Simba snotty again

Hi all

Simba is now on day 9 of 10 of a course of baytril, 0.5ml twice a day. Plus 0.1ml of metacam. I saw a massive improvement. This morning her nose is snotty and she is sneezing again. Fine in herself, eating drinking etc.

Had 2 vet visits about this already and they listened to her chest and she was fine but I get so worried.

Please help xxx

ive had the same with Honey. hopefully simba will be feeling better soon:wave:

Hey,

I'm also in the Manchester area and I've got 2 young bunnies (12 weeks) who also have respiratory problems.

It's so worrying when they're ill and on top of that you're still getting to know them, and you wonder what it might do to their vaccination & neutering schedules. It kind of gets in the way of getting to know them - especially if they keep sneezing on you. Are you getting on OK with giving them the medicine?

Mine also have a respiratory infection. Ada had it first and has been sneezing violently, poor soul. Beatrix caught it from her and started sneezing about ten days later; she only sneezes a little bit.
They'd already been on Baytril for gut problems, and because of all the problems they'd been having, I decided they needed to see a specialist rabbit vet, Ashleigh, who I've seen recommended in quite a few places. I do get the feeling they're very good as these buns are receiving as first-line treatment the sort of thing I've read other people had to really fight to get from their vets.

Ada got 0.8ml Metacam twice daily for five days and then a continuing dose of 0.5ml twice daily. She is a Standard Rex, so is a reasonable size. The vet listened to her chest which sounded clear at that point.
Then she had to wait, on painkillers, until she'd been off the Baytril for longer (it was 12 days between the end of the Baytril and the test) to have a culture and sensitivity test and skull x-ray. She had those on Friday and we should have the results at the end of this week. On Friday they were both started on a course of Engemycin anyway because they'd found quite a lot of pus in Ada's nose and dark patches on her lungs in the x-ray. They said that they rarely use Baytril these days as there are better broad-spectrum antibiotics for rabbits.
The vet advised me that it's likely they'll have to be on antibiotics for at least 3 months.
Thankfully B's sneezing started after the insurance kicked in, so she'll be covered at least.

Like yours, they are both still eating, drinking and hopping about. That's something to be grateful for, that they are still able to do rabbity things. Maybe it's like a person with a moderate cold; it's uncomfortable but they are not severely ill with it and can have a life.

Hi darling

Thanks so much for your response, please will you send me Ashleigh's details?

I will respond in more detail when I get in tonight. xxxx

aidan at ashleigh vets also treats bisc and matt, both have respiratory problems. he's a fantastic vet. :wave:

They are on Upper Chorlton Rd in Whalley Range. The website is here: http://ashleighvets.co.uk/

Aidan is the vet there who is recommended in rabbit forums etc. Sarah, the other exotics vet, is also really nice and has kept rabbits of her own for years.

It is a bit more expensive than some vets, (and Companion Care had been seeing mine for free because the rabbits came from Pets at Home and became ill less than 24h after they came home) but poor Ada had already had 3 illnesses - diarrhoea, constipation and sneezing - in her short time with me so I wanted her to see someone who was expert with rabbits.

Thank you so very much once again for your swift reply.

I am sorry to hear your 2 buns have been suffering also, really appreciate the advice on a good rabbit savvy vet. Will definitely be booking Simba in if she doesn't improve.

She takes her last lot of baytril tomorrow, so will see how she goes. If it is still bad I will make an appointment for Saturday (unless it gets horrendous of course). I have only been to Pet Medics in Worsley as an emergency appointment on both occassions. I was firstly just given metacam and then Baytril but I do think a culture and sensitvity test is definitely needed. I had to wipe a fair bit of snot away this morning, poor thing.

She is taking her medicine ok, doesn't like it of course, but I just wrap her up in a towel and give her a treat afterwards.

I wish you all the vibes in the world for your buns, keep me updated how they get on?

Any other advice and tips is always welcome.

Can't thank you enough for letting me know of a rabbit savvy vet. xxx

biscandmatt1 said:

aidan at ashleigh vets also treats bisc and matt, both have respiratory problems. he's a fantastic vet. :wave:

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He has one of the most calming voices I've ever heard. Even I stopped worrying about them for a bit after talking to him.

I wasn't home until 7:30pm last night and it will be the same again tonight and tomorrow, so I left Simba in my room last night so I could listen out for sneezing etc through the night (I am a light sleeper anyway!) and he only had a couple of "sneezing fits". that sounded like dry sneezes. She finishes the baytril today and there was no discharge this morning. I will see how she goes now and take her to the vet on Saturday if she is still sneezy xx

Update - Lots of snot

Well Simba has had her last lot of baytril tonight and she is producing lots of snot and sneezing alot....so worried. Back to the vets on saturday.

I am terrified

Poor little Simba. I hope she will be ok.

I've found it reassuring that there are quite a few bunnies on here who seem to lead generally good lives although they have respiratory infections. And it doesn't become chronic for every rabbit.
The bills have been a bit scary though, as Ada's sneezing isn't covered by insurance because it started so early.