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Sulfatrim dose / rabbit gone off food

M

miss_rosieannie

Young Bun
Hi

Fifi has been prescribed Sulfatrim to try and tackle her pseudomonas ear infection.
I've been instructed to give 0.46ml twice daily, and she's had 3 doses now.

This morning I've gone to check on her and she hasn't finished her tea time pellets and is disinterested in her morning fresh pellets. I've offered some herbs and she's eating those.

Not sure if anyone will remember my post the other week but we've literally just got through the other side of pretty bad stasis, with her only just starting to drink water more normally around Monday. I brought her home from boarders thurs (holiday) and she's gone off drinking again at home so I'd put a little water on her pellets last night. The ones I offered this morning were dry again.

Does anyone know if Sulfatrim can cause a loss of appetite/nausea in rabbits? I've had a Google but I can only see regurgitation in birds and nausea in humans.

I'm really scared of triggering stasis again and wondering if I should completely hold off on the antibiotic for now until she's eating and drinking normally again - but being an antibiotic will that have an adverse effect on treating the pseudomonas; will it increase resistance?

I am going to try and speak to the vet that prescribed it today, once they open in a few hours, but she was recommended the antibiotic by another specialist in the country as she's spent over a week ringing round to find an antibiotic to treat this infection - therefore I'm wondering if someone here would have more first hand knowledge of it and any side effects.

Thanks
 
At this point are you sure that it is the sulfatrim that is causing her to not eat and not the ear infection getting worse until the Sulfatrim has time to do its job.? Not drinking will cause stasis to be worse so you may want to ask you vet about using getting some fluids to give sub Q unless you can use an oral syringe to get extra fluids in her orally.

I used Sulfatrim to treat an ear infection with my bunny and it was effective.
Sending you and Fifi some positive vibes.
 
Hey

I'm pretty confident it's not due to the ear infection - she had no issues with appetite etc with it until she had an ear flush to clean the affected ear and then the general anaesthetic triggered stasis. It took about 3 weeks to diagnose the ear infection pre-flush, and the flush took place on the 22nd Aug. I can touch and clean her ears without her minding at all so I'm fairly sure there isn't pain directly relating to the ear.

She was at vets thurs PM and last night has diminished appetite so my first thought was that the antibiotic is new, and second thought is maybe stress but I would have presumed that would have caused her to stop eating the thurs night maybe 😣

I've really struggled to syringe feed her water the week before last she wouldn't swallow it and would just dribble it back down her chin so trying to go down the wet veggies route.
 
I have no experience of this with my bunnies, but sending vibes for a speedy recovery and it all gets back to normal soon :)
 
miss_rosieannie said:
Hey

I'm pretty confident it's not due to the ear infection - she had no issues with appetite etc with it until she had an ear flush to clean the affected ear and then the general anaesthetic triggered stasis. It took about 3 weeks to diagnose the ear infection pre-flush, and the flush took place on the 22nd Aug. I can touch and clean her ears without her minding at all so I'm fairly sure there isn't pain directly relating to the ear.

She was at vets thurs PM and last night has diminished appetite so my first thought was that the antibiotic is new, and second thought is maybe stress but I would have presumed that would have caused her to stop eating the thurs night maybe ��

I've really struggled to syringe feed her water the week before last she wouldn't swallow it and would just dribble it back down her chin so trying to go down the wet veggies route.
Click to expand...

It is good that she is still eating the wet veggies. My bunnies will sometimes refuse to eat even their veggies, so I use Sub Q fluids.
Since you have eliminated her ear infection as the cause of her not eating, then you are right to check with your vet about the abx.
 
Thank you. It's just so stressful. She's currently munching on some hay so hopefully I can get her back to normal before it gets too serious again.
 
miss_rosieannie said:
Hi

Fifi has been prescribed Sulfatrim to try and tackle her pseudomonas ear infection.
I've been instructed to give 0.46ml twice daily, and she's had 3 doses now.

This morning I've gone to check on her and she hasn't finished her tea time pellets and is disinterested in her morning fresh pellets. I've offered some herbs and she's eating those.

Not sure if anyone will remember my post the other week but we've literally just got through the other side of pretty bad stasis, with her only just starting to drink water more normally around Monday. I brought her home from boarders thurs (holiday) and she's gone off drinking again at home so I'd put a little water on her pellets last night. The ones I offered this morning were dry again.

Does anyone know if Sulfatrim can cause a loss of appetite/nausea in rabbits? I've had a Google but I can only see regurgitation in birds and nausea in humans.

I'm really scared of triggering stasis again and wondering if I should completely hold off on the antibiotic for now until she's eating and drinking normally again - but being an antibiotic will that have an adverse effect on treating the pseudomonas; will it increase resistance?

I am going to try and speak to the vet that prescribed it today, once they open in a few hours, but she was recommended the antibiotic by another specialist in the country as she's spent over a week ringing round to find an antibiotic to treat this infection - therefore I'm wondering if someone here would have more first hand knowledge of it and any side effects.

Thanks
Click to expand...

What is your Bunny's poo output like and is she on any pain relief for her ear infection ??
 
Output is currently normal, but she was eating ok up until last night. She's not got any signs of pain or discomfort with her ear. When I originally took her to vets for it it was just because there was a bit of crust at the entrance of it, she had been totally fine in herself otherwise.
Spoke to vets and they've said this antibiotic isn't likely to be causing nausea and to carry on.. I'm wondering if it's stress of being syringe fed meds? Tried to do it as calmly as possible this morning with lots of cuddles and pauses in between trying to get it down her :/
 
miss_rosieannie said:
Output is currently normal, but she was eating ok up until last night. She's not got any signs of pain or discomfort with her ear. When I originally took her to vets for it it was just because there was a bit of crust at the entrance of it, she had been totally fine in herself otherwise.
Spoke to vets and they've said this antibiotic isn't likely to be causing nausea and to carry on.. I'm wondering if it's stress of being syringe fed meds? Tried to do it as calmly as possible this morning with lots of cuddles and pauses in between trying to get it down her :/
Click to expand...


Well IME ear infection in Rabbits is almost always painful and pain will stop a Rabbit from eating. So personally I would want to err on the side of caution and ask the Vet to prescribe analgesic cover, for a few days at least. Stress from lots of 'hands on care' can also cause a Rabbit to refuse food, so I empathise with the fine line between needing to get medication into them but not wanting to stress them out. Have you tried disguising the doses of Sulfatrim in some of her favorite treats ? So you dont have to pick her up to medicate her.
 
I'll try that thanks - her fave treats are leafy or solid though so may prove tricky!

Obviously I can't know for sure re ear pain as she can't tell me but she genuinely has only had her appetite affected by vet visits and procedures and medicine, there haven't been any signs of pain outside of the treatments and stress associated with the administration of meds and vet visits. Plus she isn't head shy in the slightest and doesn't have too much objection to me putting drops in her ear and cleaning it. Wheras when the syringe is anywhere near her mouth she will kick and squirm and try to wriggle away.
 
miss_rosieannie said:
I'll try that thanks - her fave treats are leafy or solid though so may prove tricky!

Obviously I can't know for sure re ear pain as she can't tell me but she genuinely has only had her appetite affected by vet visits and procedures and medicine, there haven't been any signs of pain outside of the treatments and stress associated with the administration of meds and vet visits. Plus she isn't head shy in the slightest and doesn't have too much objection to me putting drops in her ear and cleaning it. Wheras when the syringe is anywhere near her mouth she will kick and squirm and try to wriggle away.
Click to expand...

It cant be nice to have a syringe of yucky tasting meds shoved into your mouth. If only we could explain to the poorly Bunny that we are doing it to help them !! Have you tried dipping the tip of the syringe into some pureed veg baby food.Maybe even mix the Sulfatrim into a tiny amount of the baby food. It might at least make it taste nice.
 
Thank you I'll try that - got a stash of baby food from the last bout of stasis.
She's eaten a plate of veggies throughout today and picked at her pellets a little 🤞🏻
 
Feeling pretty low today. Trying to syringe feed her the antibiotic is really stressing her out, even with carrot baby food on the tip of the syringe: no matter how calm I am or how long I take with cuddles etc trying to minimise the stress, she ends up panting and either digging at my body to get away or burying her head into my arm and body.
Put down a plate of her favourite veggies this morning after the meds and she is just in bed refusing to look at it.
She has picked at a tiny amount of pellets again overnight but she's still not drinking from the bowl. I'm hoping she'll eat the veggies this morning whilst I'm out of the way and not annoying her with my presence.
I'll try her on a bit of banana in a bit and see if she'll take her meds mushed into that but if she's not eating her veg then I doubt she'll go for that either.
I just feel really helpless and really worried this stress is going to induce stasis again. And I'm wary of taking her to the vets prematurely as that's even more stress for her.
Sorry for rambling on I'm just at a bit of a loss of what to do.
 
I honestly think that some pain relief may be needed. I have had ear infections myself and they are always painful. As you know, Rabbits are prey animals and hide signs of pain. One way a Rabbit shows pain is to stop eating.

How has her poo output been overnight ?

When the Vet initially examined her did she also check her teeth ? Is there any possibility that she could have some Dental problems making her mouth sore, hence her putting up such a fight if you try to go anywhere near her mouth.
 
Thanks I'll speak to the vet tomorrow about it all when they're open. I'm obviously no expert but she isn't showing the signs of pain that she did with stasis / after the ear flush: hunching, teeth grinding, facial expression, etc..
She's had some output - pellets are a little small and hard but pretty round. She's passed a small amount of urine too.
Being totally honest we've been in and out of the vets so many times in the last 6 weeks I can't remember what was checked. She has had her teeth checked fairly recently though and the vet commented then that they were very good and especially for her age.
I had wondered if she could possibly be a bit sore round the mouth - I was worried it was from trying to get a syringe in so many times. I'm obviously extremely gentle with her but it can't be pleasant having a bit of plastic nudged round your mouth twice a day.
 
Pain relief can make a big difference when a rabbit isn't eating properly. It's definitely worth a go and you may notice a difference within an hour or so. They don't have to be showing specific signs of pain for it to be there, but in this case there are indications of possible sources of pain anyway.

Not eating properly for a couple of weeks can be long enough for spurs to start forming on the back teeth, so it's worth checking again if you are going to see the vet anyway.
 
Been to the vets this evening and her teeth are fine, he couldn't see any issues and her tummy felt fine too. He didnt wanna give pain meds or gut stimulant but gave her subq fluids.
Been home a couple hours and she's not moved from her bed now she just looks really unhappy and angry.
I got a pet remedy calming plug in and the spray and wipes and have got them all going in a bid to reduce stress. Hoping she perks up overnight 😞
 
miss_rosieannie said:
Been to the vets this evening and her teeth are fine, he couldn't see any issues and her tummy felt fine too. He didnt wanna give pain meds or gut stimulant but gave her subq fluids.
Been home a couple hours and she's not moved from her bed now she just looks really unhappy and angry.
I got a pet remedy calming plug in and the spray and wipes and have got them all going in a bid to reduce stress. Hoping she perks up overnight ��
Click to expand...

:(

How is she this morning x
 
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