Sad updates: Tommy and Magic

Tommy was doing ok on Fortekor for kidney failure, but he'd started drinking more again and wasn't keen on eating for a few days when he died after having lost more weight on Saturday, 4th August! He died when I was away. He was so unwell that I was going to have him put to sleep on Sunday, but he had other ideas. I miss him so much.

Then today, I brought Magic to the vet as the abscesses all came back with a vengeance. Ian did some x-rays and saw that the bones were inflamed and there wasn't anything that could be done other than lance them and put Magic on palliative care. We decided to do that and then make the decision once Magic wasn't happy anymore.
3/4 hour later, Ian called back to say that Magic had a heart attack and passed away during recovery! I fell really numb and shocked! We didn't expect that. Ian did say however that Magic too was in kidney failure which I didn't notice as he never drank more than usual... So it would have been difficult to put him on painkillers! Perhaps Magic knew that he didn't want to go on and decided to go before it got too uncomfortable ... and I think he made the right decision! But so hard for me. Miss you so badly my little guy!

Magic - Abscess

Well, I took Magic to Mark's yesterday to have his incisors and rest of teeth sorted out again as he slowed down with the eating again. I then get a call from Mark saying that Magic has a massive abscess on his face. They lanced it, sorted his back teeth and incisors out - though they did say that Magic's molars are worn quite down and some teeth loose though still functional. When I picked him up he was ok, drank a lot of water, but didn't eat much. This morning, I saw some blood and mess on his fur and then realised that the abscess was in fact opened externally, which I was surprised about as I assumed it was internally. So I clipped the fur some more around it, lanced it and then cleaned the wound up with Hibiscrub. Tonight, I just lanced it again and from tomorrow will start flushing it with hibiscrub too (haven't got a syringe at the moment, but will get some tomorrow). I have just given Magic some chopped salad and grated carrot as well as some herbs and chopped hay, and he has eaten quite a lot of that. I am really glad as he seems to feel better, and it also saves me having to syringe feed him. The abscess is really massive and so much stuff coming out of it... wow! I think it is bigger than even Pippa's and Sunny's when they had the ear abscesses. As from tomorrow I will put Magic on Streptacare too as that is the only meds that are likely to help.

Tommy

Tommy has been a bit through the mill over the last few months. His teeth needed sorting out as there were spurs. He also had a considerable amount of puss in his mouth. We have put him on Streptacare again, on which he has been for a couple of months now and it is working very well. It has also stopped him from wetting himself by the looks of it as he is now mostly dry.

However, he started drinking more and more, so last Thursday, I brought him to see Mark. He had a blood test and it came back as kidney failure (UREA 21.8 with a normal range of 6.1 - 8.6 and CREATININE 248.3 with a normal range of 70.7 - 159). Tommy is now on Fortekor and seems much better on it already.

Magic

Not many updates recently, however, Magic had really overgrown incisors so is now having regular dentals to keep them and the molars in good shape. They seem to grow at a very strange angle now which stops them from waring down properly. Luckily, Mark/Ian only charged me meds last time for the dental, which I appreciated very much!

Dakota is gone!

Yesterday morning, I found Dakota sitting in her own wee when I got up in the morning. She was sitting on the carpet next to the radiator. She wasn't interested when I put the food in, even the broccoli couldn't tempt her. Her breathing seemed very loud and her nose was wet; I also thought she had red urine though I think this was now dye from the wood where she weed. I booked her into the vets.

Mark had a good look at her and took an x-ray of her bladder and chest, but all was clear. He could not find anything else amiss either other than the obvious symptoms above. So we assumed it was some sort of infection. Mark gave her antibiotics and booked her back in to see him for this morning at 8.

I then had to go to work, but although Dakota looked unwell, she hopped into her cage without problems so I wasn't too worried about leaving her.

How wrong was I... when I came home at 6 pm, I found her dead stretched out. It is such a shock that she is gone. I know she is 7 years old which is good for a French Lop, but she didn't look or behave old at all. So I asked Mark to do a pm on her, and then cremate her individually.

I still can't believe she is gone. This has really knocked me for six! She was such a fantastic bunny... I really miss her.

Update

Magic's eye definitely looks much better now, the fleshy bit much smaller and no more pus. However, he isn't eating properly anymore; I am not sure whether this is a side effect of the Streptacare. If he hasn't eaten by tonight, then I will take him to the vet tomorrow morning.

PS. added on 24/5/2011: Magic recovered fully and has not had a problem anymore since!

Magic - eye abscess

I took Magic to Mark's on Thursday to check him out as he wasn't eating. When on the table, I noticed that his eye was infected and Mark confirmed this. He gave him antibiotics, eye drops and gut motility drugs and we went back on Friday morning. We added Metacam to the mix.

On Friday, there was now also pus coming from the eye, so we are dealing with an abscess. The eye didn't look good and Mark didn't look very optimistic.

On Monday, I took Magic back again. The eye was less red, but still pus there. Mark put him on Streptacare which I inject daily now and I continue with the eye drops and Metacam.

It looks a little better now, but although Magic is still eating his veg and fruit, he isn't eating anything else still. We are due to go back next Monday and hopefully by then, things are looking a bit better.

Update on Tommy

Tommy has now been on Streptacare for a week.

I give him the injection in the morning (without problems) and also lance the abscess. Over the last couple of days, the abscess seems smaller and much less puss is coming out. So I think that the Streptacare is working. I also give him Fibretex which is helping him too.

He still doesn't eat as much as I would like him to, but he eats pellets, grated carrots and broccoli and occasionally also hay. So I think we are getting there. He is certainly very well in himself.

He is due for a vet follow-up tomorrow evening with Mark.

Tommy update

Tommy is home and he has been eating bits and pieces (pellets and greens), but no hay as yet.

This morning I gave him the first injection of Streptacare which is the antibiotic (penicillin) which Ian gave me to inject. The injection was surprisingly easy as Tommy didn't struggle at all being cornered in one corner of the cage. It was a bit more difficult to clean off the abscess, but we got there in the end. I am not flushing the abscess as it goes right through to his mouth and I don't want him to swallow anything.

He is pretty bright, but doesn't like the abscess being touched. I don't blame him, but it has to be done.

Tommy at vet's

As Tommy was very reluctant to eat anything this morning, and ate the pellets very, very gingerly, I decided to take him in asap. Mark couldn't see anything in his mouth for all the puss in there, so his teeth must be quite bad. Not sure yet what the lump is.

Update, 2.30 pm:

The lump is a jaw abscess that's also affected the bone. I will need to inject antibiotics to give him the best chance possible, but it really isn't good news. Jaw abscesses are so difficult to treat. Tommy needs all the strength he can muster for this.