Gordon's upper resp infection UD: daily synulox injections?

Just got back from another vet trip with Gordon, he needs a penicillin based injection every week for four weeks to combat his respiratory infection. But the vet warned me the injections may kill the bacteria in his gut, which we know is very bad news for bunnies. I was rather concerned about this since the vet said he hasn't been able to save any rabbit which has had this problem, but he did say 90% of the time the rabbits gut is not affected and without the injections the infection will continue to spread to his lungs and he would suffer more through that and this is the only treatment at this stage so he had the first injection this evening. I really hope he gets better with this, he's been poorly for so long now.

Liz47 said:

Just got back from another vet trip with Gordon, he needs a penicillin based injection every week for four weeks to combat his respiratory infection. But the vet warned me the injections may kill the bacteria in his gut, which we know is very bad news for bunnies. I was rather concerned about this since the vet said he hasn't been able to save any rabbit which has had this problem, but he did say 90% of the time the rabbits gut is not affected and without the injections the infection will continue to spread to his lungs and he would suffer more through that and this is the only treatment at this stage so he had the first injection this evening. I really hope he gets better with this, he's been poorly for so long now.

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I have had numerous Rabbits on an injectable penicillin and given far more frequently than once a week. In fact I doubt that a once a week injection would have much impact on a Respiratory Tract infection. My Vet starts with daily doses, reducing to every other day after about 7 days. I have only had 2 Rabbits (out of over 20) have any gut problems whilst on Penicillin injections and both Rabbits survived.

How Rabbit Savvy is your Vet ?

I do hope that Gordon will start to show some signs of improvement soon xx

Liz47 said:

Just got back from another vet trip with Gordon, he needs a penicillin based injection every week for four weeks to combat his respiratory infection. But the vet warned me the injections may kill the bacteria in his gut, which we know is very bad news for bunnies. I was rather concerned about this since the vet said he hasn't been able to save any rabbit which has had this problem, but he did say 90% of the time the rabbits gut is not affected and without the injections the infection will continue to spread to his lungs and he would suffer more through that and this is the only treatment at this stage so he had the first injection this evening. I really hope he gets better with this, he's been poorly for so long now.

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Liz I'm very sorry to hear this ..

However, a penicillin injection once a week will do nothing at all for a respiratory infection. Neither will it kill the bacteria in his gut. I have to say I would be slightly worried about this info ... A bit like my trusted vet surgery telling me that injectable penicillin will kill my rabbit :shock:

Do you have a lot of faith in your vet? Penicillin is usually given every other day, as it's long acting. Sometimes it's been given once in three days, but no less than that.

i hope he tolerates it well. when bisc and matt first went to our vets now their first course of treatment for their respiratory infections was a three month course of penicillin injections - these were daily. both did fine on them and bisc never needed anything else except metacam and occasional nebulising long term. matt did ok but obviously we ended up a long way down the road trying a variety of things.

but i wouldn't be too concerned about once a week injections causing any issues

lots of vibes on ther way...

Thank you everyone.

Oh no, I am pleased to hear it won't harm his gut but really worried now that he will continue to be poorly! I do have faith in the vets and have researched them and found them to have the best reviews/recommendations for bunnies in leeds that I can get to... Not sure what to do now!

so sorry to read this..agree with Jane needs the injections more often to work xx

My Harry had daily penicillin injections for quite awhile-I think it was about 5 weeks, and there was never a problem with his gut.

Hoping Gordon improves very soon.x

*vibes for Gordon*

Maybe speak to your vet about doing them more often than once a week. I've no experience with them in bunnies so can't offer anything in terms of side effects etc but obviously a lot of very bunny savvy people have experience with it.

Liz47 said:

Thank you everyone.

Oh no, I am pleased to hear it won't harm his gut but really worried now that he will continue to be poorly! I do have faith in the vets and have researched them and found them to have the best reviews/recommendations for bunnies in leeds that I can get to... Not sure what to do now!

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he may have meant if ingested it can cause problems, which is true. i had to make sure all traces were off bisc and matts fur after injecting them.

if you are already seeing the most savvy vet in your area then all i can think is perhaps to ask them to consult with another vet aswell? they may feel this is enough for his particular case.

for comparison, our vet told me for respiratory infections you want to do a course of treatment no less than six weeks to make sure it reaches the deeper parts of the nose spores. this can take a long time which is why people think treatment has worked and then it 'comes back' - usually it never fully went and over time spreads again from these deeper parts.

this was actually the first thing matt had and would normally work for the vast majority of cases. but we spent the next year and a half trying different things and combinations to find something to keep him stable. the vet never gave up and we got there eventually. so i can't recommend him enough for this type of issue. not too far from you in manchester. perhaps your vet could work with him? or alternatively, molly varga is in oldham at the moment so she would be another great one to work with on this. there are probably so many more aswell but i know our vets have taken referrals from a wide area so may beable to offer some useful advice

Sending vibes for your Gordon xxx

We have also had penicillin injections prescribed for each of our three rabbits. Each time the frequency was either every day, reducing to every other day or every other day from the start. There has not been any gut issues. Sending lots of vibes for Gordon.

Thank you for the replies and experiences. I rang the vets yesterday and was told by two different vets that the injections he's having cannot be given any sooner than 7 days, so he's appointment is still next Wednesday. That is actually eight days as I am at work all day Tuesday. I changed to that vets after having a bad experience at a closer vets with beano and my rats and they have been very good so far. :?

Sending lots of vibes for Gordon xx

Just wanted to echo what others have said regarding penicillin injections. My Wallace had to have daily injections for his lung infection. My trio also had to have a course of daily injections when they had pasteurella in their lungs back in 2011. None of mine had any gut issues whatsoever. Wallace's condition was terminal and we knew we were just buying him time, but my trio recovered and have had no issues since.

Liz47 said:

Thank you for the replies and experiences. I rang the vets yesterday and was told by two different vets that the injections he's having cannot be given any sooner than 7 days, so he's appointment is still next Wednesday. That is actually eight days as I am at work all day Tuesday. I changed to that vets after having a bad experience at a closer vets with beano and my rats and they have been very good so far. :?

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Can you clarify the exact name of the type of Penicillin given ? Does the name have 'LA' after it- eg Ultrapen LA ?

Liz47 said:

Thank you for the replies and experiences. I rang the vets yesterday and was told by two different vets that the injections he's having cannot be given any sooner than 7 days, so he's appointment is still next Wednesday. That is actually eight days as I am at work all day Tuesday. I changed to that vets after having a bad experience at a closer vets with beano and my rats and they have been very good so far. :?

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Are the two different vets at the same practice? If so, I would seek a second opinion... But of course, it's your choice

I rang my old vets to get a second opinion and they too said they only give them once weekly (the bad experience I had there was with a locum vet giving beano her vaccine), I wasn't sure how to go about getting an opinion from a vet I'm not registered with.

Jane, the receipt machine wasn't working so I don't have a full breakdown of the bill and therefore the name and I cant remember the name, I don't recall it having LA after it though...

Good luck with Gordon x

Sending lots of vibes for Gordon xx

Thank you xx