Worried about Alfred

[aeposten]

Yesterday evening I let Alfred (my new rescuebunny) out of his cage to hop around and I noticed that he was notputting any weight on his rear right paw. I'm not sure how he hurt it,but clearly it's bothering him. He's also licking it a lot. Other thannot using the paw to bear weight he is acting normally (eating,drinking, pooping, etc.). I've tried to get a better look at it, butwhen I try to pick him up or touch the paw he struggles a lot. I don'twant to hurt him more or cause him unnecessary discomfort so I haven'tbothered him too much today. Should I give his a day or so to see if itheals on its own, or should I go ahead and make a vet appointment? Istart classes tomorrow, but I will take as much time out as I need toto make sure Alfred feels better.

Thanks,
Amy

 

[queenadreena]

Is it cut in any way? He could've sprained hisleg, or fractured the bone somehow. If he's still limping tommorow,make a vet appointment.

 

[Pipp]

:yeahthat

Can you tell if it's the paw or the leg? Losing nails andlimping from that is common, but so are things like hipdislocations. Best to keep him quiet and not lethim move around to much until you get it figured out.

Poor Alfred.

:sickbunny:

sas:expressionlessand the gang :bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance:

 

[aeposten]

I decided not to chance things and took him into the 24 hour vet clinic. They took some x-rays, and didn't seeanything, but the vet did say she felt some swelling. (they gave me thex-rays on cd to bring to my regular vet, awesome!)

They put him on 1.5 mg of Meloxicam once per day for the next 3 days.If he's still limping by then I'm supposed to make an appointment totake him to my regular vet.

He seems ok now. He's relaxing, and he just ate some of his pellets.Hopefully this will fix whatever is wrong. I don't want my poor littlechap to be in pain.

Thanks,
Amy

 

[Haley]

What a good mommy you are!

Alfred is lucky to have someone so attentive looking after him :bunnynurse

I hope he gets to feeling better. Thats great that you were able to get the xrays and everything!

Please keep us posted ray:

-Haley and the boys:rabbithop:dutch :bunny19

 

[Pipp]

aeposten wrote:

They put him on 1.5 mg of Meloxicam once per day for thenext 3 days. If he's still limping by then I'm supposed to make anappointment to take him to my regular vet.

I hope Alfred is a very largebunny, because that's a very large dose.

Pipp gets .2 or .25 every 24 hours (depending on the vet), and she's 2.5 lbs.

The stuff works, though. He should feel muchbetter. (Just make sure he takes it with food, and that hedrinksa lot when he's on it to keep his kidneys flushed).

sas

 

[aeposten]

Pipp,
I think I made a mistake in copying the label. This is what it says:

"1.5 mg/ml . . . (per ml)/1 Give

Give 0.2 ml orally . . ."

And the small syringes have 0.2 measured out in each of them. I'm supposed to give one syringe each day.

Does this sound ok?

Should I be worried about the dose?

-Amy

 

[Pipp]

PS: Pipp's suspension is .5 mg/ml...

 

[Pipp]

How small is the syringe? The normallittle skinny ones are 1 cc. I don't know if they comesmaller than that unless they have little bitty dosage ones (whichwould be a good idea). You also have a different suspension,and I'm not sure what that means. Even though it'sdifferent, the dosage (.2) is the same as Pipp's.

I just tried it, only had a 3 CC syringe, but I think .2 mlworks out to somewhere between five and 10 drops.I'mguessing itwould be five drops or from a normalmedicine dropper.

Does that sound about right?

sas

 

[Haley]

Is Meloxican like Metacam?

Max's prescription was for .2 ml (cc) twice daily. Im not sure about the suspension amount though...

 

[Pipp]

Oh sorry, Meloxicam is Medacam... I should have clarified that.

 

[aeposten]

Pipp,
The syringes are all 1cc syringes. Before I saw them I didn't know theymade them that small! Little syringes for our little bunns, eh?

Thank you so much for taking time to help me figure things out. As anew rabbit owner I am lucky to have such knowledgable people on my side.

-Amy and Alfred

 

[Pipp]

Oh, and they marked off .2 for you? What a smart thing to do!

I've got aplastic squeezebottle here with ahandwritten (well, srawled) label, and I don't think they even gave mea syringe.

But it was a rush job and they know that I know the drill.

Its nice finding an emergency vet with a clue.

Give Alfred a kiss on the nose and a pat on the head and tell him he'll feel better in about 8 more hours.



sas

 

[Pipp]

Haley wrote:

Is Meloxican like Metacam?

Max's prescription was for .2 ml (cc) twice daily. Im not sure about the suspension amount though...

That's another thing I should mention, I find that giving them a largedose initially and then half the dose ever 12 hours instead of the fulldose every 24 hours works better for us (as long as they're taking withfood and a lot of water -- I water down some carrot juice which theywillingly take from asyringe to makesure). The dose never seems to last 24hours.

The vet said the dosage was the max for 24 hours and it didn't have to be taken all at once.

Pipp also LOVES her Medicam. It must be a banana flavour or something.

sas

 

[aurora369]

When I gave Wildfire the Medicam, I also gaveher a syringe of mushed up pellets (or more if she would takeit). That way I knew she was taking it with food, and Ididn't have to worry about it upsetting her tummy.

I have all sorts of syringes... I hord them... I've got theitty bitty 1 cc (believe I've seen smaller as well), and 3 cc, and 10cc, and once I had a really big syringe but I threw it out as it wasreally old.

So for antibiotics and pain meds, I use the small 1 cc syringes and for food I use a 3 cc or higher syringe.

--Dawn

 

[aeposten]

I'm going to have to keep these syringes, then. Thanks for the hint!

I'm learning so many great things here on RO. I've been keeping anotebook of all my favorite rabbit-care hints and tips. It's filling upso quickly!

Thanks,
Amy

 

[aeposten]

I gave Alfred his medicine a few hours ago, andit was much easier than I thought it would be! I went over to his cagewhen he was eating, he let me put the syringe in his mouth, and he tookthe meds. Then he let me squirt two sqringes full of water into hismouth. He didn't struggle at all! I gave him a treat (organic driedbanana) and he went back to munching on his pellets and romaine. I'm soproud!

-Amy

 

[Haley]

yay Alfred!

My max does that with Medacam or Childrens Benedryl...the Baytril (liver flavored) we struggle a bit

I think that Medacam is honey flavored..that makes it easier

What a good little chapAlfred is!