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Respitory Infection

A

Amy104

Warren Veteran
Had to book a vets appointment for Minstral as she has started sneezing and has green discharge.

This is her first infection.

I'd like to try and nip this in the bud in a hope I don't end up with another long term respitory bun, or more importantly I'd like to reduce the risk of scaring so that it is less uncomfortable for her if this is a long term problem.

Would you go straight for a c&s or would you try antibiotics first?

Antibiotics always worked well with Bluebell at first, but I'm wondering if we go this route whether I should ask my vet for a longer initial course in a hope it will clear it and we wont have to do lots of repeated courses? Bluebell only every had 2 week courses when he first had issues, but I'm wondering whether I should ask for longer.
 
C+S testing can sometimes be helpful, but it has to be a deep nasal swab to obtain the most reliable information. Most Rabbits would not tolerate having that done whilst awake

My Vet tends to prescribe Septrin rather than Baytril as a first line of treatment. The length of the course being dependent on how an individual Rabbit responds. Treatment usually continues for several days AFTER all clinical symptoms have resolved.

Getting good drainage from the sinuses is also helpful, so a mucolytic such as Bisolvon could be prescribed along with nebulising with sterile saline.

If the nasolacrimal ducts are draining well then giving an abx eye drop eg Tiacil can be a good way of targeting the infection via drainage into the nasal passages via the nasolacrimal ducts
 
Jack's-Jane said:
C+S testing can sometimes be helpful, but it has to be a deep nasal swab to obtain the most reliable information. Most Rabbits would not tolerate having that done whilst awake

My Vet tends to prescribe Septrin rather than Baytril as a first line of treatment. The length of the course being dependent on how an individual Rabbit responds. Treatment usually continues for several days AFTER all clinical symptoms have resolved.

Getting good drainage from the sinuses is also helpful, so a mucolytic such as Bisolvon could be prescribed along with nebulising with sterile saline.

If the nasolacrimal ducts are draining well then giving an abx eye drop eg Tiacil can be a good way of targeting the infection via drainage into the nasal passages via the nasolacrimal ducts
Click to expand...

:thumb:

Also, we've found using a dose of metacam to keep the airways clear helps too :wave:
 
Yep, I always ask for bisolven, metacam and have my nebulizer on standby.

I've lots of experience with this sort of thing but I'm in a quandry as to whether to try meds or just go straight for a GA and nasal swab.

When Bluebell first got ill we were under a much less savvy vet who kept prescribing only enough meds to mask the symptoms, not enough to ensure he was symptomless for several days and I always wonder if thats why he had so much problem later on with scar tissue.

Maybe I should start off with whatever course they prescribe and see how she goes. If her symptoms are still there or I don't feel she's had enough days symptomless I could always ask my vets too extend it. They all know me and have been pretty good about working with me in the past.

With Bluebell Baytril was one of the most effective drugs, septrin didn't help him at all, but obviously every infection is different so maybe I will see whether they think septrin first might be better as this is her first infection.
 
I have no experience with respiratory issues yet thankfully but I just wanted to send some vibes, I hope Bluebell is doing OK now.
 
Sending vibes.

When Willow developed similar chest infection symptoms a couple of months after we lost Dill to one, our vet skipped the baytril step and put him straight on depocillin injections - which with nebulising, bisolvon and metcam seems to have done the trick (fingers crossed). We've not had the option of C&S with either of ours as in neither case was it in the nose, but in many ways I wish it had been possible as it sometimes seemed like we were blundering around hoping that something would work!
 
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