prognosis for Sandy??

[dude.the.rabbit]

Sandy was placed on Meloxicam (.35 dosage) last Saturday for urine scald. I was gone last weekend and left my husband and dd(15) in charge of Sandy. Saturday night, Sunday twice, and Monday twice, they switched the syringes between the antibiotic Enroflox and the Metacam and gave Sandy a .9 dosage by mistake. When I started to give Sandy her meds on Tuesday morning, the mistake was caught. When I took her to the vet Tuesday morning, she gave her sub-q fluids and I have been giving her them all week. She seems fine and hasn’t shown any distress from this. Will she recover or die from this? I don’t believe my vet anymore, they only tell me what I want to hear. Will this be a long slow debilitating death? I really need to know

I should also add that her Husbun Dude passed away from bloat yesterday, so I am in a crisis state here. Sandy doesn’t seem too upset and is eating and drinking ok.

[Sarita]

What did the vet say was wrong with her? Is it a UTI? What did the vet say about her prognosis and why don’t you believe your vet?

[dude.the.rabbit]

You can look at some of my other posts for my other story about Dude (see Its been a year since we adopted Sandy). It has been a hell week at my house Sandy had sores on her bottom similar to diaper rash. The vet wanted to clear it up. I’m not sure why they gave her pain meds as it didn’t seem that bad and cleared up in a few days of ointment on it.

[Sarita]

That does not sound life threatening to me. Pain meds were given most likely to help with discomfort.

[JackRabbit]

Are you concerned about Sandy having pain med overdose?

[dude.the.rabbit]

The original problem wasn’t life threatening. It was overdosing her with Meloxicam that I’m worried about. Sorry, I’m not doing well today and am having a bit of trouble explaining. Sandy was given .9 Meloxicam instead of .35 for 5 doses.

[dude.the.rabbit]

Posted By JackRabbit on 9/05/2014 10:10 AM
Are you concerned about Sandy having pain med overdose?

Yes! But she is eating and pooping fine and we are giving her sub q fluids every day to flush out her system. Still I’ve looked around the internet and it doesn’t look promising.

[Sarita]

I think if it was long term then it would be more of a concern and if the vet feels she is okay and she is eating and pooping then I would take that as a good sign.

[dude.the.rabbit]

Actually the vet has not given me a prognosis. Just a wait and see attitude. Then my other bun Dude died of bloat yesterday. So our house is upside down right now I am moving to another vet that is only 5 minutes away. I guess I’m just expecting the worst after what happened yesterday.

[tobyluv]

I’m sorry about the loss of Dude. I hope that the overdoses of Metacam will turn out to be not harmful to Sandy. I also hope that you will feel more confident with your new vet.

[litheandgraphic]

Honestly, I think an overdose on meloxicam would result in more immediately dire results. That is, an overdose of that kind would cause bigger problems much sooner. I know you’re going through absolute turmoil right now — try to stay as positive as you can. I’m sending healing thoughts for you and Sandy.

[JackRabbit]

Me too. {{{{{Sandy}}}}}

[robyn and 'tipps']

How are things going with Sandy?

[dude.the.rabbit]

Sandy seems to be doing fine. I am not. I found a study that was done on Meloxicam and I asked my daughter if I had given Sandy an overdose. I asked her to read the study because she is currently working in the labs in research at a hospital in Milwaukee and I wanted her opinion. She said I didn’t overdose her. Her dosage of .9ml was within the safe limits. What is going on here? First I get a huge lecture from my vet, my other rabbit dies because he isn’t getting enough attention, then I find out its not even true? Sub q fluids, hospitalization needed? Ugh!

[gingerg]

Oh, dear, I’m so sorry for you. It’s really hard to lose a pet, and to be told that your other little one is in danger, I don’t blame you at all for being so concerned. For what it’s worth, I think if they had given Sandy an overdose with the pain meds, the bad effects would have been seen almost immediately. I know you’re still watching her closely, and I think that’s what I’d continue to do.

[jerseygirl]

The vets office are likely being cautious with dosing & I would guess will most often start a rabbit out on a low, conservative dose. The meloxicam is marketed for cats or dogs and used “off label” for other species, as are much of the other medications.
Even if some data will say they can take higher doses, a vet won’t always prescribed this from the outset as they don’t know how well that individual animal will go on it.

It’s found rabbits can eliminate meloxicam quite quickly from their system. So if its been a full day or more since she had the higher dose, I think her body would have rid of it by now.

Meloxicam can suppress the appetite with some bunnies so this is something to keep watch for.
(((Sandy)))

[dude.the.rabbit]

Posted By jerseygirl on 9/07/2014 1:29 PM
The vets office are likely being cautious with dosing & I would guess will most often start a rabbit out on a low, conservative dose. The meloxicam is marketed for cats or dogs and used “off label” for other species, as are much of the other medications.
Even if some data will say they can take higher doses, a vet won’t always prescribed this from the outset as they don’t know how well that individual animal will go on it.

It’s found rabbits can eliminate meloxicam quite quickly from their system. So if its been a full day or more since she had the higher dose, I think her body would have rid of it by now.

Meloxicam can suppress the appetite with some bunnies so this is something to keep watch for.
(((Sandy)))

I think you missed my point – Sandy wasn’t overdosed with Meloxicam. There was no need to scare me to death by telling me I ruined my rabbits kidneys and liver. There was no need to tell me Sandy needed immediate hospitalization or Plasma Lyte IVs. If my vet had just nicely said, “Let’s keep an eye on her and check her blood levels in a day or so” I would likely have not stressed out and just might have paid closer to Dude before it was too late. Honestly, because my vet was almost yelling at me on Tuesday for letting my daughter and husband take care of Sandy while I went away for the weekend to take care of my 91 year old parents, I didn’t take Dude in there until Thursday and had to put him to sleep. I spent all day wednesday giving him home remedies when I should have been at the vet. I just didn’t want to go back in there with another ill bunny and it cost my precious bunny his life. I will have to live with that forever and its killing me

[litheandgraphic]

This vet sounds HORRIBLE. Even if you had done something wrong, it’s not okay to treat a patient/client like that, especially when they’re in a fragile state and are looking for guidance. That’s awful. This is the old vet and not the new one, right? I’m so sorry to hear you were treated so badly.

[dude.the.rabbit]

Posted By funny-looking-rabbit on 9/07/2014 2:15 PM
This vet sounds HORRIBLE. Even if you had done something wrong, it’s not okay to treat a patient/client like that, especially when they’re in a fragile state and are looking for guidance. That’s awful. This is the old vet and not the new one, right? I’m so sorry to hear you were treated so badly.

Yes, I closed my account with them on Friday and moved to another vet nearby. I noticed that the old vet always had time to see me and their office seemed empty. I went to the new office on Friday and they were so busy I had to wait and hour and a half just to have the technician give Sandy her sub q fluids. I used to go to this new place before we adopted Sandy, but was convinced to switch to the old vet by the animal shelter. Seems like the shelter was trying to push business to the old vet. I’m not happy about any of this!

[dude.the.rabbit]

Good news for Sandy, her blood tests came out fine so I can stop all the sub q’s and everything else too. It’s been a rough week as she mourns the loss of Dude She doesn’t have much of an appetite so I’m supplementing her regular food with critical care. The last thing I need is GI Stasis! She loves Critical Care food as I am adding a couple drops of pineapple juice to the mix. She gobbles it up Life is pretty boring without her pal to romp around the house with. But I’m not ready to adopt right now. Any ideas for some bunny fun? I would love to give her treats, but I want to be careful not to upset her tummy.

[jerseygirl]

I spent all day wednesday giving him home remedies when I should have been at the vet. I just didn’t want to go back in there with another ill bunny and it cost my precious bunny his life. I will have to live with that forever and its killing me

I’m really sorry you’re feeling this way but I can definitely understand it! I would have been reluctant to go back to them also after being yelled at. I also understand the second guessing and “what if” questions one has after losing a bunny. Believe me, I do.
There were so many factors in the situation adding to your stress and a veterinary “professional” lecturing and yelling on top of that is just not right.

You must be so relieved Sandy is doing ok. Hopefully her appetite will increase now she’s off all the meds.

Life is pretty boring without her pal to romp around the house with. But I’m not ready to adopt right now. Any ideas for some bunny fun? I would love to give her treats, but I want to be careful not to upset her tummy.

Mmm… Setting up a series of tunnels? Obstacle course of sorts?
There’s always clickertraining too. That can be good for stimulation and bonding. I believe you do reward with food but you can always give it as a small portion or use some herbs she favours if any.

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