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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Renal failure…

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    • ohbonobogirl
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        I just got home from the vet where Bandit was diagnosed with chronic renal failure.  He’s been “off” for a little while, but recently was having accidents all over the place.  I thought it might be a UTI, but they did xrays and bloodwork to rule out other diagnoses.  Turns out his kidneys haven’t been functioning properly for some time.  They sent him home on a regimen of subcutaneous fluids, pain medication and a supplement and we’ll go back in a week for a recheck of the bloodwork.  I didn’t really think about anything before leaving the office because I had gone in expecting antibiotics, not an IV.  It looks like there have been a few people on the board who have unfortunately experienced something similar, so I thought I’d check here for support and advice.  


      • Kokaneeandkahlua
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          Sorry to hear! I don’t have any experience with this, but you are right I think a few members here have had experience-hopefully they see this post and can share some wisdom


        • LongEaredLions
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            I have no advice either, but sending (((healing vibes)))
            Hopefully someone who has gone through this will pop on.


          • MoxieMeadows
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              ((((Healing Vibes))))
              I am so sorry but I have no advice. Keeping you and your bun in my thoughts! <3


            • Megabunny
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                I don’t have experience with rabbits and renal failure but I’ve seen it with other animals. Just wondering how old the bunny is. The fluids should help a lot to get her feeling better. Keep us posted.


              • ohbonobogirl
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                  Thanks, everyone. I think the stress of yesterday was a lot for Mr. Bandit. He’s been even more lethargic today than he was in the past couple of days and isn’t eating too much, though he’s still able to be tempted by banana pieces and treats. I’m trying to decide how many treats he gets versus how much real food to push. He’s eaten a few mint leaves and a small sprig of parsley in addition to his treats. I’ve been feeding him critical care every few hours and he’s getting subcutaneous fluids once a day as well as a pain medicine and a medicine to keep his gut mobile. He really doesn’t like the medications (except the banana flavored one) and I think it’s adding to his level of stress, too. We’re scheduled for a follow-up vet visit next Saturday, so hopefully in the next few days we’ll see some improvement.

                  One of the hardest parts of this is that we thought Bandit was a pretty young bunny. We adopted him from the humane society 2.5 years ago and were told that he was ~1 year old. That’s why something like this wasn’t even on my radar. I don’t know how they can tell the age of rabbits, but I’m wondering if he was much older than we thought. He’s always been a relaxed, friendly little guy even though he was found outside as a stray. They told us they found him when he went to play soccer with kids at a local park. I really wish it were a UTI or simple stasis… 🙁


                • Megabunny
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                    Does sound awfully young for renal failure, but who knows? These shelters must all say a year old on these unknown rabbits. You really can’t age a rabbit like a cat or dog. But I swear every rabbit I’ve seen that didn’t come from a private owner has been listed as a year old.


                  • ohbonobogirl
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                      Yesterday evening, Bandit started to perk up a bit. He is wide awake this morning and enjoyed an apple slice with a few pellets for breakfast. In a few minutes we’re going to start the fluids and other meds so I’m sure he won’t be quite as happy then. I’m battling with myself because I know they’re good for him, but he just seems so much more like himself without them.


                    • Megabunny
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                        I think you’ll figure out a lot more if you can both hang in there until a repeat visit to the vet to see if the fluids are helping at all. Good for you to be able to do that for him! His kidneys really need that.


                      • ohbonobogirl
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                          We’re done with morning meds and fluids. Bandit wasn’t a happy camper for a while, but he’s now enjoying some time in the sunshine and fresh air. He’s hopping around the playpen, nibbling on grass and generally seeming pretty content. It’s good to see. I’ll give him a nice dose of critical care before lunch and let him sleep away the afternoon.


                        • Megabunny
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                            Wonderful!! Sunshine is a wonderful thing!


                          • LittlePuffyTail
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                              (((((Get Well Bandit))))))


                            • ohbonobogirl
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                                I’m using this thread to track my own process, in addition to Bandit’s progress. Hope you don’t mind. He’s had a very lethargic morning and isn’t too interested in much, though he was willing to eat some oats and craisins. He really hasn’t been eating much hay at all, and I struggled to get him to eat critical care yesterday, so I was pretty worried about stasis setting in, though he did graze a bit outside yesterday and was willing to have a few nibbles of spring mix last night. His one incidence of poop consisted of tiny tiny poop balls, though they did have visible hay fiber in them.

                                I remembered that he used to like the timothy hay cubes, so I got him some of those this morning and he nibbled his way through half of one. I also picked up an assortment of flavored hays, with mint and marigold and chamomile in them to stuff in boxes in case he’s more interested in that. Bandit is nibbling up cardboard and paper just fine, but doesn’t seem interested in much else, so I made a tube stuffed with hay to see if he’ll eat some that way. My milestone of the day was getting him to finally get some critical care into his system. I made it up with pumpkin and water and was able to get him to take 3! 6 ml syringes full, with only a minimum of spillage. Turns out the key is to give him some time to chew between bites. Hopefully he’ll get some good energy from that and it’ll give his system something other than treats to process so his gut keeps moving,


                              • Megabunny
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                                  Good work and very dedicated! Hopefully he will be happy to eat pumpkin on his own for you now that he’s had a taste of it.


                                • ohbonobogirl
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                                    More updating to help me keep track…
                                    Bandit’s perked up a lot this evening, even stretching out at one point, which he hasn’t done in a while. He ate some spring mix for dinner, has continued to munch on his hay cubes and even had a few pieces of hay. He was also able to be tempted by parsley and gobbled it down once he remembered that he likes it. Bandit had a soft, unformed poop this afternoon, likely the result of us spoiling him with too many high sugar treats to get him to eat anything. This evening, he had a bunch of tiny tiny poos again, but they were well formed. Getting him to drink has been the hardest part and I’m afraid of drowning him if I were to try to syringe water into his mouth. He’s had some water spiked with apple juice a couple of times today and his salad was drenched this evening. We just got done with evening critical care and meds. Again, he took 3 full syringes of critical care mixed with pumpkin and water to a gooey,paste consistency. That was followed with his pain med injection and his motility med. Now he’s hunkered down as the pain meds seem to make him a little drowsy, though he did drink some water and AJ first.

                                    The highlights of today have been Bandit’s partner Minerva flopping all over the place, as if she can tell he’s feeling better, Bandit snuggling into my 26 weeks pregnant belly after getting his meds and DH being able to get a picture of the bunny snuggled against the baby bump, and Bandit stretching out and laying down. Now we just need some normal poops and more drinking!


                                  • Sarita
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                                      Okay is he perking up when you give him fluids?

                                      I have only had one experience with renal failure (that I knew was renal failure). Unfortunately it did not end well – I’m not sure if it was because I wasn’t aware it was actually renal failure at the time….the only thing that the vet said kept him going was fluids when she decided to do the bloodwork and realized that it was renal failure.

                                      He would not eat or do anything at all…he had been having urinary issues which is why I had been giving him fluids. He would not eat either.

                                      Does the vet feel that the current routine and medications will just allow him to live a better life…or does the vet feel this may reverse the problem and allow the kidneys to hopefully function normal?


                                    • ohbonobogirl
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                                        Thanks for responding, Sarita!  I saw one of your threads in the past about this and was wondering what your experience was.  Bandit’s not a fan of the fluids at all, but I’m giving them at the same time he’s getting pain medicine in the morning, which tends to make him pretty drowsy in the couple of hours afterwards.  He’s gotten perkier after the last couple of days with the whole regimen, but I’m not sure what part of it is doing the most good.  Prior to taking him to the vet, he wasn’t doing much at all, though he was eating a little.  I assumed it was a UTI because he had been peeing in strange places and didn’t seem to have much control.  

                                        The vet’s initial impression is that this is the middle stages of chronic kidney failure, and it’s very unlikely that the problem will be reversed and cured, but we’ll see what the bloodwork says this weekend.  I’m anticipating the current regimen will give him a better end period to his life than he may have had otherwise and we’ll only continue it as long as he continues to perk up and seems pretty content.  Right now, I’m hopeful that we’ll have some more time with him, but not going to make him suffer for that to happen.    


                                      • Sarita
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                                          I think that sounds like a good plan that you have. Let us know what the bloodwork says when you get the results.


                                        • Megabunny
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                                            Very sensible


                                          • ohbonobogirl
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                                              Yesterday Bandit did pretty well throughout the day. Today, not so much… We went in to the vet today because he was making a squeaky sound when I gave him his meds. They couldn’t find anything so we are going to wait until Saturday when they were planning to take xrays anyway. I got home from work to find Bandit sitting in his own pee and pretty soaked on his paws and belly. I picked him up and he was wet enough to leave prints on my shirt and he smells like urine. He’s now had his evening med routine and is going to be tortured even further with a bath. After I sat him back down, he dribbled a little as he hopped away. The emergency vet doesn’t know that they could do any more this evening, so we’re going to try to get him back in to the regular vet first thing in the morning. I’m just not sure what this new thing could mean…


                                            • JackRabbit
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                                                {{{{{Bandit}}}}}


                                              • ohbonobogirl
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                                                  Bandit went to the vet this morning, and they had no idea what was going on becaues she thought she saw some blood in his urine, so we got referred to a specialist. After about 7 total hours at vets’ offices today, the consensus about what is going on is still up in the air. He’s definitely in stasis, but it’s not clear if it’s causing the kidney issues, or if the kidney issues are the primary concern and he went into stasis becaues he was so stressed from the kidneys. It does seem clear that he has a blockage of some sort, so he’s been admitted to try and clear that out in the next day, with the hopes that this may help improve kidney function. If it does, that’s great and we’ll be able to manage the kidney function. If not, then who knows what’s going on. Thanks for all the support, everyone!


                                                • Megabunny
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                                                    I really hope they are able to come to some sort of conclusion soon. It’s gotta be like torture for you both. Anxiously awaiting an update!!


                                                  • marinabunny
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                                                      I can totally relate right now, I know just how frustrating it can be not knowing *exactly* whats going on. But hang in there! I really hope he gets better soon!


                                                    • ohbonobogirl
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                                                        We got the sad call from the vet hospital this morning. I’ll not post here, just in case someone stumbles across the thread and doesn’t want to read details. Binky Free, dear Bandit!


                                                      • Beka27
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                                                          I am so sorry… Binky free, Bandit…

                                                          Hugs.


                                                        • Megabunny
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                                                            Bandit was so fortunate to have you there. You tried everything and did the right thing. Peace to you and your family


                                                          • JackRabbit
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                                                              I was so hoping for good news. You did everything right. Sending hugs your way.

                                                              Binky free Bandit . . ..


                                                            • gingerg
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                                                                Oh, I’m so sorry for you and your poor little guy. You did the best anyone could for him.


                                                              • ohbonobogirl
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                                                                  Thanks everyone!  I think we’re mostly just glad that the process is over because he was pretty miserable at the end.  We’ve planted a fruit tree in his memory in the front yard because he went nuts whenever we cut up anything and were willing to share with him.  Now we just need to keep an eye on his mate to make sure she manages okay.

                                                                   Just a few pictures so you know who Bandit was…


                                                                • Sarita
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                                                                    Hugs, I’m so sorry.

                                                                    I totally remember that picture with the chair – good memories for you :~)


                                                                  • JackRabbit
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                                                                      That chair picture is one of my favorite rabbit shaming pics of all time — I showed that to everyone who would look!

                                                                      Fingers crossed that his mate handles the loss ok.


                                                                    • marinabunny
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                                                                        Binky free Bandit. You did the absolute best for him, he was so lucky to have such great owners!

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                                                                    Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Renal failure…