I communicated with our vet on Bunny’s condition and she said she would like to see him and give him another B-12 (methycobal) injection. So off we went to the vet’s this afternoon (in the pouring rain!).
The vet did a fecal examination of Bunny’s stool and found a tiny bit of blood in it plus some tape worm ova (eggs) and lots of bacteria and yeast. Since I had already dewormed Bunny today, the vet said to deworm him again tomorrow and the day after (3 days consecutively to get rid of the worm eggs).
About tape worms:
Cat tapeworms are long, flat, white worms. They have hook-like mouths that anchor onto the wall of your cat’s small intestine. They feed on nutrients that pass through your cat and are not considered dangerous. They can grow as long as 20 inches, though most are about 8 inches when they’re fully grown. If tape worm infection goes untreated, the cat may exhibit symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea, weight loss or poor appetite. Most tape worm infections respond well to veterinary treatment.
Bunny definitely has two of the symptoms: Diarrhoea and weight loss. Occasionally also poor appetite (so was it being choosy or was it poor appetite?). The vet gave some Mirtazapine on standby as well. And occasionally, also vomiting. Oh dear…Bunny actually has all four of the symptoms. And we thought the vomiting was due to gastric problems.
The vet also wanted to test if Bunny is hyperthyroid because this could also be a reason for his weight loss. So blood was taken and I requested for a PCV check as well because in the last check, it was only 25%. The blood test showed that Bunny is NOT hyperthyroid (Pole was, if you remember), his TT4 reading is normal. Bunny’s PCV today is 29% which the vet said was good enough. Bunny’s glucose was normal too (4.5).
The vet recommends that Bunny be put on RC’s GastroIntestinal kibble for a short period to see if it helps. I’m game for this because Bunny likes the renal kibble anyway. Nowadays, he seems to like kibble more than wet food. Maybe he just likes to crunch. The only thing is this food is also chicken-based. But then again, the chicken allergy was only my guess based on what had happened with Indy last time. The vet said that if Bunny refuses to eat this kibble, then try to get him to eat canned rabbit. But no fish. Apparently, fish isn’t suitable for diarrhoea. It might even aggravate the condition.
At the same time, the vet prepared a course of Clavamox (antibiotics) for Bunny in case after 3 days of deworming he still has the diarrhoea. Then, the antibiotics might be needed to get rid of the harmful bacteria in the gut. So the antibiotics is on standby.
If Bunny still has this condition even after everything we have tried, then the vet says it could be one of two things: IBD (irritable bowel disease) or lymphoma in the gut (yes, that’s cancer). The diagnosis of lymphoma is only through a biopsy which we will not do because Bunny is too old to go under anaesthesia now. But the treatment for both is also steroids. We will come to that if we come to it later. Hopefully, never.
Back home, eating the new kibble quite happily. Cleo and Indy also wanted, so okay. Indy has gastrointestinal problems too (for years now, but he’s more of less learnt to live with it), so it’s okay to let him eat it as well. As for Cleo, I don’t know, she just wanted to join the band. Cow Mau obediently ate what was served before him. Good boy, Cow Mau.
Get well soon, Bunny! Hopefully all of Bunny’s symptoms are due to tapeworm infection (which isn’t highly dangerous) and the three days’ consecutive deworming will take care of it. I should also consider getting Bunny deflead with a spot-on application every month, since that might also help (but Advocate and Revolution do not cover tape works, if I read their brochures correctly?). Cow Mau gets Advocate spot-on monthly to deter his seizures. So far, it works for Cow Mau.
The vet also said to only give 120ml fluids (subcut) to Bunny on the consecutive days. 150ml may be too much load for his heart.
So to summarise:
(1) Tapeworm problem – hopefully solved with 3 consecutive days of deworming and gastrointestinal food (longer term).
(2) If not, then a course of Clavamox (antibiotics) to counter the bacteria in the gut.
(3) If not, then maybe steroids to control the irritable bowel disease or lymphoma in the gut (hopefully not this).