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help desperatly needed with criticaly ill rabbit

shaz39

New Kit
Hi all i,m a new member and have had 2 lionhead rabbits honey and bubbles for 4 years,honey is very ill with pnumonia at the moment my vet gave him a shot of antibiotic Thursday as well as antibiotics baytrill to take twice a day.He seemed to be perking up yesterday was eating and drinking,today he,s huddled in the corner of the cage breathing heavily again and does,nt look like he,s going to make it for much longer.My vet advised me to bring him back yesterday to be put to sleep if he has,nt improved,he seems to be going up and down more down today,can you advise me how long should i leave him like this before i should let him go,i don,t want to put him to sleep but i can,t see him suffer like this for much longer.I don,t know what to do for the best as he might be ok again tonight or tomoz, thanks for any help i feel my hearts breaking at the mo shaz:(
 
Hiya,

I'm really sorry your bun is ill :( I'm sending loads of vibes to him and I'm sure someone very knowledgeable will be along soon with some sound advice, you came to the right place :)

Thea x
 
Your poor bunny.

Is he eating and/or drinking?

If he is due another dose of antibiotics soon, I would perhaps wait to see how he goes after that before making any decisons. Hopefully, someone with more experince of this problem will come along soon.

Lots of vibes

FC xx
 
No he,s not eating or drinking today,i have been trying but not interested,he,s had his morning dose of antibiotic shaz
i,ve just put the food bowl by him and he,s eating quite well
 
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has he had any painkillers? i would try with soft food maybe baby food anything to tempt him to eat, make sure he is kept warm dont let him suffer but at same time give him the best chance is your vet rabbit savvy? wonder if anyone else knows of anyone near you who is definatly rabbit expert who could help, i have a good vet in glos but ithink it much to far for you to travel...good luck vibes your way
 
As far as i know he did,nt have pain meds,he,s in the house so he,s warm ,my vets ok i,ve used him for years but he does,nt specialise in rabbits it,s more cats and dogs shaz
 
Hello :)

Do you know what the antibiotic injection was ?
If that too was just Baytril then he probably needs something more 'heavy duty' if he has pneumonia.

Does he have any nasal discharge or is the infection 100% confined to his lungs?

Was his illness rapid in onset or did he become gradually more poorly over a few days?

Janex
 
It was a gradual thing over a few days he has no discharge from his nose,droppings are normal,he,s just breathing fast and heavily with the odd grunting sound,i,m not sure what kind of antibiotic injection he had,it seems to be just his lungs that is the problem shaz
 
It was a gradual thing over a few days he has no discharge from his nose,droppings are normal,he,s just breathing fast and heavily with the odd grunting sound,i,m not sure what kind of antibiotic injection he had,it seems to be just his lungs that is the problem shaz

If you got a receipt from the Vet it may give the name of the drug given :)

If he appears to be in respiratory distress today then I would give the Vet a call now to request advice. There are things that can be done to try to help a Bun in the critical stages of a lower respiratory tract infection but the Bun needs to be hospitalised.

My advice to you now would be to try to speak with a Vet

Janex
 
I'm a new bunny owner so not experienced and my first thought would be call vet back. Whilst waiting on the vet do you have a humidifier - I always run one of those in the same room as human or pet family members with respiratory problems. It warms the air and the steam makes it easier for them to breath. I really hope he pulls through.
 
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