# Rabbit health advice



## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

My rabbit keeps falling over, only when he cleans himself though no other times just falls over gets back up and is ok again. He also seems to have lost alot of weight. 

Anyone have any idea what it could be, both me and my partner are now out of work she is on maternity leave and im disabled so funds are very tight and if we could avoid the vet it would be great, as consultation fee is £40 alone now and thats without treatment if needed. I fear if we need to take him to the vet we might have to sign him over to the rspca


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Does it look like his head is tilted to one side?
Movement OK normally or a bit strange?

If his head is tilted it might be EC, it wouldnt hurt to do a 28 day worming course to be on the safe side.
Hopefully someone will be along with more ideas soon x


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

Movement is fine normally and hops around fine and head is not tilted just when he goes to clean his back he just falls over.


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## andrea84 (Aug 16, 2012)

if you do need a vet (you have prob already done this) but have you tried the p.d.s.a to see if you qualify for help from them? all they ask is a donation. may be worth giving them a ring. hope your bun is ok


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

If you can't afford a vet for the rabbit how are you going to afford the baby when thats born?

It sounds like this rabbit needs to actually see a vet, and the sooner the better


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2012)

Is it something he has always done, or has it started recently?


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

I'm going to agree with lil miss here and say if you can't afford £40 for a trip to the vet how are you going to afford a baby? They cost a fortune. Not only that but if you can't afford basic care needs for your rabbit including trips to the vet (is bunny even vaccinated?) then I honestly think you should hand him over to a rescue (not RSPCA) for his own good. Rabbits aren't cheap pets that never need to see a vet, they need vaccines, routine check ups for teeth and weight. 

To give you an idea of how much a rabbit really can cost I have an 8 year old doe who has dental problems, I've had her for 7 years, in this time she has cost me in excess of £6,000 on vet bills alone (dread to think if I add in food and hay), £5,000 of that is on dental work alone. The cost of keeping a rabbit is on par with keeping a dog.

I know its not what you want to hear but its the reality.


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

The baby has been here 5months already and my partner is a student nurse, she qualifies in 4weeks then things will be very different, we went down the pets at home where we got him from and they said they dont think he needs the vet just needs worming so given us the treatment for that.

As for how much they cost we have had him 1year and other than when we got him from pets at home he had fur missing whilst with them and still did when we rescued him from them.

Thanks for advice


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2012)

What ever you do please don't listen to what [email protected] staff have to say, most will just say something to make you buy more stuff.

If this is something that has started to happen recently he NEEDS to see a vet, if it is EC then he will need immediate vet care if he stands a chance


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

ok will get him down the vet, the girls said it sounded like EC but said the vet will give me the same meds she has?

Anyway il borrow some money of the old boy and get him down there thanks


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

seanmac said:


> The baby has been here 5months already and my partner is a student nurse, she qualifies in 4weeks then things will be very different, we went down the pets at home where we got him from and they said they dont think he needs the vet just needs worming so given us the treatment for that.
> 
> As for how much they cost we have had him 1year and other than when we got him from pets at home he had fur missing whilst with them and still did when we rescued him from them.
> 
> Thanks for advice


But what happens if something goes wrong and he does need to see a vet? Another rabbit I have is a completely healthy 3 year old buck, never had a thing wrong with him till recently. In the last three moneths I've spent £500 on vet bills for him. The problem he had was that he had lots of things go wrong at once. He had bladder sludge so needed his bladder flushed 3 times, this was done under anaesthetic each time. The vet then found he had an abscess in his abdomen so needed that to be removed, that was what caused the bladder problems as the abscess was pressing on his bladder. Then he lost a lot of weight (lost 25% of his weight) but was still eating and no signs to give a clue as to what was wrong. We'd tried three different types of antibiotic with no luck and then he had two blood tests a week apart that revealed his red and white blood cell counts were dangerously low. Was put on a high calorie diet and tried yet another stronger antibotic in case it was a really nasty infection. That seemed to work luckily and he's now gaining weight. He's going for another blood test on Wednesday to make sure his counts are normal again. BUT if the antibiotic hadn't worked I would be looking at even more money because he'd need x-rays and an ultrasound in case the abscess had come back or he had more elsewhere, if that was inconclusive he would have been refered to have a bone marrow biopsy. Luckily we didn't need to go that route, although he's still not out of the woods yet and the third blood test will determine whether we still need to consider that.

Would you be able to afford if something like that happened? Remember this was a perfectly healthy rabbit that suddenly became very ill.


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

Its something me and my partner need to look at next month she has a full time job and has a decent amount of money coming in.
Its just we have found right now where in a rough patch happens to all of us at sometimes, il speak to my dad see if he can help with the cost until next month when we can pay him back.

You cant really plan for you life being turned on its head


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2012)

seanmac said:


> ok will get him down the vet, the girls said it sounded like EC but said the vet will give me the same meds she has?
> 
> Anyway il borrow some money of the old boy and get him down there thanks


If it is EC then he will need a vet, yes they will want him on Panacur but that is besides the point EC is a big killer so the shop assistant should NOT be self diagnosing without medical knowledge or seeing the rabbit.

I'm pleased you will be taking him to the vets and I hope it is something simple like an ear infection (which can also cause loss of balance) but in future I wouldn't ask any pet shop staff for medical info because they would argue that the sky was pink if it meant they got a sale


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

seanmac said:


> Its something me and my partner need to look at next month she has a full time job and has a decent amount of money coming in.
> Its just we have found right now where in a rough patch happens to all of us at sometimes, il speak to my dad see if he can help with the cost until next month when we can pay him back.
> 
> You cant really plan for you life being turned on its head


I understand that things can go wrong and we all have bad patches. I'm a stay at home mum since having my son and my partner was out of work most of this year after being made redundant, he only started his new job last month after being unemployed since Feb. We have five (recently down to four  )rabbits and a 21 month old son to look after but we made sure we could still afford everything.

Here's a tip for the future that has helped us get through the rough patch. We have a seperate bank account that is only used for vet bills, not routine stuff but for emergencies like what happened to my buck recently. Each month we both send money to the account and it all adds up to make sure when we need that bit extra in an emergency we can afford it.

Also if it is EC your in for a long recovery period. I've seen what EC does and its not nice, some rabbits make a full recovery but others lose the battle because its such a nasty illness that affects the brain.


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

Do you thin we should bring him in? he is much happier outside but the weather here has really turned and the forecast for next weeks is minus conditions. 

I have a cage for indoors aswell as his hutch outside but if i bring him in now will he have to be in for the whole winter


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

seanmac said:


> Do you thin we should bring him in? he is much happier outside but the weather here has really turned and the forecast for next weeks is minus conditions.
> 
> I have a cage for indoors aswell as his hutch outside but if i bring him in now will he have to be in for the whole winter


Yeh if you bring him in now he will have to stay in all winter. Just make it nice and cosy and warm in there with lots of bedding, carpet/blankets if he is litter trained inside, and then more blankets and tarpauline over the top to keep the rain and wind off of him 
You can also get snugglesafe heatpads that you heat in the microwave and they stay warm for about 8 hours.


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2012)

seanmac said:


> Do you thin we should bring him in? he is much happier outside but the weather here has really turned and the forecast for next weeks is minus conditions.
> 
> I have a cage for indoors aswell as his hutch outside but if i bring him in now will he have to be in for the whole winter


Get him to the vets and find out what is wrong and then go from there.
Rabbits cope better with cold than they do with heat but if he is poorly then bringing him in would probably be best, however you will have to make sure the heating is off and a window is open for a couple of days so he can acclimatise.


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

I think putting money into a separate bank account to help with bunny emergencies is a brilliant idea! Vet bills can hit hard, and , like buses, all come together.

Good luck with your little bun. Treatment sooner rather than later will keep costs down, but I do know what it's like, juggling bills.

Unfortunately, rabbits can be just as expensive to keep well as cats and dogs. you will get good advice in here, but , just like Pets at Home, we can speculate, but are not qualified to diagnose.


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

can i point out many pets at home now offer vet services, and some of there staff have to have basic knowledge of pet health. As we brought the bunny from them shop in there weekly and know them well, i went down to ask purely some advice and they gave me medication call panacur and advised we try for 1month.

I have booked an appointment with the vet so will take him along and see what they say. Bunny seems happy just when he licks he falls over really does not seem any different than that, a bit thinner defo.


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2012)

seanmac said:


> can i point out many pets at home now offer vet services, and some of there staff have to have basic knowledge of pet health. As we brought the bunny from them shop in there weekly and know them well, i went down to ask purely some advice and they gave me medication call panacur and advised we try for 1month.
> 
> I have booked an appointment with the vet so will take him along and see what they say. Bunny seems happy just when he licks he falls over really does not seem any different than that, a bit thinner defo.


No they don't, Companion Care are a vet franchise that has a deal to have practices in flag ship stores.
They have nothing to do with [email protected] as such, [email protected] staff are not medically trained and the majority (there will be some exceptions) of staff have less than basic knowledge of the animals they sell.

I'm not having a dig at you, just thought I'd highlight that Companion Care and [email protected] are completely separate businesses


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

B3rnie said:


> No they don't, Companion Care are a vet franchise that has a deal to have practices in flag ship stores.
> They have nothing to do with [email protected] as such, [email protected] staff are not medically trained and the majority (there will be some exceptions) of staff have less than basic knowledge of the animals they sell.
> 
> I'm not having a dig at you, just thought I'd highlight that Companion Care and [email protected] are completely separate businesses


Ok thanks il think il leave this forum now, as seeing the stroke thread its very critical.


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2012)

seanmac said:


> Ok thanks il think il leave this forum now, as seeing the stroke thread its very critical.


You're leaving because people give advice? How odd :wink:


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

B3rnie said:


> You're leaving because people give advice? How odd :wink:


Yes bernie very odd, lets hope you guys never have your world fall around you


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2012)

seanmac said:


> Yes bernie very odd, lets hope you guys never have your world fall around you


LOL, when people ask for advice on a public board then they will get a mixture of opinions.

No one was nasty so I think you are being a little over sensitive :wink:


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I hope your little guy gets on OK and would like to know what the vet says.

The problem with any forum is that people are on it because they are passionate about what the subject of the forum is. 
Where [email protected] is concerned for instance - with many forum members having to pick up the pieces when their badly bred rabbits/small animals need specialist treatment and not kids pulling them around - its an emotive subject.

Generally you will get very good advice on here, but I think all of us would worry that by giving a "diagnosis" the original poster (in this case, you) wouldn't get a professional opinion and if we are wrong, that animal could suffer. 

I do hope you can see through some members straight to the point posts - and read them just as that and not critisism -and stick around, we really arn't that bad a bunch!

*Heidi*


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

looking much happier today not falling over today at all, sat in the garden with him since 10am he had a good run and seemed very happy.

Getting his medication down him on my own is proving an issue so will wait for partner to get back from her placement at 3.


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## Grace_Lily (Nov 28, 2010)

seanmac said:


> looking much happier today not falling over today at all, sat in the garden with him since 10am he had a good run and seemed very happy.
> 
> Getting his medication down him on my own is proving an issue so will wait for partner to get back from her placement at 3.


Glad to hear he seems much better 

Some bunnies hate having medication but you can try wrapping him in a towel if you ever find yourself alone and struggling.


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

seanmac said:


> looking much happier today not falling over today at all, sat in the garden with him since 10am he had a good run and seemed very happy.
> 
> Getting his medication down him on my own is proving an issue so will wait for partner to get back from her placement at 3.


The best way I've found to give medicine to reluctant bunnies is to kneel on the floor with bunny between your knees and keep your feet together. That stops bunny moving too much so your hands are free to deal with the head and get the medicine in.


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Kammie said:


> The best way I've found to give medicine to reluctant bunnies is to kneel on the floor with bunny between your knees and keep your feet together. That stops bunny moving too much so your hands are free to deal with the head and get the medicine in.


Thats the way I do it aswell, it works wonders as it allows you to have two hands to give the medicine with


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