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Very sick rabbit - advice please...update 2/9

abbymarysmokey

Wise Old Thumper
I collected a very sick rabbit today which had been handed in to a local rescue with her litter of babies.

She's in a really bad state...mouth breathing, snuffly, runny eyes, possibly has a retrobulbar abscess (her eye appears to be bulging slightly), and is just skin and bone.

The rescue took her to a vet, who said she had abscesses on her lungs and prescribed baytril (I personally don't see how that could be diagnosed without x-rays at the very least!!! And baytril for abscesses!!! :roll: :evil: )

My vets aren't open again until Tuesday, so I really need to start treating her now. I was thinking about going to the emergency vets, but they will probably just do nothing or offer to put her to sleep :roll:

I have already given her 0.3mls of baytril orally and 0.15mls of depocillin by sub-q injection (yes I know I shouldn't self-medicate, but needs must and all that :oops:).

She has eaten a little veg and few pellets, but not really enough.

Is there anything else I can give her?
 
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Pain relief and sub-cut fluids to keep her hydration up? I'm assuming mouth breathing too much for syringed food. Perhaps some Oxygen from an emergency vet or a nebuliser if she is in that much respiratory distress? or maybe some IV fluids and nutrition if she's really unresponsive? Sorry not a respiratory-critical expert :oops:
 
Amy, there's not much I can advise you with, but I hope this girly pulls through. She really looked a poorly soul and so sad :(

If you end up emergency vetting it, it'd be good if it was Adam on, as he really was very helpful and wanted to try everything for my little lop last weekend. x
 
The rescue took her to a vet, who said she had abscesses on her lungs and prescribed baytril (I personally don't see how that could be diagnosed without x-rays at the very least!!! And baytril for abscesses!!! :roll: :evil: )?

I am impressed at that diagnosis with, like you say, no xrays etc - thay must save their clients a fortune being able to do that!

I agree baytril is not the best thing for abcesses but if it's a case of keeping her going until you can get her to your vet then it may well help her fight anything else that might be going on with her.

Her symptoms sound similar to Squirrels when he was first very sick, is it possible she has broken the roof of her mouth? Apparently it is not that uncommon in rabbits if they trip or chew at their wire and get their tooth caught and pull back in panic. This can result in problems forming in the head, and fluid build up which is expelled through the eye ducts and the nasal passage which can cause breathing problems. A duct flush might help. Squirrel is currently on Baytril and Flagyl-s to fight the abcess that has formed behind his eye pushing it out and back.

Everything crossed for her and her kits.x
 
The bunny is still with us, and has eaten a whole bowl of pellets overnight :)

Her breathing is still shocking though, and every so often she'll make a noise a bit like a duck quacking :? . Her eyes seem a bit less swollen today so fingers crossed that she doesn't have a retrobulbar abscess. However I've noticed that she has an injured or deformed shoulder which gives her a wonky, hunchback appearance.

Luckily her babies are about 5 weeks old, so have been separated from Mum because she's to poorly to care for them anyway.
 
Poor little girl, she sounds like she's a fighter, hope she comes through this:cry: The previous owners have a lot to answer for:evil:
 
Zithromax is an excellent antibiotic for respiratory problems in buns. My pnuemonia bun had it several times running and it always did the trick.
 
No advice and I am sending vibes, could it be glaucoma if it's in both eyes, Daisy had a RA but it was just in the one eye, I hope all is well. XXX
 
Thanks for the vibes guys :)

She's still pretty much the same, which is encouraging because I was worried the mouth breathing would be pneumonia.

The former 'owner' surrendered her and 25 other rabbits with encouragement from the RSPCA. According to them, this is the third time she has been persuaded to give up large numbers of rabbits, and I doubt it will be the last.

I have honestly never seen such a poor excuse for a breeding doe...emaciated, deformed, and critically ill...what kind of monster/idiot would deliberately breed a rabbit like that? :cry: :censored:
 
The little bunny went to the vets last night, and things are hopefully looking a bit more positive now.

The vets said the infection sounded like it's all in her upper respiratory tract and her lungs sound okay at the moment. The bulging eyes are probably caused by a combination of swollen sinuses and her emaciated condition.

Her funny shoulder isn't an injury, just a slight deformity or poor conformation possibly caused by inbreeding
 
The little bunny went to the vets last night, and things are hopefully looking a bit more positive now.

The vets said the infection sounded like it's all in her upper respiratory tract and her lungs sound okay at the moment. The bulging eyes are probably caused by a combination of swollen sinuses and her emaciated condition.

Her funny shoulder isn't an injury, just a slight deformity or poor conformation possibly caused by inbreeding

Thats good news....really hope she perks up with your care.x
 
Poor little bun.

How is she responding to your care? Is she looking better / eating better?

Sending vibes to her.
 
Poor little bun.

How is she responding to your care? Is she looking better / eating better?

Sending vibes to her.

I think she's starting to look a little better. She arrived covered in snot/pus which had a layer of black filth encrusted on it due to living in dirty conditions...which is slowly coming off as she cleans herself. Her eyes are less red and swollen too :D

She's still not eating a huge amount, but I'm hoping she'll get more of an appitite once the infection is under control.
 
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