It began all over again during the last week of February. Henry seemed to be recovered from whatever muscle problem he had suffered but there was still something wrong. Whereas I had been unable to 'put my finger' on the problem five months earlier there was now a number of things I could cite as being 'not right'.

First there was the strange performance when he used his tray. He had begun to flick his fore paws, lower his head with his eyes half closed and he was definitely straining.

 Second, he had fallen off his stool; just flopped off it like he was asleep. And by February 27th he was hardly eating.

I stopped the baytril sure it was having some ill effect on him.

Things looked serious when I took him back to the vet on the morning of March 1st. He had almost stopped eating over the last three days and I was prepared for the worst. He was kept in for X-rays.

Alex called me in the early afternoon with the results of Henry's X-rays and I was left shell shocked.

I had half expected some gastro-intestinal problem because of his not eating and the toileting performances. Or, perhaps, arthritis in his pelvis or spine which would cause pain and restrict his movements and prevent him seeking his food.

I expected anything BUT what I was told.

The X-rays clearly showed Henry has an enlarged heart, which is the main problem. But, he also has some issues with his lungs and his kidneys. There is a shadow on his lungs and apparently only one kidney is visible.

I heard the report, answered questions, asked questions as well, but I didn't really take in what I was being told. It was hours later that it sank in.... this is terminal!

Post from Happy Hoppers forum on March 3rd ...

It was almost goodbye this morning. My wonderful boy had hardly eaten anything since the GA and he looked so ill. I actually rang the vet and made THE appointment! He just doesn't seem to be rallying from the anesthetic. But minutes after I made the call Henry began to eat. Not a lot but more than before and with some relish. So he didn't go to the vet but I went and had a very long talk with Richard, about all aspects of Henry's condition. He was really good and was far more on top of things than I'd actually expected... when we saw Alex on Tuesday he said it was out of his scope and had agreed to contact top rabbit vet, Richard Saunders for advice. But due to an emergency Alex never managed to contact him, but Richard (our vet) was well up to the job.
Anyway, he showed me the three X-rays they had taken and how Henry's enlarged heart is pushing up on his trachea. This is causing breathlessness when he's active and Richard warned that in these cases there is a very real risk that he will develop pneumonia, there is already a shadow on his lungs.

I came away with 10 Vetmedin tabs. He is to have two thirds of a tab twice a day, if I can get him to take them. Richard agreed that the stress of syringing him would do more harm than not taking the tabs. So I'm trying various methods of medicating him using food with the powder of a finely crushed tab inserted ... so far I've put it in a slitted bit of toast, hoping the toast smell would mask the meaty smell of the tab (it is meat flavoured for use on cat/dogs). He hasn't touched it yet. Next I shall try banana. Henry loves banana chips but has never tried the fresh fruit so he may not like it. I shall also try moistening his SS4+ pellets and scattering it on that as moist nuggets do have a strong scent and may mask that of the meds. It's no good trying pineapple juice as he won't touch it.

So we shall see how things go over the weekend, but Richard made it clear that Henry doesn't have long. I have to keep him quiet, let him rest and try not to stress myself around him.
My poor, handsome, clever boy.

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It was a little after 1am on Saturday 5th March that Henry finally hopped over to his tray and began to eat hay. For four days I had hand fed him in the spot where he had chosen to lie. I had searched the area around my home for wild forage ... fresh young grass, dandelion leaves ... anything that might whet his appetite and he had taken it stalk by stalk, leaf by leaf but with very little relish. I had coaxed him to drink with luke warm water.  He had barely moved except a couple of times a day to go and use his litter tray. But there he was, his eyes wide and bright, his ears pricked, chomping hay like it was going out of fashion and minutes later he was tucking in to his nuggets!

My post on Happy Hoppers March 5th ...

He's begun eating hay and nuggets again. And he was active for a few minutes afterwards. This morning he was wrestling the hearth brush as I tried to tidy the hearth.... a bit half hardheartedly it's true, but he was showing signs of the Henry of old.
He's definitely eating better and is more alert, practically back into his old routine. I expect his condition made it so much harder for him to recover from the anesthetic. It's taken nearly four days when once it would have been two.
Alex, has contacted Richard Saunders for his opinion.... so there are three good vets on Henry's case. But he won't, no matter how you present them, take the heart meds. They are meat flavoured with and smell of meat, and who knows, maybe that meat is Rabbit? I think I've read somewhere that a human heart med can be used.... Richard Saunders will know, and if its available maybe it would be acceptable to Henry.
The boy himself is sleeping at my side as I write this. I guess that's how it's going to be now, he will sleep a lot. I can live with that, has long as he's not in pain and I get to love him ....

My post on happy hoppers March 7th ...

His food consumption is back to normal. He is just as he was in January, before the diagnosis last week... except that now he is not having problems on the tray any more and his poops are growing bigger and healthier looking.
He is still very sleepy and tires easily. If he hadn't had the toileting issue and had the X-ray to find out what was causing it, I would never have known he had this heart issue and I would have carried on calling him a lazy buck and thinking his sleepiness was part of him growing older.
He seems quite happy now, and I've got over my horror, panic and general misery. I'm more relaxed since he began eating and generally improving, which means we are happier in each others company... he stresses and I stress, I stress and he stresses! Now we are bun and mum again and we are having lots of loving.
I'm not offering him any meds now. He knows when something is "doctored", he cottons on before I offer it. I'm going to keep him as stress free as I possibly can because stress is the worst thing for him, so no more meds, no more vets.... Nature will run her course. I won't let him suffer ... it's quality over quantity now.

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