that we used this on ate them without problems. But all of our buns love oranges....and that is an excellent source of Vit C. Another option is to use cranberry extract. I think Oxbow makes one of these and they can also be purchased at health food stores...but again, moderation and in small increasing amounts.
Something else we have used is cool humidity. Remember that cool air has more oxygen molecules than an equal amount of hot air. We use either a cool mist humidifier or a cool evaportive humidifier and it really seems to help their breathing. Steam vapor seems to make things worse. Especially in winter...and depending on where you live and how cold it is....the humidity can be very low. Adding some humidity might be helpful for any breathing concerns. I know that might sound strange since fluids are the problem...but.
We all wish the best for Carmel and I hope my suggestions will help. Discuss them with your vet. If nothing else, it might trigger a better response from him. Never hurts to bring up possible options. And please don't try these without consulting with your vet as many things need to be considered especially in this case.
Randy
This is a tough situtation but I wanted to add a couple of thoughts and a request for more info. First, exactly what drugs is Carmel on? Names, dosing and times per day. I am also sort of stunned by the blood panel and everything normal. Do you have a copy of the lab report? If it is possible, I would like to take a look at that. I know what the "book" says the values should be. But I see a lot of these labs and have noticed a trend or twoand I am starting to see some "markers" of things that are technically within accepted limits....but. I know you have spent a lot of money and we all know that diagnostic testing isn't cheap by any means....but has a urinalysis been performed? If this were my rabbit....I would be very interested in what this test would show. I would prefer it be done by a procedure called "cystocentesis" (hope I spelled that correctly). It is a somewhat challenging procedure in which a small needle is inserted thru the abdominal cavity and draws a virgin urine specimen directly from the bladder.
As far as your vet, it never hurts to get a second opinion. From what I have seen in my travels, I suspect the vet you are using now is probably pretty good. Most vets won't even consider giving rabbits lasix. And there is not a lot of good information to do a lot of known effective treatments....vets are really in a tough spot sometimes since there is very little true research with rabbits. That is why I do so many of the "outside the box" treatments.
And having said that....I am going to mention one of my "outside the box" treatments here. I am not suggesting you to do this. As with any type of treatment, there is risk involved. And remember that I am not a vet.This is something to discuss with your vet. Many things have to be considered....including overall health and the medicationsCarmel is now taking.But we have had some rabbits to have fluid retention like this. It is difficult to deal with. But I have had some success by acidifying the urinary tract.Changing the pH can sometimes have anegative effect on certain drugs. Now, I suspect that every piece of material in the references available to vets are very specific to not do this. But....and there is that word again....I have used this method in several rabbits with urinary issues secondary toE Cuniculi. Ascorbic acid is the best way I have found to do this. It's Vitamin C. It's water soluble....and boy have we had success with passing fluids when using it. It's something that needs to be introduced very gradually since it can also upset the GI...like anything else that is changed too quickly. We have used the C supplements for guinea pigs and most of our rabbits that we used this on ate them without problems. But all of our buns love oranges....and that is an excellent source of Vit C. Another option is to use cranberry extract. I think Oxbow makes one of these and they can also be purchased at health food stores...but again, moderation and in small increasing amounts.
Something else we have used is cool humidity. Remember that cool air has more oxygen molecules than an equal amount of hot air. We use either a cool mist humidifier or a cool evaportive humidifier and it really seems to help their breathing. Steam vapor seems to make things worse. Especially in winter...and depending on where you live and how cold it is....the humidity can be very low. Adding some humidity might be helpful for any breathing concerns. I know that might sound strange since fluids are the problem...but.
We all wish the best for Carmel and I hope my suggestions will help. Discuss them with your vet. If nothing else, it might trigger a better response from him. Never hurts to bring up possible options. And please don't try these without consulting with your vet as many things need to be considered especially in this case.
Randy
