Rabbit Very Poorly with Snuffles - Please Help!

Dear All

My Tinkerbell is nearly 4 years old. She was rescued from terrible living conditions when she was 2 years old.

Since October last year she has been affected with the snuffles. I have taken her to the vet immediately each time it has returned. However in the last 2 weeks she has been really poorly. She has had runny, sticky eyes which have never really cleared up for all those months. She has been given numerous antibiotic injections (Alamycinla) and have recently tried her with Baytril (Double dose twice day orally). When the snuffles get bad she has a white discharge from her nose, sneezes and is generally not herself.

The trouble is that she also has bad teeth. She had teeth filed January 2008 and then again January 2009. But when she stopped eating about three weeks ago the vet filed her teeth again. Said her teeth were very bad. I was told to keep going with both the antibiotic injection and the oral Baytril for treating ongoing snuffles. She was also given Metacam pain killer injections and orally throughout times when she has stopped eating.

After her teeth were done last week I brought her home. She lives in the house at present so I know that she is not herself. Not eating or drinking much and not doing anything really. This is not Tinkerbell as she is quite unique rabbit with a brilliant personality.

I am really worried that I might lose her and would really appreciate any advice that you could give me so as I can pass onto my vet - who is very good with her. Please Help! Kind regards Irene

Have you had a swab taken from her nasal passages and sent away for Culture & Sensitivity analysis? It maybe that you are not using the best antibiotics to treat the infection and need to identify the bacteria to know this.

As she is a dental bunny it is also possible her tooth roots are elongated, causing problems with her tearducts and nasal passages, a skull x-ray would help to diagnose this.

Hi Irene,

I also have a snuffly bunny with dental problems. Over the years Santa has been on various antibiotics, the one that has historically worked best has been oxytetracycline LA (an injection every 3 days). The bacteria now seem to have become resistant to that and she has subsequently been on a fortnight of baytril injections (my vet says that injected baytril seems to work better than oral) and now metronidazole tablets - which are working really, really well. Obviously it depends on exactly what bacteria is there so a culture and sensitivity test may be useful, but it can be hard to get a decent sample from up a buns nose as the stuff coming out is usually just dead pus.

I am also using a little bisolvon powder, as this thins the mucus and helps the pus to drain away, and a little metacam as this is anti-inflammatory and helps the irritated airways to be a little less swollen, again helping the breathing.

I haven't tried it yet but you can also use a nebuliser to get drugs up into the airways directly and some people have had good success with this.

I do hope your little one can be helped.

Thank you for your suggestions and advice, it is much appreciated. It's awful to see her so poorly and not eating, very worried. I am back to the vet with Tinkerbell on Thursday and will pass on your thoughts.

yes it is important that the vet takes a sample of her discharge to be cultured by a lab to find out what bacteria or fungus is responsible for the infection and therefore have an antibiogramme indicating resistant and sensitive antibiotics in order to give the right one... there are so many species of bacteria that can infect the respiratory track.. Chloe 's had a specie of pseudomonas (brevundimona diminuta) found out thru sample analysis... infecting her nose and her ears ; true that it can also come from dental roots etc.. as well

You have to filter out the sneezing w/ the teeth like if this is a math equation.

Teeth -- is there any teeth growing upwards towards her jaw? You need to put a bun under a "deep sedation" and do a x-ray to see that. Visual inspection won't work.

If the above works, and his diet returns to normal, then you solve the problem.

Sneezing in itself means nothing. My bun had teeth problems, 3 teeth were fixed, then he still get the sneezing, but in the end, it's just allergy. It looks like they are related, but in the end, no. read these 2 thread

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=151236

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=144462

Jester has snuffles (pseudomonas) and I found olbas oil can help. I use the battery powered olbas oil vapouriser. Seems to ease the congestion at least.

Thank You

Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to reply to me.
Tinkerbell is still not very well I'm afraid. I spoke to the vet this morning (GMT) who said that she was very poorly and if she were to deteriorate any further that they would bring her in and hook her up to a drip to see if that would stabilise her. It is a balance as the stress is having a big impact on Tinkerbell each time I take her, which has been a lot recently. We will see if the new antibiotics take a hold over the weekend and then if not the vet will take Tinkerbell in and run more tests.

But for now she is still not eating/drinking (having to use syringe) or grooming, has white discharge from her eyes (and from her behind!) she has lost her sparkle and it's so upsetting seeing her like this!

Will keep you posted, many thanks for your suggestions.

Irene

Sending massive vibes Tinkerbells way

Tinkerbell passed away in the early hours this morning

oh no.. I am so sad to read this, and so sad for you, I know how painful it is to lose a rabbit... Poor little chap.. courage my dear..

So sorry, sometimes they can't be helped despite our best efforts

Binky free Tinkerbell

very sorry for your loss