Little Bengie came to me nearly 6 months ago - private rescue with snuffles, white discharge from nose & eyes, sneezing & 2 abscesses. He also had alot of uneaten caecals.
We assumed pasteurellosis. He had almost cured the abscesses himself when I found them, but he was started on 2 weeks of Baytril. He's a very nervous bunny.
I've concentrated on mimimizing stress, strict dust control & am fortunate that I can feed him grass rather than hay, storing home dried rabbit friendly tree leaves & wild plants for overwintering (low dust)
He also has a few drops of ongoing herbal medicines - aqueous echinacea to maintain his immune system & a herbal mix medicine.
I have found that home made saline by nebuliser to be invaluable for both of us! (My own chronic sinusitus)
Because he's so nervous I couldn't get him used to a nebulising chamber, so he just sits on my knee for 20 mins & even purrs, needing no restraint, while I waft the spray about 3" fom his nose. Of course I get "nebulised too"! So we can't do it this way if there are meds in the nebuliser!!!!
With the recent hot weather he had a minor relapse - alot of dry sneezing & off his food. All came back under control again within 3 days by restarting his Bisolvon & nebulising with saline x2 daily. My own upper airways are fantastic!!! There was an increased runny nose at first, but now it's completely clear. This was the same for Benjie. The only draw back is a salty taste in the back of the mouth.
I now propose to keep Benjie nebulised with saline on a daily basis for the rest of his life.
I wasn't going to post until we'd got through a year, but his recent response has been quite remarkable.
The recipe for home made saline is 1/4 teaspoon (culinary measure) sea salt in 1/4 liter of cooled boiled water.
I can't make it sterile bacteriologically but I can make it very clean. I sterilise a jam jar in the oven as for jam making as a storage bottle, & only store the solution in the fridge for 2 days.
ETA this recipe gives a strength of Normal saline = N Saline which is commonly used for most purposes.
I'd appreciate your comments especially from those who have snuffles bunnies.
We assumed pasteurellosis. He had almost cured the abscesses himself when I found them, but he was started on 2 weeks of Baytril. He's a very nervous bunny.
I've concentrated on mimimizing stress, strict dust control & am fortunate that I can feed him grass rather than hay, storing home dried rabbit friendly tree leaves & wild plants for overwintering (low dust)
He also has a few drops of ongoing herbal medicines - aqueous echinacea to maintain his immune system & a herbal mix medicine.
I have found that home made saline by nebuliser to be invaluable for both of us! (My own chronic sinusitus)
Because he's so nervous I couldn't get him used to a nebulising chamber, so he just sits on my knee for 20 mins & even purrs, needing no restraint, while I waft the spray about 3" fom his nose. Of course I get "nebulised too"! So we can't do it this way if there are meds in the nebuliser!!!!
With the recent hot weather he had a minor relapse - alot of dry sneezing & off his food. All came back under control again within 3 days by restarting his Bisolvon & nebulising with saline x2 daily. My own upper airways are fantastic!!! There was an increased runny nose at first, but now it's completely clear. This was the same for Benjie. The only draw back is a salty taste in the back of the mouth.
I now propose to keep Benjie nebulised with saline on a daily basis for the rest of his life.
I wasn't going to post until we'd got through a year, but his recent response has been quite remarkable.
The recipe for home made saline is 1/4 teaspoon (culinary measure) sea salt in 1/4 liter of cooled boiled water.
I can't make it sterile bacteriologically but I can make it very clean. I sterilise a jam jar in the oven as for jam making as a storage bottle, & only store the solution in the fridge for 2 days.
ETA this recipe gives a strength of Normal saline = N Saline which is commonly used for most purposes.
I'd appreciate your comments especially from those who have snuffles bunnies.
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