Still snotty after baytril and septrin

My eight year old rabbit Rosie has often had a slightly runny nose, had baytril and its gone away only to come back again. The vet told me not to come again unless she has other symptoms because baytril won't work when it really needs to. When shes had the runny nose she has been totally fine in other ways.

Weeks ago she was having sneezing fits and I could also hear a rattley noise in her chest, rather than in her nose as usual. She was also cold and her and Jessica stayed in the hutch all day every day rather than their run, but she hadn't lost any weight or her appetite. I took her to the vets and she got baytril for two weeks, but it didn't do anything so she was put on septrin.

Tomorrow is day 14 of septrin, 1ml once a day, she is about 1.45kg. She is sitting outside now and when it was cold last week I lifted her from the hutch and she felt warm, she seems brighter. Still, I saw her having a sneezing fit yesterday and she still has the runny nose (and occassionally a runny eye), also she still has the noise in her chest but its slightly different (better) from what it was. Could the noise in her chest be permanent damage now? The stuff from her nose is either clear but mainly white, not particularly thick. Is there another medicine she can have? The vets isn't far from where I work so I think I'll pop in tomorrow to try and talk to the vet. Can anyone give me any advice on what to do next?

Can you bring her inside at all? Buns can't fight illness and cold at the same time, they really struggle with it. They can't regulate their body temp properly when they're not well.

Is that an option? I'd be very concerned about the chest rattle too, I'd be going back to the vet asap and if they won't do something I'd find a new one.

Good luck!

I would strongly request having a swab taken from her nose to be sent for culture & sensitivity testing. This will tell you what bacteria you are dealing with and what antibiotics it is susceptible to.

Lexie had Baytril & Septrin with no effect before we moved her onto a course of Oxytetracycline LA injections, of which she has one every three days. She showed remarkable improvement after 2 weeks and is now clear after a few months. She will, however, be on these now for life.

The Oxytet' also cleared up her runny eye.

Maybe worth having x-rays done of the chest and possibly nasal chambers as well

Thank you

She can come inside yes, when the weather was snowy a few weeks ago I brought them inside overnight, do you think you would bring them in full time for now? Jess will not be impressed, she doesn't like the lino in the conservatory :roll: They sat in the run on their towel all day today so to be honest I think Rosie is fine with the weather and keeping warm at the moment.

Is oxytet just doxycyline? Its a tetracycline anyway. My rats have had that for respiratory infections in the form of Ronaxan tablets, they worked really well with them in most cases.

I will suggest xrays. I've read about tooth roots growing the wrong way, could be that. Her teeth are 'excellent for a rabbit her age' I'm told, only two very small spurs, should have added that to my post.

I believe it's Engemycin but yes it is a Tetracycline, the LA stands for long acting which is why she ony needs an injection every third day to retain a therepeautic level.

I've had very good results with the long acting Engemycin for similar problems too

Rosie saw a different vet. She was given a dexadreson injection, and it says on the receipt a multivitamin injection which I assume was in the same vial because she was only injected once. She was also given more septrin, was on 1ml a day but this vet has prescribed 1.5ml a day. The vet said she needed antibiotics with the steroid injection and asked whether I wanted baytril or septrin, I thought that was a bit odd, why not just stick with septrin as shes already on it? Even though neither work.

Anyway the vet did mention tooth root problems and xraying Rosie. I assume the tooth root makes Rosie's eye water (which is intermittent) but it won't affect her lungs and make them ill? I don't know how much use there is in removing teeth in an eight year old rabbit only because she gets a watery eye every now and then. Any thoughts? The vet said to bring her back in a week's time so if theres not much improvement I'll try to suggest oxytet.

neeshkabeesh said:

Is oxytet just doxycyline? Its a tetracycline anyway. My rats have had that for respiratory infections in the form of Ronaxan tablets, they worked really well with them in most cases.

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No it's in the same 'family' of drugs though (tetracyclines). Santa has had ronaxan tablets for snuffles before and it has worked well (and easy to give, squished into a little slice of banana!) Ronaxan is also supposed to have particularly good affinity for lung tissue so if the infection is getting to her lungs rather than just in her nasal cavity, it might work quite well.

Oxytetracycline is usually either the brand name engemycin or terramycin, they are both the same thing, it's just like buying heinz or hp baked beans :lol: If you can inject it's a great choice, because it's just one injection every 3 days so it reduces the stress of having to give oral antibiotics. Santa now has these and they do seem to be working better than the ronaxan at the moment.

I recommend a boost on overall health. Heal X is an anti-toxic boost, which focus on killing cancer cells. But Heal X is also an overall boost, essentially like human vitamin bills. It's especially useful when your bun is at a senior age. So give a small amt. to your bun daily

It's also a well known fact that having anti-toxic makes you younger. (human and animal)

buy this substance called Heal-X Booster

http://www.exoticdvm.com/index.cfm?...ction&productGroup_id=108&parentGroup_id=116&

this link shows your UK distributor:

http://www.exoticdvm.com/distributors

Thank you. How much of that Heal-X stuff would I give her? I'm keen to try anything.

I took her back to the vet as suggested. It was the same vet but now she didn't mention teeth problems at all. She seemed to think Rosie looked better, I thought she was the same, and had a new idea that it could be something up Rosie's nose causing the problem even though she hadn't come across it in a rabbit before. I showed her a video I'd taken of Rosie sneezing (video lasted a minute but sneezing lasted 8 minutes at the time) and then she seemed a bit more keen on the idea that there is a bit grass or something stuck up Rosie's nose. I'm not convinced at all, I don't know what to do. The vet gave her a 'longer lasting' steroid injection of Voren, which is dexamethasone just like the Dexadreson injection was, and NOAH compendium says Voren only lasts 4 days so I don't know where the vet got this 'longer lasting/10 days' thing she was saying. I was told to continue the septrin (1.5ml once a day, 1.45kg rabbit).

Rosie is no better, there is no change for the worse but the septrin and the two steroid shots have done nothing for her, no change after them. I asked how soon I could expect to see a change in her and she said to call her in a fortnight and if things weren't better then they would sedate or anaesthetise or whatever and have a look up Rosie's nose. I really don't think the vet has much of an idea, shes quite a cocky lady and to be honest I don't really like her as a vet and I don't know what to do. I just picked up my little rabbit to give her the septrin, which she loves, but shes still snotty in the nose and, I don't know, I just don't like it. Shes not ill to the point of life-threatening but why wait until then?

hi i have the same prob with my bunny tinkerbell, turns out shes allergic to hay,straw and dust, but she did also have snuffles badly once and then a relapse. so she now has shredded news paper in her hutch and this shredded toilet paper bedding stuff in her bed bit - i just bought a cheap shredder from agos and just shred papers(remove any staples first tho) and buy the toilet paper from pet shop /garden centres etc but it is 8 pound a big sack, but ur bunny may use it as a toilet so u could just put extra news paper in bed area. put lots in as it squashes down alot its a much cheaper option and its recycling news paper at the same time. i also hoover my hutch and run etc, each time i clean it out. also get a spray bottle and slightly dampen ur rabbits hay but dont soak it as it will make ur bunny ill, (hay cookies seem less dusty). im still trying to find other ways to help her allergies, ill keep you posted. ive tried diffrent types of bedding etc but this seems to work the best ,my bunny still sneezes a tiny bit but so much better than before,try and keep your bunny's surroundings dust free too. you can get rabbit allergy tablets from vets but i dont know how safe they are or how much is known about using them in rabbits. im trying to find a herbal solution at the mo .also if your rabbit lives in a unused garage or shed etc out side, buy a thermostat heater with a fan,it also has a cool air setting for summer (argos 20 pounds and also buy a wall thermomiter to keep an eye on the room temperture)honestly it made all the difference.also liquid multi vitamins put on the food daily helps too and mineral stones.hope this helps sorry to chew ur ears off lol: wave: x ps im a terrible speller

Hi thanks for the info, I don't really think it could be an allergy because the two steroid shots would have helped with the symptoms of an allergy. I'm going to take Rosie to another vet at my practice who is usually the best with rabbits and if I get no luck there I'll take her to Newcastle to see a rabbit specialist.