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pasturella?

clarke

Young Bun
does anybody know any information on this as our bunny has been diagnosed with a suspected case of this? what is the prognosis if we follow the advised treatment? etc ................
 
pasturella is a common cause of snuffles (respiratory infection) in bunnies. have the vets proscibed a corse of antibiotics?
 
Pasteurella- A bacteria in our nose, every bun has it. However if we get too stressed/upset this bacteria multiplies rapidly. Causing other problems such as 'snuffles'

Its treated with antibiotics best thing is to keep warm and unstressed (if you can think of anything that may have upset them.)
 
What are your Rabbits symptoms?
How was the diagnosis made and what treatment is Bun receiving?

Here are some links about Pasteurella. *Some contain GRAPHIC PHOTOS*

http://www.lbah.com/rabbits/pasteurella.htm

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/pasteurella_multocida.htm

http://www.radil.missouri.edu/info/dora/RABBPAGE/bac.htm#I.

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/past.shtml

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/171317.htm

Not all Respiratory Tract Diseases are caused by Pasteurella:


INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Pasteurellosis
While not the only cause of respiratory disease in the rabbit, it most assuredly does account for a significant percentage of cases. Caused by Pasteurella multocida, infection is not limited to the respiratory system. There are apparently five different outcomes to infection by the organism in the rabbit: (1) resist infection, (2) spontaneous resolution of infection, (3) subclinical, inapparent carriers, (4) acute disease, and (5) chronic infection. The disease may be transmitted by either direct contact or via fomites. Infection is common in all age groups of rabbits, although chronic disease is obviously more commonly seen in adult rabbits. Clinical signs encountered are dependent upon a variety of factors, including host immune response, which may be related to underlying stressors, bacterial serotype, and virulence factors.

The diagnosis of pasteurellosis is based only upon the identification of the organism on culture. P multocida is typically more difficult than most to isolate, being rather fastidious and easily inactivated in transport media by the rigors of shipment from clinic to reference laboratory. Purulent discharge is also likely to inhibit bacterial growth. As a result, an appropriate sample, typically a deep nasal swab, is an appropriate sample. Serologic techniques are also available for diagnosis of pasteurellosis; however, their interpretation is subject to error. Clinicians are advised to contact the reference laboratory for guidance in the interpretation of Pasteurella serologic tests offered.
Bordetellosis

Bordetella bronchiseptica is considered to be a normal inhabitant in small numbers in the rabbit upper respiratory tract. Clinically significant infection seems to be most common in younger rabbits, with fewer clinical infections in older ones. Most infections result in rhinitis, although sinusitis, bronchopneumonia, or pleuritis may be encountered. The diagnosis is based upon the proper interpretation of microbiologic culture.
Staphylococcosis

Staphylococcus aureus and S. albus
may be isolated from both healthy and diseased rabbits. In most cases, infection is secondary to some other condition, which has compromised the respiratory mucosa. Other infectious agents, chronic malnutrition, poor ventilation, and inadequate humidity are examples of predisposing factors. As in most infections, pathogenicity is the result of the interaction of organism virulence and host susceptibility. Staphylococcus tends to disseminate easily from the upper respiratory regions, and otitis media, bronchopneumonia, and pleuritis are not uncommonly encountered.
Other Bacteria

A variety of other organisms have been recovered from rabbits with upper respiratory disease. Moraxella bovis, Mycobacterium spp, Francisella tularensis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella spp have all been reported in association with upper respiratory disease in rabbits. As with staphylococcal infections, these infections are often secondary in nature. Anecdotally, in the author’s experience, many are often identified in rabbits that have been subjected to long-term antibiotics. It is uncertain whether they were present at the time of initial presentation, as cultures were not performed, or if they gained a foothold as a result of the effects of the antibiotics on resident microbes.

Mycoplasmosis / Chlamydophilosis
A mycoplasma, Mycoplasma pulmonis, has been isolated from rabbits with upper respiratory tract disease. It is unclear the role that this organism played in infection, as there was limited effort made to rule out other causes of disease. Additionally, from the practitioner’s perspective, mycoplasma cultures are typically unrewarding, as the organism seems to be difficult to recover, transport, and culture in remote reference labs. Also, many rabbits are subjected to mycoplasma-cidal drugs, such as enrofloxacin, very early on in the disease process, thereby further decreasing the chances for recovery of the organism.
Fungal Infections
A variety of fungi, including Aspergillus spp, Candida spp, and Mucor spp have been recovered from the respiratory system of diseased rabbits. It is most likely that such infections are the result of either overwhelming exposure to moldy bedding and host immunosupression. These rabbits, again, have frequently been subjected to long-term systemic and topical antibiotics.


M.J. Murray
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA, USA.
 
Has the vet taken a swap and sent it to a lab? Jester had suspected pasturella and it came back with Psuedomonas, which is much nastier. Ask for it to be cultured if it hasn't been already.
 
poorly bun?!

thank you for your reply, and links to websites which helped a great deal. Our bunny went in to be neutered about a month ago and when he was back home he started to develop symptons after a week. We had been bonding him with a female and when we introduced them he started to become ill! Started with a limp, holding up front paw so we took him vets who could find nothing wrong. We returned home and he started sneezing and really looking unwell, not eating or moving so took him back to vet two days later. Said he had snuffles and had antibiotic and painkiller. Back home and syringe fed him critical care and had baytrill to feed too. Still not well after another two days and his ear had swollen up so back to vet again and yet more injections where they said he had pasturella. so now visiting vet every two days for antibiotic injection with vet consultation every 7 days and this is the way for month at least with no guarentee it will solve problem. However eating and drinking as normal now, ear going crusty on outside so not sure whats going on or what future holds. Sorry for the long explanation it just seems that the vets are guessing as to the problem but he is such a lovely bun we don't want to give up on him yet!!
 
thank you for your reply, and links to websites which helped a great deal. Our bunny went in to be neutered about a month ago and when he was back home he started to develop symptons after a week. We had been bonding him with a female and when we introduced them he started to become ill! Started with a limp, holding up front paw so we took him vets who could find nothing wrong. We returned home and he started sneezing and really looking unwell, not eating or moving so took him back to vet two days later. Said he had snuffles and had antibiotic and painkiller. Back home and syringe fed him critical care and had baytrill to feed too. Still not well after another two days and his ear had swollen up so back to vet again and yet more injections where they said he had pasturella. so now visiting vet every two days for antibiotic injection with vet consultation every 7 days and this is the way for month at least with no guarentee it will solve problem. However eating and drinking as normal now, ear going crusty on outside so not sure whats going on or what future holds. Sorry for the long explanation it just seems that the vets are guessing as to the problem but he is such a lovely bun we don't want to give up on him yet!!
Hey clarke, i've just adopted a bun with pastruella and he has nearly the exact same syptoms as your bun bar the ear thing. he's been on anitobotics now for 3 weeks and is slowly getting better. mine bun has been through alot though. hope your bun feels better soon.
 
floppy died!

we took floppy our bunny to the vet for his jab and unfortunately when she started looking at his ear she discovered about four huge absesses which she dranined and they had left big holes in his ear. She said the next step would be to amputate his ear but this was very risky and if he did survive the operation she wasn't sure it would clear the infection or if he would have any quality of life. We were just so shocked because he had seemed to be picking up and making the decision to send him to the big carrot factory in the sky seemed so cruel. But we were assured that our decision was the best. Still feel very bad cos he was our family pet, my son is crying himself to sleep as I write this! we feel that we have brought this on ourselves as the pasturella gets a problem when rabbits get stressed and we took him to be neutered and he hasn't been the same since. sorry to let you all know some bad news but thought I better let you all know the outcome of this bunny life!
 
Pixie was diagnosed with pasturella on Monday. She is currently on a 14 day course of Baytril and once the infection runs clear, she'll be switched to Septarin. I'm syringe feeding her and she has started to mouth breath. I'm so worried I'm going to lose her.
 
Pixie was diagnosed with pasturella on Monday. She is currently on a 14 day course of Baytril and once the infection runs clear, she'll be switched to Septarin. I'm syringe feeding her and she has started to mouth breath. I'm so worried I'm going to lose her.

Oh no....................:cry:


Clarke I am really sorry to hear of your loss :cry:
 
our bunny was on baytrill for two weeks too and when this appeared to work we thought he was over it as he started eating himself again and looking much more perkier? two days later he started looking ill again with a limp which we now know was the infection in his lymph nodes making his leg go limp, we started taking him vets every day for antibiotic and painkilling injections and he picked up no end. however he developed scabs on his ear and when the vet looked the absesses had presented themselves the whole way down the main artery and back up again! he had several huge absesses and this had all happened in two days. The pasturella bacteria is very hard to eradicate and we had no option but to have our bunny put to sleep. I sincerley hope that your bunny does better than ours - don't want to worry you but it is realistically very difficult to get rid of. good luck :roll:
 
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