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Rabbit has myxi

krspa9

New Kit
I was just wondering whether anyone could give me some advice on chances of survival in a vaccinated rabbit. My rabbit was vaccinated in June and we think he has just caught it through skin mites. He has been unwell for nearly two weeks but I was reading that vaccinated rabbits have a much better chance of survival. He has now started breathing through his mouth, does this mean hes on his last legs or can he recover from this. Hes still eating carrott, cabbage/sprout leaves but not much and he doesn't eat hard food at all. He is also drinking but not as much over the last few days.

He's currently in an indoor cage in the kitchen, we have been given antibiotics by the vets that we are supposed to give twice daily buts its very hard as he just runs off when we go anywhere near his mouth. We are going back to vets tomorrow so will get the vets to give antibiotics via syringe if he doesn't decide to put him to sleep.
 
Not sure what antibiotics they are, I'll have a look when I get home. We where given eye drops by the emergency vet when we first took him in but where then told by our normal vet not to bother putting them in as if myxi wont make much of a diff. Just bathe them.
 
Also, would you know of a good way to get antibiotics into him as if we take him out of the cage he just runs off when we have hold of him and his breathing becomes harder as hes struggling for breath. Rather than cause him any stress I've decided to just try and get them into him while hes in the cage. We where also given recovery food by the vet to syringe feed him but because we cant get to his mouth we have struggled to do this. He is still eating though only carrot/cabbage/sprouts at the min. The vet suggested parsley, any other suggestions?
 
I would ask the vet to show you how to administer it via injection as you will make him worse trying to syringe anything into him while his breathing is compromised.
 
Is he on painkillers?!!! Poor boy must be in a huge amount of pain!! :shock:


Some people have got nebulisers for their myxi buns to help with breathing....I don't have any experience though!
 
No, hes only on antibiotics. I wondered why they dont give you needles when you go the vets. They administer with needles and its much easier. I'll ask them tomorrow. Can the breathing get better once they have started breathing through mouth?

I dont think the vets are very useful to be honest, I think they think that if a rabbit with myxi comes in then its going to die even if its had its injections.
 
If he is mouth breathing it is a very poor prognostic sign :cry:

IMO you should take him back to the Vet TODAY, now if at all possible.
He will need medicating via injection as administering anything orally is far too high a risk in a Rabbit with such a severely compromised respiratory tract. He would be in danger of aspirating anything given by mouth.

He does need to be on a non steroidal anti-inflammatory and probably a combination of antibiotics along with nebulising and oxygen therapy.

I strongly advise you to call the Vet now
 
Firstly sorry to hear about your bunny, there have been bunnies on here that have recovered from myxi.

Like another poster said he needs to be on many more meds.

Also I was hopeless at catching and holding my bunny, but you need to learn (from a rabbit savvy vet, post your general area on here and someone will find one for you) how to handle correctly to get the meds into him.

Breathing through the mouth in my experience is a very bad sign, you really need to find another vet and maybe think about having him kept at the vets so they can administer the meds.

Good luck
 
we lost 3 buns this last couple of months:cry: they seem to be doing ok then go downhill very quickly.you need pain relief for him NOW.GO to the vets and ask for some,he will be in a huuge amount of distress from the pain.keep him warm and encourage eating.he may need his back end cleaning as one of our buns liver was affected and he had this sludge come out whcih we had to clean off.
 
Im currently in work at the min, I dont think the vet will administer any of this. He has never mentioned any of this before. Should they be able to provide nebuliser?
 
Im currently in work at the min, I dont think the vet will administer any of this. He has never mentioned any of this before. Should they be able to provide nebuliser?

You so need to get to a different vet, my local ones are rubbish with rabbits, I travel 45min with my bunny to get seen by a decent one.
 
Im currently in work at the min, I dont think the vet will administer any of this. He has never mentioned any of this before. Should they be able to provide nebuliser?

Hopefully yes. They should most definately be able to provide Oxygen Therapy.
It does sound as though your Rabbit is very poorly and he really does need 'Intensive Care' if he is to stand any chance of survival. It is usually not the Myxoma Virus itself that causes fatalities but a secondary pneumonia. Hence the need for aggressive antibiotic therapy.
 
so sorry to hear about your rabbit... but your vets sound useless. where abouts are you? someone on here will know a decent rabbit vet near you hopefully and then i would go there to give your rabbit the very best chance.

i would also get there now, asap.

sending vibes, poor bun will desperately be needing pain relief. :cry: xx
 
Im currently in work at the min, I dont think the vet will administer any of this. He has never mentioned any of this before. Should they be able to provide nebuliser?

A rabbit vaccinated in June SHOULD have a chance of surviving myxi.

The key is warmth (constant temperature of 22C not dipping overnight)
Painkiller
Anti-inflammatory (If you have high dose of metacam then this will act as both painkiller and antu-inflammitory - ensure your vet knows the CURRENT maximum dose rates of metacam - some still have the old dose rates in their heads_
Anti-biotics
Eye ointment to prevent long term eye damage
Keeping up an interest in food
and also nebulising of humid air into nostrils and lungs preferably with a abx or other anti-bacterial content to the air being nebulised. The nebulising can be done inside a cling film wrapped carrier.

At first you may need the abx, and metacam injected while s/he is so stressed.

the mouth breathing may be due to inflammed nasal passages rather than respiratory infection The nebulising will help with this as will the metacam.


If you are at all unsure as to whether your vet is any good with rabbits then post a THREAD on here asking for the addresses etc Rabbit Savvy vets in your area.a good rabbit vet will make all the difference.

One of my rabbits (Viola Rose) survived myxi even though it was a bad case and her vaccination was 6 months old.
 
I live in Widnes, I've just looked it up and found one in Liverpool (alder vetinarary hospital). The only prob is we've not got pet insurance and its already cost a lot (emergency vets etc).
 
Its up to you - but personally I feel that if you have taken on responsibiity for a life then it is up to you to do the maximum possible.

Viola Rose cost us over £900 in the end - but we did use the emergency vet several times when we probably didn't really need to! And when I see her dancing round my feet at feed time I don't regret a single penny.
 
i don't have insurance either and my two have been ill and on treatment since feb... costing over £2000 so far. we don't have much money so we sacrifice things for us... i would spend every penny i had.. and more for them. this is their lives we are talking about.

i feel you have that responsibilty to your rabbit. he needs treatment and you are his owner.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your rabbit. I hope you can find a better-informed vet to help him in his fight against myxi.

Sending loads of vibes.
 
I live in Widnes, I've just looked it up and found one in Liverpool (alder vetinarary hospital). The only prob is we've not got pet insurance and its already cost a lot (emergency vets etc).

It is rather harsh but if you cant afford the care you must at least have him put to sleep.The pain and suffering will be terrible and for around £20 he could be out of his misery.
 
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