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HELP post 15 kinda urgent

lucy24

Mama Doe
ok so i cant think straight and need advice. charlie was leaving watery puddles everywhere on sat and has snuffles so his nose was bad too. its better today and no more puddles. slightly loud breathing but not drastic. honey suffers with snuffles too. my current vet has said that they will likely need short courses of baytril when it gets bad but ive heard that this is not a good idea. do i take them for a second opinion at different surgery today or do i wait and see?
 
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Lots of short courses of baytril are not good for bunnies and snuffles can often take quite a long course of antibiotics to clear it up. One of my rabbits had snuffles and ended up on a 21 day course of septrin (another antibiotic thats actually a peadeatric medicine) and that cleared his snuffles up. The vet like yours put him on a 7 day course of baytril but it came aback a few days after the 7 days. Apparently Septrin works better for snuffles than bayril as it can penetrate the mucus easier.

Some people have a culture and sensitivity test done from the nose so the vet can see what antibiotic to treat it with as there are different strains of pastuerella (snuffles).

My vet didnt know either about Septrin she did know about the same antibiotic but had it in a different form. Rabbits take Seprin easier because its banana flavour and tastes sweet! I rang her and requested it and asked for a full bottle so I could put him on the 21 days (as advised by Jacks Jane on here) and she did order and prescribe this for me. Its worth ringing your vet and trying to request it unless you would prefer to go to an exotics vet as some vets don't like it if you try and tell them what you want for your pet!
 
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new vet

wento to a new vet and they said that the baytril is just easing the secondary infection not the primary root cause. they want to have charlie in on friday for investigation. they are getting his info from my old vet to see what tests have been done. they said it might be bloods and they want to look at his teeth again.

doesw this all sound right? they are also going to flush his taer ducts.

apparently they have rabbit x ray plates that they put in the rabbits mouth instead of a normal x ray. i never new their was a difference?!

opinions please:wave: and thanks for everyones input so far :D
 
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I think Jacks Jane would be able to give you the best advice on here so I would PM her with the thread but i do know that teeth problems can be a cause of snuffles although I don't know if the baytril would clear the problem up if it was teeth problems? I know my rabbits wasn't teeth problems because two of them got it after each other so I could tell is was something they passed on...the most obvious being pastuerella although I didnt have a culture and sensitivity test done. If however it returns I will have one done.

I think its worth having a culture and sensitivity test done (swab from the nose) and teeth check first. XRays are expensive so I don't know what other people think but i would have that done after ruling out pastuerella unless when they look in the mouth they can see some obvious teeth problems. Of course if its problems with the root then only an XRay will tell.

Can I ask what his snuffles are like? Is it a thick white discharge? Does he sneeze alot? Is it more watery? Was the watery puddles from him weeing?
 
I think Jacks Jane would be able to give you the best advice on here so I would PM her with the thread but i do know that teeth problems can be a cause of snuffles although I don't know if the baytril would clear the problem up if it was teeth problems? I know my rabbits wasn't teeth problems because two of them got it after each other so I could tell is was something they passed on...the most obvious being pastuerella although I didnt have a culture and sensitivity test done. If however it returns I will have one done.

I think its worth having a culture and sensitivity test done (swab from the nose) and teeth check first. XRays are expensive so I don't know what other people think but i would have that done after ruling out pastuerella unless when they look in the mouth they can see some obvious teeth problems. Of course if its problems with the root then only an XRay will tell.

Can I ask what his snuffles are like? Is it a thick white discharge? Does he sneeze alot? Is it more watery? Was the watery puddles from him weeing?

yes its thick and white although today nothing came out:roll:he has massive sneezing fits where his whole body looks like its fitting(but it is a sneeze) the last few days he's not been himself at all. he stopped eating a little yesterday, then started again. the puddles were definitely wee! i saw him do it.
just worried about him being there all day:oops: its going to be a huge bill!!!!! but the vet said the will claim direct from petplan.
 
Xrays will be very useful to assess the tooth roots. 'Snuffles' can be a secondary symptom of tooth root elongation.

The Vet sounds as though they are doing a comprehensive work-up and this is by far the best approach rather than just throwing courses of antibiotics at the symptoms. It may prove costly initially, but it could well save a lot of money in the long run and is certainly better for the Rabbit.
 
im a bit confused though, as my other vet did a skull xray which i thought would show the roots. is this not the case? i know that the vet did say his teeth on one side were at an angle but flat. so perhaps it was the wrong type of xray?
 
im a bit confused though, as my other vet did a skull xray which i thought would show the roots. is this not the case? i know that the vet did say his teeth on one side were at an angle but flat. so perhaps it was the wrong type of xray?

An Xray is only as good as the person interpreting the result. It sounds as though the previous Vet was less experienced in treating Rabbits and may have been less able to assess what is 'normal'. Dental Xrays will provide a better overall picture.
 
update

well charlies tear ducts were flushed and theres no problem there. they looked down his throat and up his nose. all clear. the xrays were apparently boarderline so not the best tyhey could be but ot likley to be causing a problem. so i still have no answers. they gave me septrin but he has been on it for a week and no improvement ,he actually seems really fed up. im so worried! what else can they do?:cry: he is still eating and drinking but is quite for-lawn the baytril seemed to do a better job than septrin. yesterday his sneezing fits were so bad. i saw white stuff pour out from his nose when he sneezed. he's been wiping it all over his face leaving a hard crusty feel to his furr. gunna take him to vet today but what elese can be done? they said they could get a ct scan done but i honestly dont want to put him through the stress of it, and i dont feel its necessary tbh. plus its the cost.

another thing, do you think honey is stressing him out? i know shes feisty but i thought they had got passed their rough patch. theres been no incidents but im trying to figure out whats causing or making the snuffles worse.:cry:
 
Has he had a full culture and sensitivity test on the discharge to determine which abx it would be susceptible to?

I rarely believe septrin/baytril do a good job on a proper snuffles treatment - unfortunately, it sounds like it has become rather rooted now in Charlie, if it is thick and white and gunky. It's going to need to hit hard now and with more than just abx in my opinion.

I would strongly recommend the following;

C&S Test (he will need to come off of antibiotics for ~2 weeks before you can have one done)
Start putting bisolvon over his food to help thin out the mucus
Nebulisation - with a saline based solution or F10SC - this is the MOST important thing in my opinion. It's the ONLY thing that helps Ginger these days - we dont fight the infection anymore as with her, its too deep rooted and she's stuck with it for life.
 
he hasn't had a C&S as i was worried about him being off antibiotics and if he would get worse being off them? baytril does get rid of the wet nose whereas septrin doesn't. but the sneezing remains. he's only ever been on a 14 day course. perhaps a longer course would rid him of the sneezing?

otherwise will just have to do as you suggest with the nebuliser. theres just nothing worse than seing a beloved bunny feeling so rough. im sure its the same with Ginger. i have an appt for 3:45
 
does Ginger do better inside? charlie and honey live in ashed but im wondering if being inside makes a difference?
 
does Ginger do better inside? charlie and honey live in ashed but im wondering if being inside makes a difference?

Due to other problems i doubt she'd survive outside. We have to have the windows open though to keep the air fresh, stale air and she really struggles.

Speak to a rabbit savvy vet about your options, i can only provide opinions based upon our situation :wave:

A 2 week course would almost ceertainly not be enuogh - Ginger was on abx for about 9 months in total, Azithromycin was the only one that really worked well for her, which we were on for several months, but even that couldnt beat the infection as her body can't fight it. Charlie may be able to, if he's a healthy bun apart from the snuffles, but be aware, this may be a lifelong thing, not something that can be beaten, so just prepare yourself for that.
 
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