Please help! Sofia is shivering and has cold ears

[Sofia N Isabella]

 Please…I need your advice badly. I’m from south of Philippines. There’s no rabbit-savvy vet in my place. My bunny Sofia is weak, has cold ears and shaking. I’ve wrapped her in towels and keeping her company. What else can I do? I don’t want to lose her….Thank you.

[Sarita]

Is there any vet that can look at her? It’s just very difficult to know what is wrong with her based on those symptoms or really any symptom over the internet.

It is good to keep her warm, but see if you can take her to any vet as she may be in shock.

[Elrohwen]

I’m so sorry to hear that she’s not doing well! I agree with Sarita that it’s really impossible to tell what might be wrong with her, so she needs to see a vet, even if it’s not a rabbit savvy one. Good luck

[FluffyBunny]

What’s the temperature in the room she’s in? A comfortable temperature range for most rabbits is 50-75 degrees F., or a bit warmer for rex bunnies. Is she eating/pooping normally?

I agree with Elrohwen – it sounds like she needs to see a vet, even if the vet isn’t rabbit-savvy.

[Rabbit lover]

Maybe you could try finding a vet a little farther away from were you live. I hope your bunny is ok.

[bunnyfriend]

Is she eating and going to the bathroom like normal? How old is she? I would at least take her to some kind of vet, better than nothing. I hope she is okay.

[RabbitPam]

Can you give us an update on how she is today?
Any vet, even if not experienced with bunnies, can treat an animal in an emergency. She may need injections of fluids, or pain meds. She needs to see any vet asap.
What’s happening now?
{{{{{{{{{{{Healing vibes for Sopiia}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Any update? {{VIBES}} I hope you can find a vet or an emergency room. If you are still dealing with this I would syringe feed critical care with water, as gi stasis can often cause hypothermia. But so can shock etc so it’s so difficult over the internet. Even a non rabbit savy vet may be hlepful at the emergency point, at least they can prescribe and may confer with other vets.

[Sofia N Isabella]

Thanks everyone for your concern. I hadn’t been online in two days, was always beside Sofia. The first night (when I posted this), she ate few small slices of carrots, won’t eat anything else. She got somewhat better after that, started poo-ing again, although the poops were smaller than usual and kind of wet. I tried giving her simeticone but couldn’t…she wouldn’t let me. So anyway, yesterday, I noticed she had red urine (although I am not sure now…it also looked like orange in color. She just finished eating carrots again that time…) I immediately took her to the vet where she was given 100ml of fluids (subcutaneously) and 2ml of cofodyl plus 0.5ml of enro. The vets said the cofodyl and enro were for anti-stress. They said it could also be UTI, given the color of urine, but held out on the antibiotic as they want to see the full effects first of the meds they administered. Today, Sofia is looking better — she ate hay already and is starting to move around more. I’m not too confident yet, I observed her earlier and it seems as if she’s having difficulty poo-ing and peeing. Her poop varies, some are normal, some are a bit wet.

[Sarita]

Thank you for the update. Continued healing vibes for Sofia.

[Sofia N Isabella]

Happy to share that Sofia is looking so much better now. Back to eating her greens, plenty of hay and has started to play with her mate Isabella already. Whew! Thank you all so much for responding to my message. I read them late, because I didn’t want to have to leave Sofia’s side, but they were all very helpful to us.

[LittlePuffyTail]

[tobyluv]

I’m glad to hear that Sofia is much better now.

[BinkyBunny]

So good to hear about the improvement. Whew. Keep us updated.

[Elrohwen]

I’m glad to hear she’s doing so much better!

[Sofia N Isabella]

Both the girls are doing little binkies from time to time now. Thanks for all the healing vibes!

[jerseygirl]

A happy update! Glad to hear she got better.

You mentioned her urine colour. It is very normal for rabbits to get orange or even red looking urine. It changes a bit depending on what plants or vegetables they’ve been eating. So pee can be pale yellow, orange, brown, red…

It’s good that you have some simethicone at home. I’ve found it really can help if they get gas. What you did, wrapping her up & keeping her warm was great! It is the first thing to do when finding her like that. : ) Getting them warm, going to a vet and getting any pain managed first.

I hope you won’t have to deal with it again. It certainly can be scary.

[Sofia N Isabella]

 This is Sofia last night. She slept in this corner. I’m not too sure if this is what a “hunched” rabbit looks like. She still eats, poops and pees although her pee is not that much and looks more yellow than before. I’m suspecting UTI…my vet has no way of knowing. Can we give her anti-biotics all the same?

[tobyluv]

Neither one of those are a “hunched” look. A rabbit is hunched when he or she is sitting, but not sitting upright as Sofia is. When they are hunched over, the head and shoulders are down and the back is curved. Sort of like an upside down U – if that makes any sense.

To test for a UTI, you need a urine sample to take to the vet. If you have a small pen with a wire floor, you can place a pan under the floor to catch the urine and put Sofia in the pen (hopefully not for too long. Then you will need a clean bottle or ziploc bag to place the urine in. Or if she happens to go on the tile floor, you could use one of the little medicine syringes to suck up the urine and place it in a container. It’s best not to give antibiotics unless they are really needed. Sometimes antibiotics can have side effects, such as changing the natural flora in the intestines, which could lead to loose poop.

[Cassi&Charlie]

Rabbits have really sensitive stomachs, so antibiotics can be really bad for them. I think you should only give antibiotics if there is no other option.

With her red pee, my Charlie has red pee when he eats carrots 🙂 so maybe it’s not something to be worried about.

[Sofia N Isabella]

 We just got back from the vet. Sadly, the vet does not have any diagnosis of Sofia. She’s only relying on what I say…like I think Sofia’s in pain cause I hear her grinding her teeth loudly, and that she does not move and eat around as she used to. I wasn’t told what the vet thinks the problem is with Sofia.

Nevertheless, the vet decided to give her 150ml (?) of fluids, 0.3ml of simethicone, 0.5ml of marbocyl and 10 (not sure about the unit) of meloxicam. I am going out of my mind researching and researching on the net on these medicines. Like I said before, there are absolutely no rabbit-savvy vets in my area. I have to make do with the vet recommended by people from an animal welfare organization. The vet is nice but my gut tells me she doesn’t know much about rabbits (she keeps saying they are rodents..) yet I feel it is better to take Sofia to any vet, rather than stay at home, watching and waiting what will happen to her.

I am keeping Sofia under close observation now because I want to see how the medicines are affecting her. Please keep us in your thoughts. 

[LittlePuffyTail]

(((((((Get well Sofia))))))))

[jerseygirl]

I don’t know if this helps or if you’ve already learnt this but marbocyl is a safe antibiotic for rabbits. It’s same type of antibiotic as baytril (enrofloxcin) which is commonly given.
Meloxicam (metacam) is also safe for rabbits though can effect their appetites a little.

Vets sometimes feel the bladder to see if it has sediment in it. Sometimes the calcium crystals build up and cause discomfort or infections. Though yellow pee is not a bad sign. It may have just been her pee is more concentrated. Or it coloured after being exposed to the air…

Has Sofia ever had her teeth checked out?

Do you mind saying what province you’re in or city you are closest too? We have had some members from the Philippines on BinkyBunny. Also, members here may have other rabbit networks where they can ask other people for vet references.

{{{Sofia}}}

[Sofia N Isabella]

 Yes, I did read about the meds awhile ago, but thank you for your added information. It helps to have another rabbit parent say that the meds given to Sofia are safe. It eases my mind.

No, unfortunately, Sofia hasn’t had her teeth checked out. The vet didn’t look at it earlier.

I live in Davao City, in the southern part of the Philippines. I wanted to put this on my profile, the way I see yours as “Australia,” to help everyone know where I am, but for some reason, I can’t find where to update my info. I’ll figure it out later on.

I really appreciate your help. Thank you!

P.S. Sofia is doing fine. She’s still in one corner, staying still. She hasn’t eaten yet but I guess it’s okay in the meantime as she has fluids in her body still. She won’t touch her hay, by the way. Will continue to observe her.

 

[Sofia N Isabella]

Posted By LittlePuffyTail on 12/17/2011 04:44 AM
(((((((Get well Sofia))))))))

 

Thank you…

[jerseygirl]

I live in Davao City, in the southern part of the Philippines. I wanted to put this on my profile, the way I see yours as “Australia,” to help everyone know where I am, but for some reason, I can’t find where to update my info. I’ll figure it out later on.

The site is having some updates done which means some features are not working. That is probably why you haven’t been able to add your location.

I’ve sent a message to another member I think lives in the same city. She referred to Davao city in another post here. Hopefully she’ll be able to recommend a vet.

[Sofia N Isabella]

Posted By jerseygirl on 12/17/2011 09:06 AM

The site is having some updates done which means some features are not working. That is probably why you haven’t been able to add your location.

I’ve sent a message to another member I think lives in the same city. She referred to Davao city in another post here. Hopefully she’ll be able to recommend a vet.

Hi jerseygirl…after days of exhausting all means, I finally found a good vet! He is in exotic animal practice although his specialty is on birds. He has some rabbits in his farm, though not as pets. Nevertheless, he has basic knowledge, and if he needs help, he will gladly call someone in Manila to consult with a more rabbit-savvy vet. If anyone else in Davao City needs a rabbit vet, I can refer to him.

Sofia is currently recuperating now. I give her Critical Care regularly and feed her a few greens once in a while. She moves more now, no longer staying in corners, and has more interaction with me. 

Paws crossed she will be back to binkying in no time. Thank you for your concern and kind words. They have helped me a lot through this.

 

[RabbitPam]

I’m so glad you found a rabbit savvy vet closer to you. AND I’m glad Sophie is doing better. Jerseygirl, thank you sooo much for stepping in and getting this help to Sofia N Isabella. (JG is our undeclared Forum Leader. She refuses to accept the title, but we couldn’t do it without her!)

[jerseygirl]

I haven’t actually heard back from the member I messaged. I’m happy to see Sophia N Isabella has found one she’s happy with. Wishes of continued good health for your bunny girls!

[Author]

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