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miximetosis

mistymaz

New Kit
Hi I'm new to this sort of thing so I hope I have the right thread area.
My Black Lop rabbit Midnight showed serious signs of mixi tue 21st oct. We always clean both our boy rabbits out on a friday & both looked well & acted as per normal. The weekend we gave them eve feeds, as we were out during the days, so it was dark when feeding them. On the Tuesday morning when my husband went to feed them he saw that Midnights eyes were stuck together & that he looked very swollen around the eyes. We took him straight to the vets & she confirmed it was miximetosis. He has lumps around his ears, neck, head,genital area.He looks very poorly & his breathing is a tad noisy (almost bunged up when we humans get colds). His eyes are gunky too & swollen. One eye remains open at present. The vet has prescribed him Meloxidyl oral liq, Baytril 2.5% oral solution,Fucithalmic vet, Bisolvon 5g sachet. The vet says he is very poorly with Miximetosis.

Both of our rabbits are vaccinated against Mixi & we do this twice a year. Its very frustraighting that now that My poor bunny has mixi so badly & Im really confused about how thats happened. Snuggles our other bunny had a very mild case last year & we brought him indoors where he lived with us & our cats for three wks til he was allowed to rejoin his brother. Snuggles is not showing any signs of mixi, but I guess the next few days will tell.

Each morning we give Midnight his Meloxidyl & twice a day give him his Baytril. He also has a pinch of Bisovon in a syringe with water.we are cleaning his eyes with warm water & treating him with his Fucithalmic eye drops. I continue to clean his eyes during the day too so that the gunk is removed.Also I am cleaning his large indoor cage area every day (Do I need to be doing that??) I just figure I will treat him like he's in hospital & keep everything as hygenic as possible. Is that neccessary? The vet has also given us Supreme Science Recovery sachet, to which Midnight does not need because he is still eating very well & drinking from his bottle. My husband has assured me once he has mixi the antibiotics is working to kill off the illness, so it cant keep being spreadaround the place. unless its direct contact with another rabbit, so by keeping the brothers apart its for the best.

I just have a few questions if anyone can help, so as to ease my mind a bit, as I am finding the whole thing very distressing.

1/ Does he have a fighting chance even though he sounds like he has flu & his eyes are very puffed up & his mouth is very swollen & has been vacinated, although vets say its a nasty bout of the miximetosis.

2/ Why do you think the vet prescribed Supreme Science food when he is eating as normal, if not some what slower & noisily? Am I to expect something else?

3/ The first week of taking his medicine will he show any kind of change?
we have another visit to vets on monday to access his situation & decide if he is to be put down or to carry on treatment.

4/ Come Monday if the vets say we are to continue treatment do you think they will do this because they are hopefull it is making a difference?

5/ If Midnight does recover which I pray he does, because I am a massive softy & cant bear my animals to be in any form of distress is there any way that I can protect them in future living outdoors. As silly as it sounds, but like Mosquito nets, sprays etc all over the hutch & run that are not harmful to bunnies or other animals.

6/ Finally is it safe to bring his brother indoors for his usual stokes & allow him near his poorly brothers cage or wait a few wks or so? They are very close brothers & play lots.

Many Thanks for anyone who reads about me rattling on about it, but I strangely feel a weight has been lifted by talking about it. Please any advise welcome.

A very worried Bunny Mummy!!
 
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I can only answer a few questions.

1/ Yes, he does have a chance if he's been vaccinated. Sounds like the vets are onto it too.

5/ You can put mosquito nets over the hutches which does stop the midges getting to the rabbits.

6/ Myxi is only transmitted by biting midges, not direct contact, so it is safe for the brother to be with the rabbit.
 
ok speaking as an owner whos bunny chelsea had myxi last year at age 10 yes your rabbit has a fighting chance. the quicker the meds are started the better she will have the nodular form. buns tend to recover better with their partner so dont split from friend as the infection is spread by biting insects ratehr than bunny to bunny. keep bunny eating is very important as they go through good and bad days leaves adn dandilion apple herbs etc all help keep them eating i would try not to change food too much though if eating as normal. bathe eyes 1-2 times daily with warm water and you will need eye drops such as fucilthalmic or tiacil(tiacil tends to sting less) you will need a cours eof antibiotics often baytirl/peniciillin based these should be administerd as vet instructions. metacam is important as your bunny will need pain relief it is also an anti inflammatry adn will help the swellings(nodules/lumps) go down and be less sore.
rattling is a sign of breathing difficulties a steam bath will help shut bun in bathroom with you adn have shower /bath all steamed up this can also be done in a carrier on a smaller scale if nessacery. keeping bunnys warmer helps them fight this disease as their body temperature is often hard to maintain while they have this so bringing bunny indoors into the warm is a must really x
 
Mixi

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Thankyou so much for comments. We brought Midnight's brother in last night for a visit & he was cleary upset & tried to bite my husband (which neither rabbit has ever done before)He was desperate to get to the cage, My husband was holding him near to the cage at the time. We are both worried if they even touch noses Snuggles will catch Mixi. Im guessing from what you are saying that we can maybe put the cage with infected rabbit still in it, on the floor & allow our healthy rabbit to bound around the cage & have a sniff etc?

Also if he is sneezing is that a good sign & snot coming out (sorry that's the only way I can describe it)? I am bathing his eyes as per instructions to vet & one of his eyes has been almost permantly closed since Tues, but there is a gap there now, so I am hoping that is a good sign. When I can figure out how to put a picture up I can show you his condition.
 
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Hi, I am sorry to hear that one of your bunnies have myxi. Because they are vaccinated twice yearly, he stands a good chance of surviving.

Polo was started on baytril 0.4ml twice daily when we discovered it was myxi. In also gave her fibreplex which is a probiotic which I gave her twice daily. http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1180
She was also on 0.6ml of metacam twice daily (cat strength) which i think helped tremendously. I also gave them Lacto B sachets over their nuggets daily.

As she was on metacam she was also given Tagamet which is like an antacid (Zantac) to prevent GI upset.

Her breathing got worse as the disease progressed, and she was started on amoxicillin injections every 48hrs. I think these helped so much.

She stopped eating only once and was given a gut stimulant, but her appetite was pretty good throughout.

I am hoping that she will be given the all clear this Wednesday.
Oscar developed myxi too, however his was much milder than Polo's and he only developed 4 nodules, although his breathing was noisy too. He had a similar treatment regime, however without the amoxicillin injections.

I also brought my bunnies inside, I think this helped enormously, especially in this cold weather.

I had some fantastic advice from this forum, and without it my bunnies might not have been here today.

Also, the baytril your vet prescribed is to prevent any secondary infections (bacterial), it can not fight myxi as this is a virus. Your bunny will have to fight this himself, but he should have antibodies with him being vaccinated.

Good luck and sending vibes x
 
Myxomotosis Rabbit

I posted a new thread as I have a Myxomotosis Rabbit, opps! apologies.
The information posted with regard to the drugs I could be asking for is great.
I have been giving Baytril and have another antibiotic now on day 18. I don't have Metacam although my rabbit has nodules which are not getting any bigger or increasing in number. I don't have eyedrops and my rabbit is continuing to eat normally. I have used Science recovery in the past and so may get some just in case. The more information I can get the better. I understand some of you have experienced a decline in a Myxi rabbits health within week four and so I need to be prepared for that.

I am encouraged by the suggestions about steam for the breathing and I will try this. The rabbit has some convulsions of the head but these don't last long, has anyone else seen these? Is this something that is likely to cease once the antibiotics take effect, could this be temporary? Thanks
 
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