very very sick rabbit fever 108.2 (RIP)

nuttymeg · Feb 22, 2023

my rabbit was seen the other day because i noticed his upper lip was very hard and swollen. Took him to an emergency vet hs temp was 106 at that time,was sent home various med. Today at 530 he was gasping for air,but his nostrils were blocked so i cleaned those and took him back where he spent the entire day. I just got him home gave all his meds his tem is 108.2!!!!! I have him wrapped with frozen food to get that down,ive swabbed his ears. Is there anything more i can do? His temp did come down temporarily at the vet but shot right back up. They gave him buephenamine(SP) some opiod painkiller. He seems to be drooling too. I am very concerned,i had no choive but to bring him home,i couldnt afford the 1400 overnight stay. I am very capable of doing whatever needs doing at home. I do have fluids here too. Any advice to get this fever down

JBun · Feb 22, 2023

108 is extremely dangerous and needs to be treated aggressively to try and get the fever to go down as quickly as possible. A fever this high can result in brain damage. Can you call the vet?

Do you have any meloxicam? It's a fever reducer.

nuttymeg · Feb 22, 2023

yes hes on metacam. Hes an angora and they suggested i cut the hair off so i did that,also put him on a cold wet towl fan blowing on him. Hes now 105,8 in an hour. I think hes had a seizure,he was shaking but standing up with his back end up higher. Just as im typing this he started shaking again,hes done this a few times in the hour. I did call the vet and they recommend he goes back in but we are under a freezing rain snow storm right now and its a long drive. I am really stuck on what to do.

JBun · Feb 23, 2023

If you have infant Tylenol, you could ask your vet about alternating giving it 3-6 hours after giving the meloxicam. Like is done when kids have fevers, and switching between giving them Ibuprofen and Tylenol 3 hours apart. Normally rabbits aren't usually given Tylenol, but there is dosing info regarding giving it to rabbits, so it must be used in some instances. And if it's needed to try and control a severe fever, that seems like one of those times it would be needed.

Is your rabbit also on antibiotics for an infection?

nuttymeg · Feb 23, 2023

hes on everything possible. Hes had id say a dozen seizures,he cant walk not very responsive,i think hes honestly dying. Ive only been home 2 hours with from the vet.

nuttymeg · Feb 23, 2023

sadly as were 20 minutes away from arriving at the vets office he passed away in the car on my lap. I suspected that he wouldnt make the drive but i felt he should at least be seen given how bad he was.