A couple of 'snuffles' questions

I read on another thread that echinacea can help a bun with snuffles. Where would I find this and in what form? I know you can get tablets but I don't think there is any way I can get Furby to swallow a tablet at the moment.

Also, is there a limit to how often and for how long I can nebulise Furby? At the moment I am only doing it twice a day for 15-30 mins depending on how Furby seems while I am doing it. I'm not working now until Sunday so I could nebulise more often but I don't want to stress him out if there is no benefit to doing that.

The echinacea comes in liquid form as well. I used that with Boris, putting a few drops on something leafy usually did the trick. Some of them contain alcohol though which you want to avoid (not sure how good it is for buns).

About the nebulising....well, do you reckon those two times a day are enough or is he not showing much improvement? perhaps he does need it more often. Some buns do find it very stressful but some also learn to be ok with it. Maybe give him a treat or something afterwards? There are also different ways of going about it to make it less stressful. I'm sure someone else will be able to give you some more advice

I think that the key to snuffles is getting the infected gunk runny enough to get out of the sinuses.
Also runny gunk is much easier for the bunny to sneeze out so they get much less distressed.

A nebuliser is great for this especially when combined with bisolvon.
I used plain saline in the nebuliser & made it myself from sea salt. This doen't need a chamber because it's harmless if we get a whiff too - It just gives a salty taste in the mouth.
We can't risk inhaling ABx or eg F10 solution so these need a chamber.
Here's Benjie having his saline nebuliser on my knee.


The other important aspect is a NSAID both to reduce the swelling in the upper airways & for pain relief.

Yes, I use echinacea. As Oompaloopa says it comes in a liquid extract. I use gelatin capsules filled with powder for Benjie - just cut off the top of the capsule, & put a pinch on a basil leaf. 5 days treament & a rest from it at w/e.
It makes the white cells much more aggressive at killing the bacteria.
I give it to reduce the risks of the bacteria seeding through the blood stream & causing abscesses elswhere (1 of Benjie's problems) & also to reduce the risks of the infection spreading into nearby bone.

I'd also say that even if the infection seems to clear up quickly, they really do need the full 6 week's course of ABx.

A final tip is that putting hay in a small wicker tunnel helps to reduce the dust enormously. Inhaled dust thickens the secretions too.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

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?

Rhianna said:

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?

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I put liquid echinacea drops in Patricks water
Only been a few days, so can't tell if it's helping yet but worth a try I thought!

BettyLu said:

I put liquid echinacea drops in Patricks water
Only been a few days, so can't tell if it's helping yet but worth a try I thought!

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Thank you - I'll try anything at the moment!

Furby is in with Faye but I guess it won't hurt her. Where did you get the drops?

Rhianna said:

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?

Click to expand...

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.

Rhianna said:

Thank you - I'll try anything at the moment!

Furby is in with Faye but I guess it won't hurt her. Where did you get the drops?

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Bought mine in Waitrose funnily enough, but you can get it in Holland & Barratt too and on Amazon