Mandy - here we go again...

Hello there bunny lovers, as you can probably imagine, things have gone weird with Mandy this last week. After 3 months of having her super stable with a minimum dose of Domperidone for her stasis (and a truckload of symethicone every day, as she seems to be a very gassy rabbit)...something just HAD to come around and kill the peace.

Last Sunday, around 8 pm, Mandy started coughing and sneezing...lots. Had the classic "duck" sound cough. But it came on like in an instant, like somebody had turn on the cough switch on her. This went on for 2 minutes, and after that, she had sporadic coughing and sneezing, and you could hear her having trouble breathing (I am asthmatic myself, so I know how bad that feels). No mouth breathing, so I assumed it wasn't THAT bad. I gave her the first dose of Meloxicam and Enrofloxacin, and waited for Monday morning to take her to the vet.

When I woke up, she was MUCH MUCH better.

I took her to the vet the next day, checked teeth, checked her lungs, and all was ok. The vet said it was probably a big allergy attack, and that I should just cut the antibiotics, and maybe give her an couple more days of Meloxicam for the anti inflammatory effect it has.

Fast forward to Wednesday, she is like, 95% ok, we are all happy and cheering at the fast recovery. Yesterday, she started sneezing a bit more, and tonight...the scare of my life. I was giving her water (through a syringe, she just likes to drink it that way, don't ask why :lol, and her head started tilting to the right, she lost balance and I caught her before she fell.

Having read a million of websites on rabbit diseases, I immediately thought on wry neck, ec, parasites, and everything imaginable. I picked her up, put her on my chest (she just loves to sleep on top of me) and lo and behold, 5 minutes latter she was fine again, running around and minding her business, as if nothing had happened.

While I recovered from my near heart attack, I called my vet, and told me to give her a shot of an anti parasitic drug, just in case, and to bring her on Wednesday morning. She told me that, due to the super fast recovery, it was probably nothing more than a muscular contraction on the neck (and those hurt like hell), but that since she was in the middle of some respiratory problems, she was going to check her for an ear infection.

Right now its 2:44 am, and I am biting my nails. Need to be at the vet at 8 am. What a long night this is going to be :?

I hope little Mandy is feeling better?

Wow, you've really been through the wars with Mandy, bless you. I know what that duck cough / sneeze noise is like . Little Simba was doing it and she is now on 0.5ml of baytril twice a day and 0.1ml of metacam. She is so much better, hope it continues to improve. She only sneezes at the moment when I put fresh hay in every day (not badly, just little dry sneezes).

I really hope Mandy feels better soon. Lots of vibes to both of you xxx

Thanks

Well, the vet visit went rather well, considering all. She has a minor infection in her right ear (the cause of the small head tilt episode) probably caused by the upper respiratory tract infection trying to move there. Still no signs of pneumonia, lungs are pristine. My vet suspects its a weak form of Pasteurella, as the symptoms are rather mild, so I was sent home with a powerful antibiotic (Azithromycin). She also explained that waiting for a culture test to see if it really was Pasteurella was a tricky thing, as the test can sometimes return negative even when she does have it. Waiting could be a waste of time, and things could get worse while we do it. So basically she is giving her the antibiotic version of a nuclear bomb to sort things out before the cecotrope hits the fan :lol:

We are to give her a power dosage of 125mg once a day for 6 days. Fast forward to 1 hour ago, she started with diarrhea. Made two big watery pools of it, and then it just stopped. After that, she made a perfectly formed cecotrope, and ate it, so I would assume its over, and it was probably the first reaction of her body to such a big dose. Should it happen again, I'll switch back to Enrofloxacin (though the treatment using Enro is like 4-5 weeks, if not more). Giving her some probiotics too to cover all the bases.

Well, lets see how this goes. Hopefully we'll see some changes tomorrow. She is a bit drowsy from the antibiotic, but she still chases people around asking for head rubs, so I guess that overall, she is still doing fine

Gosh, sorry to hear all the thing Mandy & therfore you have been through in the past week or so, I hope the medication does the job & she's back to her normal self soon, lots of vibes.x.x.

Janey said:

Gosh, sorry to hear all the thing Mandy & therfore you have been through in the past week or so, I hope the medication does the job & she's back to her normal self soon, lots of vibes.x.x.

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Seems the vibes did work after all =P

But things had to get worse before they got better. Mandy did a stasis episode due to the stress of the trip to the vet (she hates cars, and it was on heavy traffic, so lots of noise). Got her out of it, and now she is pooping normally again.
After two doses of the antibiotic (today was the third of six), her breathing has improved a lot (no more weird chocking noises), though she still gets agitated very easily, still, much less than before.

Still shakes her head a bit, but she is now running around like crazy, so it seems she got her energy back

So things look bright for a full recovery! Yay!

Ah well...she still has some trouble breathing. I am beginning to suspect its really pneumonia, even if her lungs sound clear. The treatment is the same I am already giving her, just longer. She is slightly better, the eye gunk stopped, and she now only makes breathing noises when she gets agitated, and not all the time. Guess I won't be easing on the antibiotics until she is a lot better. I am afraid the 6 days of antibiotics might stretch to a month. Hopefully not though :?

Its funny how quick diseases come and how long they take to heal. Gotta keep the hopes up though, she is doing her part and I must do mine

...and a final update to close this thread...she is finally cured!

We stopped antibiotics this last Saturday (after 11 doses), and now her breathing is perfect, and she is back to her usual self.
Her second birthday is this next Monday (the 14th) so its going to be a happy birthday indeed