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steamed bunny.

rspcarabbits

Warren Scout
I thought I would share this with you and see if anybody has done likewise at the same time.

We have a flemmish giant rabbit for the sake of this thread I'm going to call Maisey (her real name was given by her first owner....and confidentiallity and not wishing her to be recognised ect)

Maisey came to us in a hell of a state ...raging pasturella, distended tummy, distinctive uterine disorder smell. She had initially an intensive course of anti biotics before she could even be spayed and upon spaying the vet found dead babie's, possibly cancers, ruptures and a huge amount of swelling to her utereus......in all a real mess!. So much so a pts was nearly the order of the day there and then.

However against all the ods she survived and flourished and luckily was vaccinated for myxo . This all happened in april but about 10dys ago she started to show signs of skin or secondary myxo . This has turned into full blown lumpy bunny syndrome but not full blown myxo. This has re-triggered her pasturella with avengance and with absolutely loads of swellings everywhere and most worrying so around her nose mouth , ears and head.

This has resulted in great difficulty in breathing because of the snot and the fact that rabbits are obligatory nose breathers. this manifests itself worst at feed times or whenever she trys to eat.

In order to try to clear her greatly blocked nasal passages we have set up a tent using inside connectable mesh panels about 2ft tall making an area about 4ft square and an old dust sheet over the top and 3 sides leaving the 4th side open. into this we have fed a tube from a wallpaper stipper. By putting 4-5 drops of obas oil in the stipper and giving the open tent a 10-15 minute steam at mealtimes we have found a greatly easing of the problem and she definitely has an easier time in eating. This process we have been repeating every 3-4 hours with so far noticibly good results.

I should add that maisey had become our housebunny and all this has been carried on inside.

Maisey is a real sick bunny and her chances still are really no better than 50:50:(.However with any bunny suffering from breathing difficulties because of pasturella, myxo or similar I would definitely give it a go.

Anybody else out there tried a similar thing?

p.s in the process my nose certainly has become a bit clearer and the whole house has a certain smell to it:lol:

Alan
 
It all sounds really interesting.
Isnt there a drug that can help with the swelling in the nasal passages?? I forget its name.
This bunny sounds to me like she aint gonna give up and go with out a fight.
Sending heaps of vibes for her....and a round of applause to you,Alan for keeping at it.
 
Many thanks for that.

Its actually the myxo swellings that are resticting the nose and the pasturella is compounding the issue.

If she does suvive and eventually the lumps drop off its still unclear how much of her nose and face will survive.

In the past with other buns and one in particular it had to have an op to close a huge hole over the bridge of its nose!

alan.
 
Fi who runs cavy rescue in Bristol was recomended something similar for one of her piggies by a rodentoligist in Wales. I can't remember exactly what the method was but something about puting the piggie in a cardboard box inside a bigger box which had vicks on a smaller piece of cardboard pressed against a hot water bottle so the heat could circulate it.
 
Alistair was in a steam filled room when his lungs filled during myxi. It did seem to ease his symptoms a bit, & he never lost his appetite or stopped running around.
 
A non-steroidal anti inflammatory eg Metacam will help the soft tissue swelling lots, as well as giving pain relief.
I would prefer using a nebuliser, because steam is so hot, & buns have difficulty regulating their body temperature cos they can't sweat like we do. You can also deliver (AB's or) "disinfectant fluids" eg F10 via a nebuliser in this situation.
 
It goes without saying that we do not let her tent get too warm and we restict it to about 10minute sessions. However we have noticed that shortly after the steam arrives she does start to tuck into the hay.

On the subject of swellings and myxo......

In the past on all the bunnies we have seen with secondary myxo have formed scabs where the skin and immediate underlying tissue appears to have died in the same way as a wound scab .The scabs .....we have left in place and gradually they drop off but this has in some cases taken a number of weeks and as already mentioned in one case it took surgery to close the hole.

Re the metacam and the length of time we are talking about.....possibly a number of weeks ,we are concerned of the side effects this drug can cause long term and certainly our vets are very mindful of this.Maisey does not appear to show any signs of being in pain so use of the drug would just be to control swelling.

However it is a thought we shall keep in mind so many thanks .

Is there anybody out there who can verify that metacam has had any effect on secondary myxo swellings as opposed to an ordinary injury type swelling?, its not a point I can recall being mentioned on here.

Alan.
 
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Have a look at Parsnipbun's thread about ViolaRose. They were in dire straights 1 night & started a subsidiary thread. They used metacam to reduce the soft tissue swelling which compromised the nasal airways before scab formation.
 
Gosh, Maisey is a fighter. What a sorry tale. Its so sad to think what she has been through but she's still not giving up! Bless her! Alan you sound like you are taking lovely care of her.

Sorry I have no experience to offer.
 
I'm affraid Maisey did'nt make it.....such a brave bunny...such a fighter.....such a **** past ...she just didnt deserve this..........

Alan.
 
I'm so sorry to hear this sad news Alan. I was just about to post a reply to say that it was my Flora who you nursed so well through nodular myxi, resulting in the op to close the wound on her nose. She was one of lucky ones. Binky free Maisey - at least you were with people who loved and cared for you at the end.
 
I'm so very sorry that Maisey didn't make it. Goodness but you both tried so hard, I have every admiration for you. I'm just so very sorry.
 
Alan I am so sorry for you that Maisey didnt make it. You did everything you could for her.

Rest easy now little girly.
 
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