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Bad reaction to Zithromax

L

louise and Gus

Wise Old Thumper
Pansy bun has had a head tilt caused by suspected inner ear infection, penicillin has held her snuffles at bay but not the ear infection. So I asked my vet about Zithromax and he agreed we could try it. I gave her the first dose on Friday, within about 15 minutes she had gone flat, was in pain and stopped eating. She stayed in the vets yesterday getting fluids, pain meds and gut stimulant, my vet came in on his day off to see her.

I have her home and she is eating again but is still very quiet and not herself. I am hoping she is on the road to recovery but it has been such a stressful weekend for us both! I know lots of people here have used it with great results but I won't be using it again. Has anyone else experienced this kind of reaction? On that note does any rescues/sanctuaries use it? I have two unused bottles left. I am so upset that something I did caused her to suffer so much, and that the Zithromax won't help her like I had hoped :(
 
I've had two bunnies on this And both had this reaction. I used to give them Metacam and the give the Zithromax an hour later and then we stopped seeing problems. Badger was eventually on it for 5 months solid and once we dissed it we had no more problems. I hope you find a way to make it work.
 
So sorry Pansy had a bad reaction :( Not used it myself for anything. Cheeky has just finished her meds for inner ear infection. She had a 90% tilt and was on Fortum which worked well. x
 
Sky-O said:
I've had two bunnies on this And both had this reaction. I used to give them Metacam and the give the Zithromax an hour later and then we stopped seeing problems. Badger was eventually on it for 5 months solid and once we dissed it we had no more problems. I hope you find a way to make it work.
Click to expand...

Can I ask what made you decide to keep using it? My natural instinct was to stop and not use it again. Wonder why it can cause them pain :-/
Did it help with the infection?
 
I've used it on a number of buns over the years with fantastic results, but my vet said it can upset their stomachs and so have always used with a probiotic as well, also was took to syringe feed some recovery diet first, as bunny can have bad reaction on a empty stomach. Followed this guidelines and didn't have any problems. Not good to use with any other meds other than pain relief, because I think it can react with other drugs.
 
:wave: Sorry to put my "work hat on" but can I just remind everyone that it's illegal to pass on prescription only veterinary medicines to other people.

Hope your bun is back to normal soon.
 
Pansy is much brighter today and almost back to normal, well for her anyway. Got a vets appt this afternoon to remove the catheter in her ear and make sure she is ok.
 
Wow, I've never heard of problems with Zithromax, so it's very interesting to hear. Sounds like it's very tough on the gut.

So glad that Pansy is improving.
 
SarahP said:
Wow, I've never heard of problems with Zithromax, so it's very interesting to hear. Sounds like it's very tough on the gut.

So glad that Pansy is improving.
Click to expand...

Yeah one of the reasons I wanted to try it was I have heard such good things about it, especially for ear infections :( I'm gutted it didn't work to be honest :(
 
I am alarmed at reading this as my boy is having his last dose of it tonight, along with Metacam, Panacur and Fibreplex (all at the same time). I must admit I noticed that Cookie went downhill for about 24-48hrs after his first and second dose but is improving at the moment. That antibiotic came highly recommended to me by Tracy at the Rabbit & Guinea Pig Welfare and moreso from Simon (vet in Northampton), who swear by it.

If it seems tough on the gut, it might explain why the gurgling noises from Cookie's rear as so extremely loud? My problems are still ongoing with Cookie in still having problems chewing certain things.

I am back to see Simon tomorrow so I shall mention this to him. Because I fear I am now treating Cookie for EC, from the awful things I experienced with him the other night, Simon might want to continue with a longer course. Not really happy in dosing Cookie with everything at once which has been the case. I think also I should be giving Cookie Fibreplex twice a day and not just once. Tonight is the night (when Tracy comes round) when I have to get a grip of myself, grow some balls and learn how to pick Cookie up so I can administer his meds

Any advice please, from experience, as to whether I should be leaving gaps between each med?
 
Last edited:
dinklepip said:
I am alarmed at reading this as my boy is having his last dose of it tonight, along with Metacam, Panacur and Fibreplex (all at the same time). I must admit I noticed that Cookie went downhill for about 24-48hrs after his first and second dose but is improving at the moment. That antibiotic came highly recommended to me by Tracy at the Rabbit & Guinea Pig Welfare and moreso from Simon (vet in Northampton), who swear by it.

If it seems tough on the gut, it might explain why the gurgling noises from Cookie's rear as so extremely loud? My problems are still ongoing with Cookie in still having problems chewing certain things.

I am back to see Simon tomorrow so I shall mention this to him. Because I fear I am now treating Cookie for EC, from the awful things I experienced with him the other night, Simon might want to continue with a longer course. Not really happy in dosing Cookie with everything at once which has been the case. I think also I should be giving Cookie Fibreplex twice a day and not just once. Tonight is the night (when Tracy comes round) when I have to get a grip of myself, grow some balls and learn how to pick Cookie up so I can administer his meds

Any advice please, from experience, as to whether I should be leaving gaps between each med?
Click to expand...

From what I have read it seems that buns either are fine with it or react badly to the first dose, so if he has been on it a while I am guessing he's ok with it. Before this Pansy was on Penicilin, metacam, panacur, stemitil and bisolven all at the same time with no apparent ill effects
 
blimey that's a lot. From the scary stuff I experienced the other night with Cookie, I thought he had a stroke. Now I have read this it might have been a reaction to the antibiotic which I shall deffo be discussing with Simon tomorrow
 
difficult to tell whether it was the antibiotic or not but the first night his head was tilting over more to the left and he lifted his leg leg as though he had a stroke, he seemed very distressed and circling a little too. He was also struggling to drink water, he seemed like that for around 24hrs or so, was awful to see but he perked up after his 3rd dose and looks morelike Cookie again.

I am not saying it was the antibiotic as he hasn't been right for a while since before his dental and he had a little cystitis too but I shall give some feedback to Simon tomorrow
 
Cookie is down again today and the left side of his face and neck appears swollen. I am not happy with this Zithromax at all, it seems to upset him after every dose
 
dinklepip said:
Cookie is down again today and the left side of his face and neck appears swollen. I am not happy with this Zithromax at all, it seems to upset him after every dose
Click to expand...

Are you seeing your vet today? I'd ask his opinion. With regard to the swollen face, Pansy looks like the left side of her face is swollen, but actually the right side is paralysed and 'pulled up' making the left side look larger, this is the result if nerve damage from her ear infection :(
 
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