• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

What are the effects of long term steroid use in rabbits?

J

joey&bugys 2007

Mama Doe
As title says what are concerns of long term steroid use?

Reason for question: Alfie is having trouble breathing, had heart scans and xays, nothing seems to be wrong with his heart or lungs.

Vet thinks its possible he may have something like asthma, we gave Alfie a steroid injection on Tuesday and he responded well. We go back to the vets Wednesday to discuss future treatment.

Thanks for any input :)
 
Steroids are Immunosuppresive and in Rabbits they tend only to be used with extreme caution or as a 'last resort'.
They can also adversely effect gut motility and lead to gastric ulceration.
However I have had one Bun on Dexamethasone for 11 months (for a terminal lung condition) but she was also on an abx (Depocillin). She had no adverse side effects from either of these 'high risk' drugs.

In Rabbits steroids are usually used as a 'one off' in an acute inflammatory condition eg EC. But they are also used in the management of neoplastic conditions (cancers)
 
We had the same problem with Smokey, and it was also suggested he had an allergy, this was partly because his eosinophil count was high from a blood test- this is usually due to parasites or allergies ( we have a cat with the same sort of results and we think she has IBD :roll:)
We didn't find the steroid injection really helped, but we bought an aerocat inhaler and gave Smokey a vasodilator through it initially, in the end we also had to give him a steroid through it as well because he became so bad. It is quite an expensive investment, the inhaler contraption was about £70, but I do believe it help him. Our biggest problem was getting any weight on Smokey, because he used up so much energy with his breathing, he never put on any weight. We also tried corvental 100, which also seemed to help him, we used a 1/6 of a capsule, which was about 30 beadlets from inside, and we sprinkled it on a bit of banana to get him to take it.
Hope this helps in some way, obviously non of these things are liscenced for rabbits, but in his case we had tried everything else.
I believ it gave him 8 months more than he would have had otherwise.
 
Thanks for the info. Guess I will have to wait and see what the vet says on Wednesday.

I'm feeling very :cry: that it seems I'm just trying to buy Alfie time when he is only 1 year old :cry::cry:
 
joey&bugys 2007 said:
Thanks for the info. Guess I will have to wait and see what the vet says on Wednesday.

I'm feeling very :cry: that it seems I'm just trying to buy Alfie time when he is only 1 year old :cry::cry:
Click to expand...

Just a thought but if its asthma then have environmental allergens been considered ?
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Just a thought but if its asthma then have environmental allergens been considered ?
Click to expand...

Yes I think so. Hopefully William (vet) will come back from his conference with some ideas as he has taken a video of Alfie and his test results to some other rabbit experts.

I'm even considering getting a new sofa as ours is fabric and does hold a lot of dust. You sit on it and dust comes out :shock: no matter how much we hoover it doesn't help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Orenoko
Teddy's head tilt journey
4 5 6
Replies
115
Views
35K
Omi
O
J
Has anyone any advice about the long term use of Metacam for pain relief in buns?
Replies
18
Views
3K
janhm69
J
C
Jasmines breathing problems update
Replies
5
Views
567
ChristyRose
C
Back
Top