Snuffles treatment question, U/D really struggling I am worried

Hello folks,

Patrick has been suffering with snuffles. He has been on penicillin injections (0.2 a day) for roughly 2 months. He has a wet nose but it's pretty minimal discharge really, sneezes and is sounding pretty congested with the sort of honky noises when he eats etc. MY vet seems very against giving me any more penicillin, and suggested stopping all treatment for 2 weeks.
I really do not want to do this, and want to carry on with the abx. Should I insist, or can anyone suggest another course of action.

Please help, as I really do not want to just stop and him get worse, I have 3 days left of penicillin and am planning on phoning the vets tomorrow. Thank you in advance guys.

:wave:

Sorry to post and run, short on time, but have a snuffles bun myself.

Ginger constantly has a wet nose, its possible you will not be able to win against pasteurella if that's what it is - but that doesn't mean a death sentence.

I suspect, your vet is suggesting a 2 week break on the abx so they can do something called a MC&S (Micro Culture & Sensitivity) Test - this will show up the bugs from a swab and they should be able to determine what abx the bug is susceptible to, rather than just hammering away with *cillin which in the end, bugs could become immune to.

If vet isn't suggesting a 2 week break for that, may I suggest you do?

It'd give you an idea on where to go from here.

Snuffles can be a life long illness, but it doesn't have to stop them living their lives - Ginger is a happy, fun loving 3 (!!!) year old now, who started snuffles at around 6 months of age. She has bad days, but mainly due to her kidney issues, which make her feel **** and then the snuffles come on in force.

She also makes 'interesting' noises while eating and often struggles.

So basically, I just wanted to say, don't think this is the end - things are still very much able to be worked on

Thank you for the advice. Yes, Patrick was about 6 months when this all started. When you leave them for 2 weeks without treatment do they get worse? I'd hate for that. My vet is fairly rabbit savvy I think. I will suggest the C&S test if he doesn't though.
PM seems very happy in himself its just the congested noises that bother me and I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right to help him best I can.

You can still give them other treatment like Metacam and Bisolvon during the 2 weeks wait for a C&S test - just not antibiotics.
Unless it's very bad he could stay fairly comfortable on those.

Giving him the wrong antibiotic - as the penicillin doesn't seem to be working - won't be doing much for the snuffles anyway, and could create resistance to it among other bacteria in his system so it's not very beneficial. With the test they will be able to find out which drugs the infection will respond to.

Busters been on penicillin for about 2 months too, although his nose and eye is dry he has sneezeing fits all the time and grunts when eating. Have you tried nebulizing? This helps alot. To be honest my vet doesn't plan to take him off of penicillin for at least 6 months i think this is because once you stop you have to build it back up again after like any antibiotics i guess. Bisolvon is good too. I hope you start to see an improvement soon

My bunny Big has snuffles but has only ever tried Baytril, which does not work. I have been told that Zithromax or Marbocyl or Streptocare or Depocillan or something along those lines works better. The type of anti biotic will vary based on the diagnosis if mucus is tested. I was told NEVER ALLOW a vet to give your rabbit AMOXICILLIN!

Other key things with snuffles buns - keeping stress levels as low as possible (Coneflower or Echinacea helps here to reduce stress hormone production) and nebulising helps loads. I have bought coneflower from Jolleys but she's not keen so drops might be better but I don't know what the dosage would be?


Also she has Bisolvon once a day sprinkled and mixed in with a small portion of porridge oats, warm water and a little honey.

Thank you all for the help. Patrick is worse tonight than he has been this entire time. sounds congested and has a little white snot .

None of the medications worked for Evie and now we sprinkle red raspberry leaf on her food and put echinecea and rabbit vitamin drops in her water. She does have days when she has a little discharge and she will make little noises when she eats but she's very happy!

lauraj27 said:

None of the medications worked for Evie and now we sprinkle red raspberry leaf on her food and put echinecea and rabbit vitamin drops in her water. She does have days when she has a little discharge and she will make little noises when she eats but she's very happy!

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Where can I get red raspberry leaf? What does that help with? Excuse my ignorance!

Tonight I've been woken up by Patrick's breathing. He is sounding so gunked up. I'm really concerned for him. Going to ring Trinity vets in morning as I feel like he may need a trip down there even though been hoping my local vets would be able to help
More as Patrick hates car journeys and trinity is an hour away. I'm so worried that something is going to happen between now and then

Is Patrick on any metacam? He could really do with a daily dose of 'dog' metacam, to help the inflammation in his airways - it can really be a difference maker, same as bisolvon if you can get him to take it, as it thins the secretions.

GrahamL said:

Is Patrick on any metacam? He could really do with a daily dose of 'dog' metacam, to help the inflammation in his airways - it can really be a difference maker, same as bisolvon if you can get him to take it, as it thins the secretions.

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I am going to make an appointment at Trinity vets for saturday and go to my local vets today and pick some metacam up. He seems lively, do you thinkwaiting till saturday to take him to the specialist would be ok? so much easier when my mum can come with me.

BettyLu said:

I am going to make an appointment at Trinity vets for saturday and go to my local vets today and pick some metacam up. He seems lively, do you thinkwaiting till saturday to take him to the specialist would be ok? so much easier when my mum can come with me.

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I don't know Patrick, so its difficult to comment - personally, it'd be better the sooner he could be seen as if an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (if that's what it is) can spread to the Lower Respiratory Tract and is much harder to fight then - but in all honesty, Trinity Vets (Mark in particular!) are your best bet whenever you can go

Good luck and vibes for Patrick.

GrahamL said:

I don't know Patrick, so its difficult to comment - personally, it'd be better the sooner he could be seen as if an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (if that's what it is) can spread to the Lower Respiratory Tract and is much harder to fight then - but in all honesty, Trinity Vets (Mark in particular!) are your best bet whenever you can go

Good luck and vibes for Patrick.

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Thank you! will have to see when they can fit me in!