First signs of pain (& Bertie update)

Since we took Berts to see John C, a few weeks ago, I've been having weekly chats with him about his condition and meds etc. Initially Bertie was put on a metacam dose equ. to a 10Kg dog for 3 weeks. Each week since then we have lowered the dose by 2kg, and last week by 1, and so on. It's presently at 5kg, twice daily.
If he starts to show signs of pain then we go back up and come back down again, stopping just above the previous painful dose (I wish i could use more medical language, I hope you know what I mean ).

So I'm looking for any stasis like symptoms really. There have been a couple of day in the last week that have had smaller poos than we've now become used to, but that happens anyway. The last couple of days, Berts has resisted me holding him him to give him meds. He's running away from me seemingly deliberately. I remember when he was in more pain, thtat he did this. I think we have found or are very close to the threshold dose.

Could anyone let me know if this resistance to handling etc is a sign I should be taking notice of, thanks

i dont know about bertie, but peanut just generally got sick of it, he wasnt in any pain but he just got sick of the constant meds all the time and started to get wriggly and run away. i dont know if bertie could be doing the same?

poor boy! x

Could well be that SJ, but he seems a bit edgy, and unapproachable, which makes me think it may be more, but I had thought about it, it is a stressful thing for them

Can you not give him his meds on his food or in a treat, that's what we do with most of our buns, then have a sneaky general check up when we're having a cuddle.

will certainly try it, it's quite a lot of liquid though, I could dropper it between a big sring green leaf and his herbs. I don't think he objects to the Metacam, so could well work, Thanks Lynda

the only thing peanut will take metacam in is an apple, i poke it with a skewer and then squirt it in the hole and leave it a minute to soak in and then give it to him.

i cant do that anymore because madam tries to get some aswell and ends up getting metacam but for a single bun it could work?

I find that when they know it is meds time, they get edgey and then associate all handling with meds, so become resistant to it. Could be that. x

My mum had arthritis and her pain threshold used to change depending on if it was very damp outside. If she went abroad, she could walk a lot and didn't feel so sore, but as soon as she came back to Ireland, the arthritis flared up again. It might be that some days he is sorer than others.

hows Bertie ?

Thanks Jan, he's Ok, I tried putting Metacam on his veg, but he left the bits with it on He doesn't seem to be in pain, but i think he just may be getting sick of the handling and meds, he's just gonna have to get used to it cos it's for the rest of his life.
Sometimes it's easier to give than others, he's such a moody so and so

Aw, bless him.

I think you are right about the handling and the meds. Our aged cat is on permanent medication and hates it

Hmmm.... we've got a couple of buns like that, ways we diguise metacam are:

- crushing a grape or two and sucking up all the juice into the syringe with the metacam, then giving it a good shake to mix it all together

- dropping metacam onto a wee bit of weetabix, letting it soak in and then offering

- dropping metacam into the edges of a bit ryvita (wont soak in if you put it on the flat side )

- mixing metacam in with a teaspoonful of baby food, we use Hipp carrot and potato or apple and blueberry

- dropping the metacam onto the edges of a wee bit Crawfords Arrowroot biscuit (as per ryvita)

- get a sharp pointy knife and make a hole in the middle of a couple of vegetable edges and drop the metacam in, take a couple of minutes to soak in

- mixing metacam in with some mushed up banana (some of our buns wont eat banana though)

**goes shopping**

Thanks Lynda

Jay wrote:Thanks Jan, he's Ok, I tried putting Metacam on his veg, but he left the bits with it on He doesn't seem to be in pain, but i think he just may be getting sick of the handling and meds, he's just gonna have to get used to it cos it's for the rest of his life.
Sometimes it's easier to give than others, he's such a moody so and so

probably tried it what about dipping the end of the syringe into some juice

I think it's going to be pretty hard to differentiate between a rabbit who has had enough of being medicated and one who is experiencing pain when handled but perhaps you could alter your approach towards medicating him to try and find your answer.....for instance, when medicating Lexie I used to put her on a high but flat surface and inject into her mouth by gently lifting her chin and inserting the syringe behind the incisors rather than holding her outright.

A fair few rabbits will of course not be co-operative with this method but equally a few respond quite well to it, especially if they are used to human contact and trust the administrator.

^^ Thanks Sooz, that's really helpful
and thanks all so much for your replies The variety of suggestions shows just how much consideration we take over our furries

I'm going to work through them, and see what works best.

I know with Fudge Ive found things like Baytril and Panacur are best 'injected' into a mini shredded wheat/mini shredded wheat with fruit in the centre. I have sussed it is easier doing this way than fighting wiht a syringe that causes stress for Fudge.