Vet Visit... Again

Time for  new Vet visit!

New place and new vet

Dansk:

Vi havde valgt at få os en ny fast dyrlæge, og vi havde udset Dyrehospitalet AniCura i Frederiksværk, som førstevalg. Molly skulle have tjekket op på sin kindtand, som vi havde fået af vide var lidt spids fra den forrige dyrlæge, og nu var det blevet tid til at få det undersøgt igen, og om det eventuelt var forværret eller blevet bedre. Molly havde desuden haft lidt ondt i sin venstre pote i nogle dage. Dette skulle også undersøges. Hun havde gået og trukket lidt på den i en håndfuld dage. Hun har oplevet det før, men det varer ofte kun en enkelt dage eller tom det er ofte bare, hvis hun er landet forkert på poten, når hun hopper ned fra ting, men denne gang var lidt værre end den plejer, og det gjorde os lidt bekymret. Det viste sig heldigvis "bare" at være, at hun havde slået sin ene tå og var øm. Hun fik noget smertestillende medicin i fire dage efterfølgende, for at hendes pote kunne få lov at hele, men at det samtidig ikke ville genere hende. Poten skulle hviles. Sandy skulle også have tjekket sine tænder for en sikkerheds skyld. Men fordi vi var hos en ny dyrlæge, så insisterende dyrlægen på at lave en fuldt helbredstjek af begge kaniner, og det sagde vi ikke nej til, for hellere lige få dem tjekket én gang for meget end en gang for lidt. Måske denne dyrlæge så noget andet end de forrige og ganske rigtigt, så blev alt tjekket meget mere dybdegående og grundigt. Dyrlægen opdagede begyndende slid på bagpoterne på deres hæle. Det var begge Snuder der havde små slidmærker. Dyrlægen mente at det kunne være fordi de ikke helt bevæger sig så meget selvom de har 21 kvm at løbe på og at de løber et maraton hver eneste dag, men dette er åbenbart ikke helt nok. Det kunne være et tegn på slidgigt ifølge dyrlægen, men vi skulle bare sørge for at holde øje med det. Vi skulle prøve at finde årsagen og samtidig prøve at afhjælpe problemet ved at smøre de røde mærker med Vetramil, som vi købte samtidig med, at vi var hos dyrlægen. Da der er blevet besluttet, at kaninerne snart skal have nyt foder, så brugte vi lejligheden hos dyrlægen til at spørge efter en anbefaling, og vi gik af vide, at de anbefalede Science Selektive Four+ og fordi Molly og Sandy er senior kaniner, så ville vi gerne have at foderet indeholdt Glucosamin, men det gør dette foder ikke, så som supplering anbefalede dyrlægen Oxbow joint support, som indeholder glucosamin til leddene for senior dyr. Mængden af foderet var dyrlægen meget positiv overfor. Vi giver normalt 25 g tørfoder pellets/nuggets til deling for begge kaniner. Man skal huske at tørfoder blot er en slags tilskud til det primære mad som de bør indtage, som er hø. Hø indeholder silikater, som er det der skaber den grove struktur på græsstrået, og det er dette, der slider på tænderne, og derfor er grene slet ikke lige så effektive til at slibe tænderne, som hø og groft græs er. Der er dog en del mere sukker i græs og derfor bør det hovedsageligt være hø (altså tørret groft græs), som de spiser. Tørringen af græsset samt sollyset i processen bidrager til at ødelægge sukkermolekylerne i græsset, og derfor er hø ikke lige så sukkerholdigt, som frisk græs.

Molly og Sandy var hverken for tykke eller for tynde, men dyrlægen kunne dog mærke på deres krop, at de begge var begyndt at få en ældre-senior-kanin-krop. Deres facon var altså begyndt at ændre sig en smule. Men begge Snuder have yderst fine kløer, pels, øjne og havde fine ører. De var begge sunde og raske. Der var lige det med Molly's ømme pote, men dette ordnes ved hvile og lidt mildt medicin for at lindre smerten i hendes skadede tå. Vi skulle holde øje med Molly's adfærd i de dage, hvor medicinen blev givet, for hvis hun udviste markant adfærdsændring ved at lave markant flere zoomies eller binkies, så kunne det tyde på at smertelindringen og de antiinflammatoriske egenskaber fra medicinen også lindrede gigten og dermed kunne man afgøre, om det var gigt, men dette lod ikke til at være tilfældet, så gigten er nok ikke helt noget, som kaninerne bakser med endnu. I hvert fald ikke Molly. Tænderne skulle holdes lidt øje med. Her var det vigtigt at vi sørgede for at give lidt færre grene, da kaninerne hellere ville spise dem end det hø, som de burde spise. Grenene fylder maven op så der ikke er plads til høet. Grenene og dens bark slider mest på fortænderne, men det er ofte kindtænderne, der vokser vildt, og dette kan man heller ikke se og kontrollere så tydeligt, som fortænderne. Derfor skal der være fokus på at holde kindtænderne ned. Både Molly og Sandy's hæle på bagpoterne skulle også tilses en gang i mellem for at holde øje med det og eventuelt behandles med Vetramil, men først skal årsagen findes og fjernes, for ellers nytter behandlingen jo ikke noget. Så vi lukker en gang i mellem kaninerne ud i haven, så de kan løbe rundt på lidt større areal i forskellige retninger, end inde i deres nuværende løbegård.

Informationer som vi fik fra dyrlægen:

Sandy vægt er 2,18 kg

Molly vægt er 1,97 kg

Sandy havde mindre røde områder på bagpoterne, hvor Molly have lidt større og op ad foden. Der var røde og bare områder på hælene pga. for lidt bevægelse eller eventuelt gigt . Vetramilen skal smøres på stederne indtil det er helet helt.

Hvis der var tale om gigt, så er der heldigvis et bredt udvalg af behandlingsmuligheder. Dyrlægen var godtikbat informeret uddybet og grundigt om alt, som hun observerede ved kaninerne. Hun håndterede begge vores kaniner skånsomt og med respekt for de små individer, som de jo er. Det er vi meget taknemmelige for. Man følte sig tryg ved at have Molly og Sandy hos denne dyrlæge. 

Tænder var okay. Intet alarmerede. Vi kunne komme igen om et halvt år til tjek, hvis ikke der skete noget drastisk i mellemtiden. Sandy havde lidt spidst på tredje tand i begge sider af undermunden. Molly havde i den ene side af munden og også tredje tand. Grene slider kun lidt på fortænderne men de har næsten ingen betydning, og de slider desuden kun lidt for fortænderne og ikke på kindtænderne. Det er silikater i hø og groft græs der slider på kindtænderne. Ikke halm eller grene da disse ikke indeholder silikater. Halm indeholder tørstof og grene (barken) indeholder fibre som er gode men intet slid, da der ingen silikater er. Grene skal gives en gang hver tredje dag cirka. Bare en lille gren så de ikke spiser sig mætte i dem og undlader høet.

English:

We had chosen to get a new permanent vet, and we had chosen Dyrehospitalet AniCura in Frederiksværk as our first choice. Molly should have had her molar checked, which we had been told was a bit pointy from the previous vet, and now it was time to have it examined again and whether it had possibly worsened or improved. Molly had also had some pain in her left paw for a few days. This also had to be investigated. She had been tugging on it for a handful of days. She has experienced it before, but it often only lasts a day or so, it's often just if she lands on the wrong paw when she jumps off things, but this time was a little worse than usual, and it made us a little worried. Fortunately, it turned out to be "just" that she had broken one of her toes and was sore. She was given some painkillers for four days afterwards, so that her paw could be allowed to heal, but that it would not bother her at the same time. The paw had to be rested. Sandy should have checked her teeth too just in case. But because we were at a new vet, the vet insisted on doing a full health check on both rabbits, and we didn't say no to that, because it's better to have them checked once too much than once too little. Maybe this vet saw something different than the previous ones and quite rightly, everything was checked much more in-depth and thoroughly. The vet noticed incipient wear and tear on the back paws on their heels. Both muzzles had small wear marks. The vet thought that it could be because they don't quite move that much even though they have 21 square meters to run on and that they run a marathon every single day, but this is obviously not quite enough. It could be a sign of osteoarthritis according to the vet, but we just had to make sure to keep an eye on it. We had to try to find the cause and at the same time try to remedy the problem by smearing the red marks with Vetramil, which we bought at the same time as we were at the vet. Since it has been decided that the rabbits will soon have new food, we used the opportunity at the vet to ask for a recommendation, and we learned that they recommended Science Selective Four+ and because Molly and Sandy are senior rabbits, they would we would like the feed to contain glucosamine, but this feed does not, so as a supplement the vet recommended Oxbow joint support, which contains glucosamine for the joints of senior animals. The vet was very positive about the quantity of the feed. We usually give 25 g of dry food pellets/nuggets to share for both rabbits. You have to remember that dry food is just a kind of supplement to the primary food that they should consume, which is hay. Hay contains silicates, which create the coarse structure of the blade of grass, and this is what wears down the teeth, and therefore branches are not at all as effective at grinding the teeth as hay and coarse grass are. However, there is quite a bit more sugar in grass and therefore it should mainly be hay (ie dried coarse grass) that they eat. The drying of the grass and the sunlight in the process contribute to destroying the sugar molecules in the grass, and therefore hay is not as sugary as fresh grass.

Molly and Sandy were neither too fat nor too thin, but the vet could tell by their bodies that they were both starting to get an elderly-senior-rabbit body. So their form had begun to change a little. But both Snudes have extremely fine claws, fur, eyes and had fine ears. They were both healthy and well. There was the same thing with Molly's sore paw, but this is fixed by rest and some mild medicine to ease the pain in her injured toe. We had to keep an eye on Molly's behavior on the days when the medicine was given, because if she showed a significant change in behavior by doing significantly more zoomies or binkies, then it could indicate that the pain relief and anti-inflammatory properties from the medicine also relieved the arthritis and thus could you can determine whether it was gout, but this did not seem to be the case, so the gout is probably not quite something that the rabbits are dealing with yet. At least not Molly. The teeth had to be kept an eye on. Here it was important that we made sure to give a little fewer branches, as the rabbits would rather eat them than the hay they should be eating. The branches fill up the stomach so there is no room for the hay. The branches and its bark wear the front teeth the most, but it is often the molars that grow wildly, and this cannot be seen and controlled as clearly as the front teeth. Therefore, the focus must be on keeping the molars down. Both Molly's and Sandy's heels on the hind paws also had to be looked at once in a while to keep an eye on it and possibly treated with Vetramil, but first the cause must be found and removed, because otherwise the treatment is of no use. So we let the rabbits out into the garden once in a while, so they can run around a slightly larger area in different directions than inside their current run.

Information we got from the vet:

Sandy weight is 2.18 kg

Molly's weight is 1.97 kg

Sandy had smaller red areas on her hind paws, where Molly had slightly larger ones and up the foot. There were red and bare areas on the heels due to too little movement or possibly arthritis. Vetramil must be smeared on the places until it is completely healed.

If it was arthritis, then fortunately there is a wide range of treatment options. The vet was godtikbat informed in depth and thoroughly about everything she observed about the rabbits. She handled both of our rabbits gently and with respect for the small individuals that they are. We are very grateful for that. You felt safe having Molly and Sandy at this vet.

Teeth were okay. Nothing alarmed. We could come back in half a year for a check-up, if nothing drastic happened in the meantime. Sandy had a slightly pointy third tooth on both sides of her lower mouth. Molly had one side of her mouth and also a third tooth. Branches only wear a little on the front teeth, but they have almost no significance, and they also only wear a little on the front teeth and not on the molars. It is silicates in hay and coarse grass that wear down the molars. No straw or branches as these do not contain silicates. Straw contains dry matter and branches (bark) contain fibers which are good but no wear, as there are no silicates. Branches should be given once every three days approximately. Just a small branch so they don't eat

 their fill and skip the hay.