RIP MoonTune... :( Thank you all for trying

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Deer Heart

Deer Heart

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Came out to tend the buns today after an early Drs. appt and found my most expensive rabbit was hunched up, hasn't touched their hay, they had tons of pellets left from last night and didn't touch any of their fresh greens which had gone soggy. I noticed they also consumed only about 1oz of water since last night from their measured waterbottle. I figured possibly gas and went out to get baby gas drops (everything is packed right now so couldn't find the one already on hand). Came back and went to give her a drop or two just to see if it would clear things up and realized she had an entire bib of drool. Her nose is bone dry, all liquid is clearly from mouth. I went to check her teeth with an otoscope (aaa batteries rusted, store again) and though I can see decay on her right side I can't seem to find teeth at all on the left side even when I feel the scope "clicking" against something. I did see a small bit of blood though when I poked a bit of the soft tissues I could find. What does a rupture look like through an otoscope? I am sure this is what is wrong (I can feel the heat coming off of her face the entire time I checked her teeth) She is currently in my lap and it feels like I have a heater blanket in my lap... she is also shivering like she is cold but there's no way she's cold... (could it be pain?)

What can I possibly do for this? Inj. PenG on the left side of her mouth? A different antibiotic? Dosage? I can't find where the infection is but she clearly has one. What can be done for pain if anything?

-- Wed Oct 28, 2015 5:40 pm --

She seems to be getting worse. I just put her back and she just... laid there. Sprawled out with her head in a corner. I think this is it for her if I can't figure out what to do before Tractor supply closes.

I tried giving her a dish of water in case the bottle was hurting her teeth... she wont even lift her head now and her drool was so hot it actually felt like it was burning me.
 

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I am so sorry... I truly have no clue what to do as I have never heard of this happening before. All I can say is I am hoping for the best for her, and I hope she makes it <3 :cry: :(
 
Drooling often accompanies heat exhaustion, but it seems late in the year for that, even in Florida.

I don't know what the problem is, but she sounds like she is running a fever. Can you take her temperature?

I think this is probably a kill or cure situation. If you have Pen G, I'd give her some, preferably subcutaneously. Maybe dissolve a baby aspirin or make an infusion of the inside bark of willow to bring her fever down. It doesn't sound good, so don't be too surprised if she doesn't make it.
 
I'm with Maggie. Pen G subcutaneously. I gave 1/4cc to a 4 1/2 pound rabbit five days in a row, so that should give you an idea of amount. Dosage is 20.000 – 60.000 IU/kg according to http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medicati ... iotics.htm (that may be 20,000 - 60,000 since many countries use a decimal point instead of a comma... and it is an international site).

If you have her weight in kg, great. If in pounds, divide by 2.2 to get kg.

If you need help with the math for figuring out dosage, post her weight here. :)

It does sound like she has a fever. You can give up to 1 baby aspirin twice a day. It does sound like you'll need to dissolve it, or maybe crush it and mix just enough water to make a paste and then place it with your finger in the back of her mouth.

I don't know if you can fix this, but we'll sure help you try if you want to give it a go. If you need to put her down, that is okay. Many of us have been there.
 
7.06 lb /3.2 KG I have pen G now, she is unable to stand up at all now though. is that .5cc?

Also I have every intention of fighting this as best as I can.
 
I'm so sorry....this is such a scary thing to think of happening, and it seems it happened really quickly:( I don't a have any advice but I sure hope she takes a turn for the better!
 
I wound up mixing the baby aspirin with water and syringe feeding it to her. I wrapped my cloth ice packs in towels and placed her on them and lightly misted her ears... she is now inside as well crashing on my couch. I did not give her a full.5 cc of PenG as I am terrible at maths and I am worried that may be a bit much. She does seem to be very responsive to treatment though. She's trying to sit up again.
 
I hope that continues! Sounds like you are doing as
much as you can for her:). Hope you both have a good night!
 
I'm just so frustrated. I don't get it. She was fine yesterday... I really suspect a pocket of infection had ruptured. The hottest it got today was 75F and it was overcast up until that point. So it's possible the infection has caused her to have heat distress as well. Though she isn't really panting and there is no moisture around her nose, only her mouth as she is drooling profusely.
 
My Pen G is 300,000 units per mL (same as cc).

So 20,000 - 60,000 units per kg, that would be 64,000 - 192,000 units for a 3.2 kg rabbit.

That comes to .21 - .64cc... about 1/5cc - 2/3cc.

So your calculation of .5cc is right in there. :)

You will need to force fluids if she won't drink. Syringe them slowly into the back of the mouth.
 
Thats good to hear she took them and is improving- even if she is only improving a little bit.
Keep up updated!
 
Sali":3sar1wkw said:
I wound up mixing the baby aspirin with water and syringe feeding it to her. I wrapped my cloth ice packs in towels and placed her on them and lightly misted her ears... she is now inside as well crashing on my couch. I did not give her a full.5 cc of PenG as I am terrible at maths and I am worried that may be a bit much. She does seem to be very responsive to treatment though. She's trying to sit up again.
Click to expand...
I'm glad you were able to get some aspirin and water into her!

I'm sorry I didn't get the math back to you quickly. I had hit "submit", but didn't see that there were other replies, and so it didn't go through.

You may need to soak pellets in water, Gatorade, fruit juice, whatever so that she can eat them. You may have to put the mush into the back of her mouth. It doesn't go through a syringe. I tried that once. It just squeezed the water out of the mush and let that out. Antibiotics may make her even less willing to eat, but you must keep something going through her system, or she could go into GI stasis.

Good news that she seems to be responding! I sure hope she recovers!
 
Unfortunately, she passed at some point last night... :( I'm debating on running a necropcy after work...
 
I'm so sorry you lost her, Sali. I know you did all you could for her. :cry:

The trouble with rabbits is that being prey animals they hide illness as best they can, for as long as they can. By the time one knows they need help, it is often already too late.
 
Unfortunately her loss means I will need to completely steer my Rabbitry in a different direction now. I paid a pretty penny for her so that she could improve my whole herd to show quality (she was a grand champion from out of state... I did not get a chance to breed a single litter out of her. I was waiting until I closed on my new home after moving in...)

I think I'm giving up on obtaining any future show rabbits at this point and will just focus on fur and meat where a single death like this doesn't crush me to the point I considered giving up on rabbits completely.
 
Never give up. Do what you have to now, and maybe you can buy another great show rabbit in the future to improve your herd. :)
But we are here for you and will support you in whatever you decide :)
 

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