Please help my poorly Tilly

Hi all, i am so hoping someone on here can help me or really help my little bunny, Tilly.

In oct 2008 Tilly stared to get unwell and i had her to the vets on numerous occasions with 'snuffles' It steadily got worse and worse and she was tried with baytrill some anti b eye drops and eventually had her tear ducts flushed.

She was tested for pasturella which was negative and wasn;t growing any bugs yet her nose was totally crusted over and one of her eyes was just so sore and streaming and actually seemed to burn the fur off her face .

I stopped using shavings and use vet bed and feed her vitakraft sensative which is dust free. Both her and my other bunny, Maisie are both indoor bunnies and are netherland dwarfs.

It was all rather awful for both myself and poor Tilly and they actually blew her tear ducts whilst trying to flush them. I was advised at the time as she was making no improvement to consider having her PTS.

Having had my last house bunny for 11 1/2 years i wasn;t going to give up on her and so cared for her at home. This meant cleaning her face 5 times a day and i tried homeopathic remedies in conjuction to changing her bedding daily.

To my relief she did improve and her fur on her nose and face grew back and she has been well really. Recently tho i can see the symptoms reoccuring. I hav changed nothing in their room and the radiator is off and the window open so there is no dry heat.

I don't want to put her through what happened last year to again find that they don't know what is causing it and for me to be back to square one with her.

This is her at her worst







and after we improved her condition with constant cleaning



It is so sad as the summer i got her she looked like this


If anyone has any ideas as to how i can help her or what it is then i would be so grateful. Even if it is just to continue with high levels of cleaning her. I have noticed that as it gets sore she doesn;t even like to touch her own face which is why it gets steadily worse as she won;t clean it herself.

Thanks so much

I don't have any advice (this is a very knowledgeable place though, so you have come to the right place, I am sure someone will be able to help). I will post a link in rabbit chat, as people tend not to come in health so much.

I just wanted to say how lovely it is that you have worked so hard to help her, even when the vets haven't been able to help, and that you wouldn't PTS. So many people would have just given up and I'm sure she appreciates it

I instantly thought snuffles. How peculiar!
I'm sure someone will come on with some answers :wave:

Looks like syphilis. Has she been treated for it?

She is beautiful and so lucky to have you as her owner

I hope you can find some answers very soon.

It may be that the actual problem is elongated tooth roots which have penetrated her nasal passages and blocked her nasolacrimal ducts. This is a condition Nethies are prone to due to the shape of their skull.

Has she had skull radiographs taken as that is the only way to assess the tooth roots.

Unless a nasal swab is taken deeply enough it often can give a 'false negative'- the pockets of infection being missed. If this were to be the case then a different antibiotic could be tried, eg a long acting Tetracycline or Depocillin Injections.

Giving antibiotic therapy via a nebuliser is another option. Nebulising with just saline may also help.

A systemic anti-inflammatory such as Metacam should help reduce some of the inflammation within her nasal passages.

Could you ask to be refered to a Rabbit Specialist ?

Can anyone suggest a good bunny vet in Leeds?

FHB isnt far away .

Mudgy said:

FHB isnt far away .

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Good thinking

http://www.any-uk-vet.co.uk/harcourt-brown/

Mudgy said:

FHB isnt far away .

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The vet i took her to did suggest Frances as a last resort but to be honest by then i had lost all faith and hope as she had had test after test and they were basically saying she didnt have any infection so didn;t know what they were treating her for.

She hasn;t had x rays to look at tooth roots but surely if it was this would she have shown an improvement in the summer months???

My previous bunny, Benjamin had cardiomyopathy and scared me witless on 3 occasions when i thought he had died and also had a cyst in later life (he lived to be 11 1/2) which i drained at home but apart from that he was always well so whilst not a novice to bunnies i have never experienced this.

Im so sorry your baby is poorly I have no advice, just hope she gets better soon xXx

definitely see FHB i think.

i think tilly is lucky to have such a devoted owner aswell...

Birdie said:

The vet i took her to did suggest Frances as a last resort but to be honest by then i had lost all faith and hope as she had had test after test and they were basically saying she didnt have any infection so didn;t know what they were treating her for.

She hasn;t had x rays to look at tooth roots but surely if it was this would she have shown an improvement in the summer months???

My previous bunny, Benjamin had cardiomyopathy and scared me witless on 3 occasions when i thought he had died and also had a cyst in later life (he lived to be 11 1/2) which i drained at home but apart from that he was always well so whilst not a novice to bunnies i have never experienced this.

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Why?!

Lib_n_bunny said:

Why?!

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I meant if it was her tooth roots how come she seemed so much better in summer. Would not this have caused a continual problem???

Birdie said:

I meant if it was her tooth roots how come she seemed so much better in summer. Would not this have caused a continual problem???

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ah sorry, for some reason i read that as "she would have shown improvement in summer". Has she been tried on an antihistamine? I know its not hayfever, but if its seasonal, maybe some other sort of allergy?

ouch poor girl eric developed a very scabby nose when he was a baby - some vets said pasteurella, some said syphillis, some said maybe myxi. after many vet trips, surgery to remove the scabbing (and part of his nose) and flush his tear ducts plus anti-biotic injections every other day, 'it' finally cleared up but it was touch and go for a while.

we still don't know for sure what it was - or whether it will return. i'm not saying tilly has the same problem but its the only pic of a nose i've ever seen that looked like eric's

i would try to get her tooth roots x-rayed tho as i believe this can affect the eyes. eric only had one eye swollen which cleared up well after the tear duct flush.

i hope you can get to the bottom of tilly's problems. x

After everything came back clear i did think it could be an allergy which is why i messed about with her environment.

I kind of think it must be related to the temperature even tho i keep their window open and the radiator is off.

I dont want to giver her anti b's unneccesarily and i have been reading through others experiences that have tried different things but stil the snuffles continue.

I spent a fortune at the vets and got absolutley nowhere in finding out what it was and kind of always get the feeling rabbits are seen as replacable.

One of my dogs has just had extensive vetinary treatment for mast cell and mammary tumours to the tune of 3 1/2 k lthough thankfully insurnce has covered most of it. It is almost as if treating dogs is seen as more worthwhile when all members of my mammal family are treated equally. Hell i was removing a pebble stuck in my goldfish's mouth the other week!!

I do think tho i may be wise to take her to FHB for a second opinion just in case they have missed anything or can at least offer advise to alleviate syptoms. I cant see her suffer like she did last year

Tilly is absolutely beautiful & so very luck to have such a dedicated, caring owner

I can't offer any advice unfortunatley, other than to say if it was me I would ask for a referral to FHB - if any vet is able to help & get to the bottom of Tilly's problems, it will be her. Good luck with your little girl x

I would still check tooth roots. Grim has this problem and some times he can go for month with only a little discharge and other months I have to clean his eye every day. There's not much you can do for this however as it deforms the skull so removing teeth does nothing. The only thing you an do is keep it clean to prevent infection and discomfort.

Personally I think you should go to a specialist vet or someone who knows a lot about rabbits. A second opinion is always worth it.

And I just wanted to add it's really nice to see someone going to such lengths for their bunny. The vet that operated on Grim found abscesses in his jaws and told me to have him put to sleep twice. They just don't understand people are willing to try and that buns are just as much family members as any pet. I know I made the right decision saying no as he has made almost a full recovery now. So don't give up as long as your bun won't give up.