Snuffles

This is something we have been dealing with for over 6 years now with, Pepe.
He was on Baytril for over 2 months & he was getting no better. Then the vet changed him over to, Septrin, 1.5ml twice a day. That didn't work at all. He started to lose the white discharge from his nose. I took him to the vets again last Friday & the vet gave him, Depocillin injection & said to repeat in a weeks time. Since he had that injection, he is going down hill. He isn't eating or drinking hardly anything. I took him back yesterday & the vet gave him an injection of, Vetergesic, injection of Metacam, injection of Zantac, injection of Metoclopramide. He said within 24 hours he should pick up, but he is no better. He is eating nothing & I am feeding him the Supreme science recovery by syringe. I picked him up & he is losing weight fast, I can now feel his bones.

I am started to panicking now. I am scared if I feed to much of the recovery that I will course him to get bloat. I will take him back again tomorrow to the vets & I know they will keep him in. The vet said that they would have to take a scan of his head plus put a camera up his nose to make sure there is nothing stuck up in his nose.
The day he had the injection of Depocillin, the vet tried to look up his nose with the light. I know how much this upset him & I knew he would be offish, but not like this. He is not a rabbit that you can cuddle, he likes to left along & is scared of people. All this travlling to the vets & being handle is making him worry.

Can anyone help me please. I need to know what I can do to get him eating right away. he did eat some dandelion leaves but he nothing else.

Many many thanks.

I am just going to collect some Fibreplex from my sisters now & try that. If someone does answer, then please don't think that I am not coming back. I will be about half an hour.

Thank you.

If the baytril didn't work.
Your vet should of have done a culture and sensitivity test - where they'll get a swab of the discharge and send it off, and then when they'd receive the results, they'd know what bacteria they would be dealing with.
They then would've given the medicine that would be effective against that bacteria.
Because baytril is not effective to some bacterias.
Once you know the bacteria, you know what you're dealing with.

Sometimes giving drugs can do more harm than better.

:wave:

I would ask your vet about doing a culture and sensitivity test.

And are your vets rabbit savvy? (Specialise in rabbits, unfortunately not many vets know deepy about rabbits)

:wave:

You can only do a culture test if you take the rabbit off antibiotics completely for a week. That can be really bad for rabbits with snuffles so sometimes it's just best to guess. In the time they're off antibiotics the infection can spread.

Depocillin should be repeated every two or three days I think. I gave Grim his at home after my vet showed me how. It actually didn't help his snuffles and it was baytril that helped the best. It's still starting to get a little worse over time so at the moment he's on long term baytril. When switching to depocillin my vet said to keep Grim on the baytril for three days as it kicks in. Depocillin is very strong though and if the others weren't working I think your vet made the right decision to switch to it. Has you vet also checked his lungs as the infection can spread to the lungs?

I think your vets sounds like they're doing all the right things. Just keep him eating.

This is my miracle food I use when any of my pets aren't eating: Porridge oats cooked in water with a bit of apple and banana. Once cooked, puree it and let it cool to room temperature. Feed it with a syringe. It goes through the syringe much better than the recovery food. It doesn't have all the nutrients the recovery food has but my rabbits and chinchillas have eaten it much better. I am sure it's saved the life of one of my chinchillas and one of my rabbits. The porridge helps keep weight on too.

Wishing you lots of luck. Keep on the antibiotics and keep us updated.

Thank you for helping. No they didn't do a test on him. The vet is at Chine House & he is an exotic animal vet. He took blood test & xrays a few months back to check & all was well. I really don't think he needs a scan. I know it is the snuffles. Since he had the Depocillin injection, he hasn't been sneezing at all. Just gone of all food & not himself at all.

I will be tell him tomorrow that he really should of done a test on him. I agree with you that drugs can do more harm then good. He seems to be some kind of drugs on & off all year round.

I have just been to Adsa as well. I bought loads of herbs. He loves watercress & I went to 4 shops today & no one had it in. Asda had one bag left. Someone was looking over us lol I hate this when they get so ill. I want to make him feel good again.

Jenova said:

You can only do a culture test if you take the rabbit off antibiotics completely for a week. That can be really bad for rabbits with snuffles so sometimes it's just best to guess. In the time they're off antibiotics the infection can spread.

Depocillin should be repeated every two or three days

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If we took him of the drugs he would of been really ill. So I better not say that to the vet lol. I have to repeat the Depocillin weekly, but a little scared now on how it's knocked him. Honey was on that for over a year & half. It helped her no end, bless her. But it seems to have gone the other way for Pepe. Baytril worked so well for Pepe, but just didn't do anything the last few months. He checked his lungs the last time & all was well. I changed vets a while ago now. The one before didnt have the right drugs & was filing his teeth down every 4/6 weeks. In nearly 8 months, he as never had his teeth filed down. This vet even put Pepe out to check his teeth because I was going on that I thought it was his teeth. His teeth are fine. This vet said with Pepe's breed, he shouldn't be having problems like that with his teeth. This vet, I must admit as cut down the drugs & the visits to them. I just do not know why it is so bad now. The Depocillin stopped all the discharge & the sneezing but knocked him.

Thank you so much, I will make some of your magic food up now & try him. I bought some porrage when I went to Asda.

Has Pepe had X-rays taken? I believe, though don't quote me on this, that elongated tooth roots can cause snuffles.

Also have you looked into trying him with a nebuliser? It has really helped Grim so much.

Schuette said:

Has Pepe had X-rays taken? I believe, though don't quote me on this, that elongated tooth roots can cause snuffles.

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Hi Schuette, yes he x rays taken about two months ago & all was well. But he did say that he wants to do a scan if there is no improvement. He mentioned the brain to me but didn't go into it. I will ask him again tomorrow.

Jenova said:

Also have you looked into trying him with a nebuliser? It has really helped Grim so much.

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Me & my sister was just taking about that. She bought one for her rabbit when he was really ill. I wish I had looked at adsa when I went in. I was only just saying that I am going to buy one tomorrow. Thanks again, that is great advice

I've only just started using one and I got some amazing advice from people here on the forum. Feel free to PM me any time and I'll be happy to pass on what I know.

Thank you so much. This is the reason I love this forum. Everyone wants to help when you need help. I would of been lost a few times if it wasn't for this place.

You have been a great help :wave:

I just like to pass on what I've learned. Everyone has helped me so much too.

If the anorexia started *after* the Depocillin injection I would be concerned about gut dysbiosis.

I hope that the Vet can help him today xx