Update on diabetic bunny

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janelle and Nomad

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Yesterday when I was talking about Nomad I met a woman who has a diabetic rabbit. Her regular vet did blood work on it twice and the BG was in the 300s both times. I assume even for a rabbit this in the diabetic range. Her vet referred her to another vet who does exotics. This vet charged her a lot for an evaluation, told her the rabbit was diabetic and then suggested she put it to sleep! I got the lady's phone number and she only lives about five miles from me. I told her that she could probably test him on the ears and she could probably dose it if she can find a vet willing to research what insulin to give it. I asked her what she was feeding it and she said the dry rabbit pellets. Is it possible the high carbohydrates in dry rabbit food could cause diabetes? Then maybe if she changed it to a raw food bunny diet his BG would come down? I told her I would try to get any information for her that I could.
 
Re: Diabetic rabbit?

Janelle, I believe rabbits are herbivores, so I don't think a raw diet of any type of meat would help. Maybe fresh vegetables instead of the pellets?

I think she needs her vet to research the topic or consult with someone at a university to help her treat bunny.

Good luck to you and your new friend!

Pam
 
Re: Diabetic rabbit?

Hmmmm...rabbits eat only veggies anyway. Maybe the occasional bug
that is on the veggie.

An expert consultation is definitely in order.
 
Re: Diabetic rabbit?

When I. Mentioned raw food diet for the rabbit, I meant raw fruits and vegatables. There are even some people that are into raw food vegan diets.

From what I am reading, maybe BG in the 300's isn't that high for a rabbit? Maybe these two vets were basing it on dog and cat blood glucose? Maybe one of the rabbit rescue groups could steer this poor lady in the right direction!
 
Re: Diabetic rabbit?

Why did she take it to the vet to start? if it isn't diabetic with 300 being normal in a rabbit, is it possible there is another illness to consider?

Good for you for helping this gal out!
 
Re: Diabetic rabbit?

I am not sure why she brought the rabbit to the vet in the first place. All I know is she seems to have wasted. A lot of money so far. There has to be some vet in south florida who can treat a rabbit. This is an older lady who lives in a condo. She got Bugsy because she thought a cat or dog would make too much noise. She even sleeps with him and showed me a picture of him sleeping in a little bed she made him.
 
Re: Diabetic rabbit?

I just sort of answered my owm question. There is a web site just for rabbits medrabbits.com that has a link to vets who treat rabbits. There are four listed in South Florida but there list is from 2008. Hopefully at least one is still in practice. There is also an organization called the house rabbit society that has a local chapter here in Miami. So hopefully I can hook up Bugsy and his mom with the help they need.

This whole thinhg illustrates another thing that is frequently encountered. This lady had already brought Bugsy to two other vets. If they didn't know how to treat a rabbit they should have referred. Her to another vet. Does this sound familiar with some vets who try to treat cat diabetes? I know in another tread a lady was arguing her vet couldn't be wrong.....if only this were true!
 
I spoke with Bugsy the Bunny's Mom. She was able to get into a vet that specializes in rabbits Saturday. Normal blood glucose for rabbits is from 180 to 280. One vet she had seen previously had used BG values for dogs and cats and had told her over 200 was diabetic. If this vet had put Bugsy on insulin, Bugsy would have gone hypo and died.Does this sound familiar?

Bugsy's BG has been in the mid.300's so for a rabbit he is considered borderline diabetic.The vet told Bugsy's mom the dry commercial rabbit food and treats Bugsy has been getting are overloaded with sugars and causes rabbits to be dehydrated.Bugsy is supposed to get more fresh veggies and only limited dry rabbit pellets. For now, they are hoping the diet change and losing weight will get Bugsy back in shape.

It is interesting that other species face some of the same issues as diabetic cats.Quess how they test bunnies? On the ears like cats.The dry commercial food doesn't seem to very good for cats, dogs or rabbits.Unfortunately there are also vets who treat all other species like dogs.Luckly Bugsy's story had a good ending and I didn't have to get a call about Bugsy being overdosed with insulin.
 
I had already heard that a steady diet of the pellets is not good, long term, for pet bunnies.

It should be used primarily by the rabbit farmers who grow rabbit for meat.
Those rabbits are raised for slaughter and are fattened quickly.

Well, yes....that's where the rabbit meat comes from in the cat food we buy.


Testing on the ears...of course....big target !
 
Jan,

I learn something new everyday. I believe I will always remember this about rabbits and diabetes.

Thanks for letting us know the outcome.
 
I think the main problem with this bunny is diet.When she showed me pictures of Bugsy he was overweight.Feeding him just commercial pellets and treat food is apparently a good recipe for rabbit diabetes also.There are a few places in the Fort Lauderdale that sell hay. Maybe there would be a place that would sell her Small quantities of hay.I am not a rabbit person but I understand you can also litter box train them.

On a completely different species, I know a lot of people have killed their Iguanas by misfeeding them.A lot of people think Iguanas eat insects or meat like snakes.Iguanas are strict vegetarians and feeding them any animal proteins will eventually cause kidney failure.Other times people will just feed them lettuce which has little nutritional content in it.Many people consider animals like rabbits, hamsters and Iguanas "throw away" pets. They never bring them to a vet and if they die they just buy their kids a new one.

Bottom line is whatever species of animal you have, you have to research their diet and other needs.Many animals of all types are abandoned when people find out they are too much work or grow up and are no longer "cute".
 
One place to check on for a usually pretty good lead on hay is anywhere there are horses...Mount Police, Riding Stables, Parks etc. Most of them have a line on where to get alfalfa hay or at the very least Brom. One thing to be aware of is that there are different kinds of hay, and straw and hay are not the same thing. Straw is wheat stems after the grain is harvested, great bedding, zero food value. Then there is alfalfa hay that is dried alfalfa but what cutting is important, alfalfa will be havested 3-4 times in a year, first cut is about as good as straw, second and third cut are the ones at least with horses you want. And 4th cut is referred to as "cake" really rich. Then there are different grass hays was well so she might want to research which hay is right for bunnies...I would think alfalfa since that is what the base of pellets are. If it is the horse people will know how to find it, it isn't used much in cattle, at least not around here.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
A friend of mine does bunny rescue, and apparently alfalfa is not good for bunnies. She buys timothy and shakes out the fines. The horses lick up the fines that she leaves and her bunnies are happy with the stalks and a few seed heads that she takes home. Of course, the seed heads are hi carb, but are not that common in good timothy hay. If she can't find hay near by, she might be able to get timothy cubes at a pet store. Check the ingredients, but they should be just pressed hay. Giving the bunny raw veggies like lettuce will take him longer to eat than pellets and have fewer calories.

Edit to add: One flake lasts her 4 rabbits a week.
 
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