GI slowdown, meds/bloodwork question

Question
Dear Dana,

Thanks again for being so quick. Yes, I have had her checked for molar spurs, on a routine checkup about 6 months ago, after we'd moved here (I wanted the new vet to see her when she was healthy, and figured it was time for a checkup anyway)and she seemed fine then.

The hay I use is Oxbow, not just any farmer's hay, so I feel it should be comparatively safe, and over the last 4 years, she really hasn't seemed off, hardly at all - maybe 2 or 3 different times, she was off her food for a short period, and I was watching her closely, and she was fine again the next day. I just assumed it was the "bouts of gas" that the rescuer warned me about.

I guess all I can do is hope it isn't a slow growing liver cancer or a tumor, and maybe it's a chronic infection of some kind that the antibiotic will take care of.

I'll make sure to follow your advise and mention the medications to my vet.

This is a good lesson to anyone reading, that a baseline blood test, and subsequent bloodwork checks are a good thing to do - I wish I'd had her bloodwork checked every year. Maybe I could have resolved her liver issue sooner. Just a physical exam isn't good enough.

Thanks again, Dana

Answer -
Dear Deb,

The cause of her liver problems are as mysterious to me as they are to you.  It's interesting that she had another bout previously.  Chronic infection, chronic GI slowdown, liver cancer...any of these could be cooking for a while without the bunny showing overt signs of illness.

It does make me wonder whether she's been having chronic GI slowdown and hence, exposure to more Clostridial toxins that normal.  Have her molars ever been checked for spurs?  Molar spurs can cause enough pain/stress to cause chronic GI tract slowdown and ileus, so it's something to consider checking once she's out of the woods.

Hard to say if an environmental toxin could be to blame.  Pesticides?  Hay doesn't have to look moldy to contain mycotoxins, which are produced by parasitic fungi that live *inside* the shaft of the grass.  But the species of fungi that produce the typical toxins (1) don't usually infect grass hays (timothy, oat, brome, coastal, etc.), and are more common in alfalfa hay and (2) even if the fungi are present, they produce the mycotoxins only under certain environmental conditions (unusually cold weather).  So it's not *impossible* that mycotoxins could be involved, but it's not all that likely.

The other problem with mycotoxins is that a whole field of hay can be fine, and one little corner infected with the fungus. It's just one of the hazards of using free-grown food.  Mycotoxin problems are pretty rare, though.  And finding them in a bunny blood sample would be pretty difficult, I think.

I hope it turns out to be something simple, and that she's back to her old self soon!

Dana  

Answer
Dear Deb,

If it's a liver tumor, there's not much you can do.  And unfortunately, there's no way to know without doing an exploratory surgery, and she certainly doesn't sound like a candidate for that!  (Nor does any rabbit, actually.  Ever.)

I'm the last person to want to overload a bunny with medications, but if she's this sick and the only hope is that it might be an infection that could be knocked out, then you might want to ask the vet about adding Zeniquin (marbofloxacin), a good, broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone that has good efficacy against a wide range of bacteria (including E. coli, which can cause watery diarrhea/cecotropes in some cases, according to a few fecal c & s tests we've done).  

Just a thought.  But it does sound as if you're doing what needs to be done.  I hope she does well!

Good luck,

Dana