Nebulisers and bunnies. UD/ Session 1 went well!

I did a search but it didn't come up with anything that was exactly what I was looking for. I'm hoping biscandmatt1 might be around.... :wave:

I'm getting a nebuliser for Grim to help with his nasal infection. I'm planning to use it unmediated for now, just to help shift some of the puss and mucus. He also gets what I call nose plugs where the puss mixes with fur around his nose and hardens up to completely block his right nostril. It's so stressful for him when I get it off and I think the nebuliser will help soften this too so he can clean it off himself.

So my questions. I will be getting a plastic storage crate to attach the nebuliser to. I was looking at biscandmatt1's threads and saw a picture of the tube taped to the side. What do you think is the best way to cut a hole in the box? A craft knife? Also what other ventilation do I need? Some other holes in the box? And if so how many? And also how long should he be in there each time? I will start him off just in the box to get used to it and work up his time in the box. Then I will introduce the nebuliser for a short time and work up with that. What sort of time in there do you think I should aim for? Are there benefits of doing it for longer or shorter periods?

I'm hoping to find a crate that's big enough to fit his carrier in it, that way he will be in an environment he's used to. Anyone know of any good and cheap places to buy one? I was also thinking about letting Smoo join him for some comfort. Could the nebuliser cause her any ill effects?

There will probably be more questions later.

I could take some photos for you later if you like.

Bluebell goes in his for about 15-20mins.

Hubby cut a hole for the neb tube with a stanly blade but I think he warmed the plastic first so it didn't crack.

I don't have any other air holes as the lid is fairly lose and there is a gap where the tube is and if there were too many gaps too much medication would leak out.

We used just saline initially and even that really helped.

Bluebell is very laid back so its never worried him, but I found putting the neb on a carpeted floor produced less noise from vibrations so maybe an idea if your bun is nervous.

Thank you for your advice and some pictures would be brilliant too if you have time.

Do you think saline solution is the best thing to start with? Or would sterile distilled water do anything? I believe that the saline helps with mucous, which is actually what I want.

I used just Saline to start. Jacks Jane told me it was ok to use this:

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Sterile-Saline-360ml_10991/

Sorry I forgot the photos, will try tonight.

Thank you. I wondered if contact solution would be okay.
I think the easiest way to attach everything would be to have the medicine chamber inside the box...

I have the medicine chamber on the outside then just the little tube which normally attaches to the mask stuck through the box. I'll def have to get a pic I think.

How big does the hole need to be?

I made an emergency carrier out of a large storage box and used this really wide, strange looking drill bit to make air holes

Amy104 said:

I have the medicine chamber on the outside then just the little tube which normally attaches to the mask stuck through the box. I'll def have to get a pic I think.

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Does the medicine chamber have to stay upright?

i didn't have anything to cut the hole and have managed to completely ruin two boxes trying to make the hole. so if you have a drill of some sort, that would be better.

stand the med chamber upright so it steams properly aswell. i just tape it to the outside of the box, kind of tucking the top inside. that probably makes no sense!

i also use tape to make the hole smaller but leave a small gap at the top and bottom for some ventilation.

what i did with matt was put him in and gave him something to eat whilst in there. then turned the machine on and sat by the box with him so he knew i was close by. at first he didn't like it so when he got upset i just stopped and left it then tried againt the next time. it didn't take him long to get used to it though and eat the food, even though he had turned his nose up at it previously! :lol:

after 15mins the chamber becomes sterile the vet said so aim for 15. bisc and matt have 20mins twice a day, but when matt needs extra help i increase to 25mins twice a day, and when i have to increase to 30mins that is when i have to order his stronger meds aswell. but at this stage just getting them used to it and them realising it is safe and they're ok is the main thing.

they definitely know it helps though. i think you will be so happy at the change though. it really thins the mucus and helps it drain. so don't worry if there is more mucus before less. matt also goes right to the nozzle and breathes in all the steam. he definitely knows it helps.

i used to use tap water because no-one told me otherwise! :shock: it was ok but definitely go with the saline. we used that for a while but now use hypertonic saline which is really good. we use parvolex in the nebuliser aswell but there are different things to use, so whichever your vet says, use that and you can always change. even just saline is helpful though.

the nebuliser won't cause any problems. i asked my vet about that aswell as i think they are quite loud the machines! :shock: but it's all fine.

best thing i ever did was get them a nebuliser. and now they tell me when it's time to go in there! :shock::lol:

eta: i got the hole right on this box



but look what i did to this one! :lol:

sorry, another thing - matt gets those 'nose plugs' aswell. also in the right nostril. they definitely helped with those, although sometimes after being nebulised he would make this awful coughing and spluttering noise.. i thought he was choking... but it was the mucus unblocking inside.. and because it's so thick it took a few awful sneezing fits for it to make it's way out. this happened another few times and it sounds awful. just thought i'd warn you just incase. but after this happened to matt those few times, the improvement was really great.

Here's a couple of pics of my lil Santa in her nebuliser box





I think smaller is better, because they are passively breathing it in rather than actively inhaling it, so the box does need to get quite misty inside for it to be working properly. So you don't really want lots of air holes...obviously you don't want it completely sealed but I didn't have any other holes in mine other than where the mouthpiece went through, which just had a bit of a gap round it. I used a large drill bit to drill several holes together then rubbed the edges with a file to get the hole about the right size. This was obviously quite an 'early' pic, because when I got used to using it, I blocked off the outlet with cotton wool because there was just too much of the aerosol being pushed out the box rather than into the box, and I found that doing this got the mist in the chamber going much more quickly, but obviously air can still pass through cotton wool so I knew it wasn't completely sealed.

Santa just used to sit there watching the world go by, and though she could turn round, she used to sit with her nose to the outlet, so it must feel quite pleasant.

When I started using it, I did used to put some veg in there for her to munch on but she never touched it so in the end I just put her in there with nothing else and she always settled down quite well. The nebuliser unit itself I used to put under a box and cover it with a couple of towels as it was quite noisy and I found that this dampened the noise somewhat.

Santa said:

Here's a couple of pics of my lil Santa in her nebuliser box

I think smaller is better, because they are passively breathing it in rather than actively inhaling it, so the box does need to get quite misty inside for it to be working properly. So you don't really want lots of air holes...obviously you don't want it completely sealed but I didn't have any other holes in mine other than where the mouthpiece went through, which just had a bit of a gap round it. I used a large drill bit to drill several holes together then rubbed the edges with a file to get the hole about the right size. Santa just used to sit there watching the world go by, and though she could turn round, she used to sit with her nose to the outlet, so it must feel quite pleasant.

When I started using it, I did used to put some veg in there for her to munch on but she never touched it so in the end I just put her in there with nothing else and she always settled down quite well. The nebuliser unit itself I used to put under a box and cover it with a couple of towels as it was quite noisy and I found that this dampened the noise somewhat.

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yours looks really neat! :shock:

good tip about the towels over the machine, i might try that.

biscandmatt1 said:

good tip about the towels over the machine, i might try that.

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Just make sure you cover it with a reasonably sized box first so the air can still circulate round the machine, but then I used to dump a load of coats and towels over the box :lol: It does get a bit warm under there, but in 20 mins of use it never overheated.

Santa said:

Just make sure you cover it with a reasonably sized box first so the air can still circulate round the machine, but then I used to dump a load of coats and towels over the box :lol: It does get a bit warm under there, but in 20 mins of use it never overheated.

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i might have to make an order with pampered piggies or somewhere to get a box :angel: *hides boxes we already have!*

Thank you so much for your advice.

Santa, is it a mouthpiece that you're using to go into the box? It looks a lot better than the one I have but I think I could get mine to work in a similar wy to that. Mine goes up at an angle. They just don't think about things like this when they make them, do they. They should have one aimed at animals with better attachments. :lol:

biscandmatt1, thanks for the tip about the sneezing. And although this sounds weird I'm kind of glad Grim isn't the only one who gets nose plugs. They are such a pain and he stresses so much when he has a big one. But it seems to be even more stressful for me to get them off. I have to wrap him in a towel and sponge salty water on his nose for ages to get it soft enough for it to fall off.

Getting him used to the box for the nebuliser is going well and now he chooses to go and it in it on his own. I have laid it on its side with a door mat in it and they both love it. I think I'll keep it on its side to nebulise him in. I've started to put the lid on and he's a little wary but nothing that I think will be a problem. He's getting used to the sound of the nebuliser and I'm temped to try the first proper session tomorrow. :shock:

Jenova said:

Thank you so much for your advice.

Santa, is it a mouthpiece that you're using to go into the box? It looks a lot better than the one I have but I think I could get mine to work in a similar wy to that. Mine goes up at an angle. They just don't think about things like this when they make them, do they. They should have one aimed at animals with better attachments. :lol:

biscandmatt1, thanks for the tip about the sneezing. And although this sounds weird I'm kind of glad Grim isn't the only one who gets nose plugs. They are such a pain and he stresses so much when he has a big one. But it seems to be even more stressful for me to get them off. I have to wrap him in a towel and sponge salty water on his nose for ages to get it soft enough for it to fall off.

Getting him used to the box for the nebuliser is going well and now he chooses to go and it in it on his own. I have laid it on its side with a door mat in it and they both love it. I think I'll keep it on its side to nebulise him in. I've started to put the lid on and he's a little wary but nothing that I think will be a problem. He's getting used to the sound of the nebuliser and I'm temped to try the first proper session tomorrow. :shock:

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don't worry, i know what you mean. they are horrible. i know matt hates them so much although he doesn't get them so much these days.

i did the same as you and let them play in the box. i still do afterwards. they have their blanket in there and like licking the steam off the sides. :roll::lol:

good luck for your first proper nebulising session. :wave:

Thank you. I'm nervous and excited. :mrgreen:

The medicine chamber needs to stay upright.

My set up is the same as santas, you should have a piece which is like a 90 angle. I have one end poked through the hole in the box and the other end outside to attach the chamber to. It should stay fairly upright.

The first session went well!
I drilled the hole and set it all up. I ran the nebuliser for 15 minutes into the box to check everything worked. And then I did it with Grim. I decided to go for the whole 20 minutes. He was a little annoyed that he was shut in the box, dug up his mat, tried to bite the mouthpiece that was coming through the hole. :lol: But he wasn't stressed. So I just talked to him and held the lid of the box on and went for it.

I was kind of hoping it would get more damp in there so that this nose plug would get damp and he might be able to get it off himself. But I'm going to get it off myself later with a towel and a sponge. Then hopefully the nebuliser will stop them coming back. I think Smoo thought he tasted nice afterwards because she wouldn't stop washing him. :lol: