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Steroids? Pasturella and farmers lung

C

ChristyRose

Alpha Buck
Hi. After an xray Jasmine has been diagnosed with pasturella and farmers lung. She had a 7 week course of baytril and fruesimide and a steroid injection. Shes had them before. I am sure I read somewhere that rabbits shouldnt be given steroids? What does it do to their bodies?
She had her last steroid injection a few weeks ago and now shes starting to breath heavily again. The vet did say about giving the steroid through a mask as it gets the steroid straight to the lung and dosnt affect the rest of the body so much.
I am worried about using a mask on her as I dont want to distress her anymore. She hated having baytril twice a day everyday!! How long do you have to keep the mask on for?
The vet did say that her prognosis wasnt good after seeing the x ray and I dont want to keep her going on meds if her body is failing and not coping. Should I try the mask or just keep giving her steroid injections or just leave her be?
 
Rabbits are very sensitive to the the side effects of steroids, including weakening of the immune system, gastric ulceration and liver damage. That is why they should always be used with extreme caution, often as a last resort treatment.

I have had a few Rabbits with chronic pneumonia who were able to enjoy an extra 10-11 months of life whilst on longterm antibiotics (Depocillin) a corticosteroid and a diuretic.

I used a nebuliser for them too. They were OK with a mask, but you can make a nebulising chamber if your Rabbit would find a mask too stressful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JpVeWhJ8RA
 
As far as I am aware, farmers lung is caused by aspergillosis niger, which is a fungus. The problem with giving antibiotics with a fungal infection is that it can knock out all bacteria, removing competition and allowing the fungal infection to take over.
It may be worth asking your vet about this and giving an anti fungal treatment instead.
 
halfpenny said:
As far as I am aware, farmers lung is caused by aspergillosis niger, which is a fungus. The problem with giving antibiotics with a fungal infection is that it can knock out all bacteria, removing competition and allowing the fungal infection to take over.
It may be worth asking your vet about this and giving an anti fungal treatment instead.
Click to expand...

I would be inclined to ask about giving both an antifungal and an antibiotic. The Pasteurella will still require treatment, especially if steroids are being used.
 
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