Philip update

So, further to https://happyhoppers.forumotion.co.uk/t26168-another-trip-to-the-vet-school-with-philip

Philips ear has continued to irritate him, in the last 2 weeks since MJ was admitted to the vet its gotten really quite bad and he is scratching a lot and he is now scratching at both sides. In addition he's had weepy eyes and nose. I think this has maybe been going on for a while but we are only noticing now because he has no one to help him clean them. I've been trying to clean his eyes but he only tolerates it for a few minutes and thats not enough for me to be able to keep on top of it.

We had him at the vet earlier today and he has infection in both ears (vet checked under microscope and saw bacteria), and they gave his eyes a good clean. We think the runny nose is probably just from his eyes and his lungs sound find but just to be safe he is being treated for respiratory infection. So we've come away with eye drops, ear drops and antibiotics that he's to get for 2 weeks then have another check up.

Poor toot

I hope it sorts him out.

I’ve had to clean Molly’s eyes since Junior died. It’s a delight

Thumper2001 wrote:
I’ve had to clean Molly’s eyes since Junior died. It’s a delight

He doesn't mind if you use ear buds but cotton pads are more effective but he doesn't like them. The vet gave them a proper clean and got all the hard bits of fur cleaned so hopefully I can now just do it daily with an ear bud and that'll be enough to keep on top of it :/

I’ve never thought of using an ear bud! Might try that next time but I can see it just getting snatched out of my hand

With Lil Loll I used to spend a lot of time wondering how to design a rabbit muzzle!
Keep up the good work. He may not like it but I'm sure afterwards he feels better, even if he won't admit it.

woodwench wrote:With Lil Loll I used to spend a lot of time wondering how to design a rabbit muzzle!
Keep up the good work.  He may not like it but I'm sure afterwards he feels better, even if he won't admit it.

This is what I always say to Molly! It’ll feel better once I’ve done it. I’m sure you can imagine it makes zero difference to her behaviour

Get well soon Philip

Xxx

not long in from check up, not a great update. His ears aren't really improving. The vet managed to flush the right ear a bit and get stuff out but nothing would come out of the left.

She's very concerned at this point, and she is letting me continue with antibiotics in his ears for 2 weeks although increasing the dose slightly. He has another check up booked for 2 weeks and if there is no improvement at that point then our options are very limited. Surgery to allow his ears to drain or consider that due to the discomfort caused by the ear infections (and subsequent falling over/distress when he's scratching at them) that we can no longer maintain an adequate quality of life for him.

Aw Gayle I just don’t know what to say. Only you know what would be right for him but it must be an extra tough decision given what you’ve just been through with MJ

We've arranged to collect the pair of buns on Saturday, regardless of what happens Philip is desperately missing company of his own kind. Even tho there won't be any formal introductions for a while I am hoping that having other buns around will make Philip feel happier.

Can’t wait to meet them!

Thundercracker had the surgery and even before he had the tubes out his ears he was such a different bun, but he did get his younger.
Can't wait to see the new buns.

gemma997 wrote:Thundercracker had the surgery and even before he had the tubes out his ears he was such a different bun, but he did get his younger.
Can't wait to see the new buns.

I was wondering if it was the same surgery that Thundercracker had. His ears seem to be bothering him less but its so hard to tell, especially as he's not doing much moving about and mainly sleeping :/

Philip had his check up today, vet is happy that his ears are improving although the left one more slowly than we'd like. She flushed his ear again and got quite a lot of pus coming out of the right one quite easily, the left one is still being stubborn but he is less uncomfortable with it. So sticking with the antibiotics and back again in 2 weeks. She said its likely he'll have to stay on the antibiotics in his ears even once we do get the infection clear given how quickly is came back after last time. He's also maintaining his weight which is good, he's still not eating hay but he's eating pretty much everything else he's offered.

His eyes are still needing regular cleaning, I've also recently realised his chin does as well. I found a loud of crusty bits near the corners of his mouth (ordinarily you can't see under Philips chin at all due to the shape of his head and his hair being quite long, but he had a small patch of longer hair that was wet that I could see that led to me investigating) so he now has a little bald patch at the corner of his mouth (you can see if you lift his head up and move hair out the way!) but the skin looked fine and not irritated at all. Now I am aware of it I can check it regularly.

He's a tough little cookie. Brave. You keep it up Philip.

He would be still shaking his head if they were annoying him so the fact he doing it less is a good sign, sometimes thundercracker has a bit thick wax and you can always tell he shakes his more at those times.

Xxx

gemma997 wrote:He would be still shaking his head if they were annoying him so the fact he doing it less is a good sign, sometimes thundercracker has a bit thick wax and you can always tell he shakes his more at those times.

Xxx

thats reassuring to hear, we can now touch his ears without him shaking his head which we couldn't do before. He's showing more interest in Belle & Benjamin as well which is nice. He has generally been a bit brighter. I also saw him eating hay last night and today! Not much but its the first time I've seen him eating hay since we lost MJ.

Aw how lovely it must have been to see him eating hay!

That's a great news he back to eating the hay, it a start in the right direction.
Thundercracker will not let anyone near his ears he was always like that even from the moment we got him and it all due to the issues he has had, so that's fantastic news that Philip allowing it.
Xx

Philips balance has got worse and he's started circling His appetite is still good, but the circling is quite distressing

App at the D!ck vet on friday for Philip as is circling/balance isn't improving. Had an app at our vet on Friday and she said the infection that she can see hasn't changed much since last app. We've started him on liquid paracetamol as well (strawberry flavour!)
My bunny shelf looks like a pharmacy at the moment

Vet school called to say Philip isn't getting home today so not to start heading back through, but waiting on the vet to call and tell us why :/

so the vet called. Philip has a lot of issues, middle ear infection is not one of them.

He has what they suspect is a granuloma in his lung, he has a cyst on his liver and he has very small kidney stones. He also has quite severely subluxed (basically dislocated) vertebrae in his neck which is causing compression. This is normally associated with trauma, however Philip had a CT scan less than 6 months ago and they never mentioned anything about it then, and to my knowledge nothing has happened since then that could be considered traumatic. The vet said its possibly due to a combination of factors (age, existing conditions ie spondylosis, and him being a mini lop which as breed are prone to spinal alignment issues). None of the things found in the CT scan would typically account for the circling, so that remains a mystery. She did say its worth treating for EC again. He also had blood tests for his kidneys due to his weight loss, and that came back normal. So she thinks his weight loss is most likely due to him not eating hay so although he's still got a good appetite for everything else the lack of grazing is resulting in him not putting any weight on.

Anyway, the plan of action at the moment is pain management so he is having tramadol and gabopentin added to his lengthy prescription list and we're picking him tomorrow morning.

So, not the best news but not the worst.

That's not the best news but he is coming home. Did they check for a stroke? as circling can be a sign of stroke (my terrier circled after a stroke, it's awful). Hopefully you will have many days yet to shower him with love.

Aw poor Philip

How is he now he’s home?