I actually put the mask over Furby's face. Am I doing it wrong? I use bisolvon powder in with the water and salt (which I made myself too). This is Furby being nebulised.
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?385945-My-brave-little-Furby-being-nebulised
I will go out and buy some echinacea later. Where I am I likely to find it?
I buy it on the internet, & use the Solgar capsules. It's best to use the same manufacturer all the time because there is considerable variation between the various manufacturers. (I also have the left overs myself!)
Because I'm using it for different reasons (experimentally) I found that the aqueous solution loses it's effectiveness about 10 -14 days after opening the bottle. We also found it good for stopping the abscesses. He's had no recurrance since.
Furby is indeed a brave boy. Bless him.
I give the bisolvon powder to eat, folded in a basil leaf along with the echinacea powder.
Bisolvon is great given that way, it makes the mucus more runny & easier to move out of the
whole respiratory tract that way. As you know there is an increased risk of ear infections & pneumonia too. Given by mouth the Bisolvon protects these areas too.
The only problem with it was Jenova's experience with Grimlock, who had gut slow down. We think it's because his sinuses were totally blocked, so pressure built up inside causing pain. Grim has long standing issues with his teeth (& a sensitive tummy), which is probably a major cause of his snuffles.
(I didn't know it was effective by nebuliser - I stand to be corrected in all things)
The saline is great - best thing to loosen up the thick gunk, which they find so difficult & distressing to sneeze out.
I don't use a mask, just to reduce any stress, also I hold the jet a bit back, cos many rabbits don't like a puff of air in the face. I can see the mist envelope the nose & face. It also helps to get rid of mild eye discharge this way. As you can see with Benjie who's a very nervous bunny, just sits on my lap, without restraint. I just need to prop up his chin so his nose is well in the jet.
Stress reduction & pain are also very important so it's a case of trying different methods until you find the one which suits the bunny.
There
can come a time when they need disinfectant F10, or even ABx in the nebuliser if there is a lot of scarring from repeated infections, but it's good to stave this off for as long as poss. because both can cause a change of the infecting bacteria to resistant types.
Benjie had a very poor prognosis, but we managed to keep discharge to a minimum just by these 3 measures for about 11 months when he had a flare up. Then we went for it all guns with Abx & metacam. (He has pasteurella, but other bacteria can cause snuffles) Septrin proved to be very good for
pasteurella. Although he responded quickly, we went for the full 6 week course. After about 2 weeks he had a sneezing fit for 2 consecutive days - really thick jelly. He's been completely free of discharge & sneezing since Christmas.
I don't think I'll ever have the nerve to stop the bisolvon & echinacea though. That's all he's had for the last 4 months. In retrospect I think we should have given metacam much earlier, because it would have helped to get the thick jelly out sooner. I'm totally convinced that the key here has been keeping the secretions runny, & pegging away at it.
This is also my personal experience having a human form of snuffles myself from thick secretions for years. For me the only thing which worked was getting a really runny cold. Now Benjie's saline nebuliser keeps me free too! I also found that when eye discharge was an issue, ABx dops in the eye helped my own snuffles. (Tear ducts drain into the nose, taking the infection there.)
Lea Anne noticed that Vincent's snuffles cleared for a while after his tear ducts had been flushed. They now use ABx drops in the eye all the time & his snuffles is controled at last. She reduces the dust from hay by stuffing it in a toilet roll. Benjie's a bit bigger & has it in a small tunnel on Lea anne's advice. He scrabbles it out rather than sticking his nose in it.
Sorry for a long post. It's a bit of a complicated problem, but some of us are having success at long last.
I owe so much to Bisc & Matt 1 for patiently explaining snuffles in rabbits to me, years ago before I had a snuffles bun.
Also to Maizey for telling me about echinacea.