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Another snuffles

SerenityS

Young Bun
Not long after we got our young buck Rooby he started to sneeze. We immediately took him to the vets and he was given his first course of Baytril. That did the trick until a couple of days after the course had finished. It took just as long for the 2nd course to kick in however things are not at all good now we are near the end of course number three. He has been more snuffly in the last day or so. Roobs is to see the vet tonight and I know the vet will suggest another type of antibiotic (tablet form I recall) which he mentioned has risks attached which could possibly upset his digestive system. Naturally I want to do all possible for him and wondered if anyone has any advice, preferably from experience, especially how to get a rabbit to take it's medication.

I'd be grateful for any advice.

Jo
 
try asking the lady who is trying to find Jonny snuffles (in rabbits in need section)

she may be able to help you
 
Ask your vet if he can be put onto Engemycin (dose 0.2ml / kg) instead as this works much better than baytril. Alternativly there is Marbocyl (dose 0.5ml/kg for 1% solution). It is also an idea to give him Bisolvon along side the antibiotic as this will help dry him up.

Cheryl
 
this happened to me no that long ago so i took my bun to another vet for a second oppion an they popped him on a a different medication anshe is bright as a button now hope all goes well keep us posted x
 
we played a round with alot of medication for cheeky but in the end what DID work was baytril , bisolvon and he was also getting 2 drops a dya of metacam to relieve any inflammation. I can,t stress enough tho that olbas oil is great and it helped cheeky through many a snuffly night . A few drops on a tissue placed near but no where the rabbit can get it is great .
 
snuffles

I agree with you gina :) :) :) having had many "snuffly" bunnies I have found that baytril is the one drug that really works, you may need to give your bunny a longer course & keep a very watchful eye on him as they do not cope well with suden weather changes e.g. hot to cool & this is when a flare up is likely..good luck :) :) :) :) BTW my former vet put my bunnies on engermycin & a lot of them ended up suffering from renal failure as a direct result of this treatment.
 
Re: snuffles

rabshan said:
BTW my former vet put my bunnies on engermycin & a lot of them ended up suffering from renal failure as a direct result of this treatment.

I have used engemycin both short and long term on hundreds of different bunnies and never found it to cause any problems. I use a very experienced bunny savy vet and he always recommends it.

What you have to remember is that there are several strains of Pasteurella and where one drug will work in some cases it wont work in others. You need to treat each case individually. Jo has already said that the 3rd course of Baytril is not doing the job, hence my alternative suggestions.

Cheryl
 
snuffles

Hi sheryl...I had a bunny savvy vet at the time & she prescribed engermycin for all my bunnies...naturally I treated them as she was my vet & that was her decision, most of my bunnies were O.K. but some have developed renal failure which my present vet has said is caused by my using this drug, I am glad that you have had good results with it, I have not heard of anyone else using it & as you say the C & S throws up which drug is best to treat each individual case..I just would not use it again.
 
As a last chance you can also use penicillin injected but you would have to do this yourself unless you wanted trips to the vets every few days.

Metacam does help in some case for the anti-inflammatory proprties too.

Caz
 
my vet was going to put cheeky on penicillin injections but we decided that it would do more harm than good as he was already so weak and tired - I do wonder if I should have done it tho but there is no point in thinking what if .... it won,t bring him back. :( :(
 
gina paul said:
my vet was going to put cheeky on penicillin injections but we decided that it would do more harm than good as he was already so weak and tired - I do wonder if I should have done it tho but there is no point in thinking what if .... it won't bring him back. :( :(

You have to be so careful with it - Zeus was on a high fibre diet with Avipro in the water and it was still touch and go with the vet whether to go ahead. At the time Zeus was in reasonably good health except for the constant tearing, sneezing etc.

As soon as he deteriorated (we forgot to use metacam as well) we stopped the injections and I am now building Zeus back up ready for the next stage in his treatment.

Putting Cheeky on penicillin probably would have made him more ill. My vet said there is no real science to it as sometimes it works and sometimes it makes things worse!

Caz
 
Thanks very much for your replies.

Rooby was prescribed a Tetracycline called Ronaxan which we commenced Tuesday pm. We are told that as soon as he appears unwell or develops diarrhoea we are to withdraw medication. Never having seen another rabbit with pasteurella I can only say that he doesn't seem to have it too severe.

The vet said his chest isn't bad and that he has gained plenty of weight in the last 2 weeks and is bright as a button and eating well. It was implied that maybe stress or just that he has a poor immune system is to blame.

I loathe to give him his medication but at the same time hope that it will do the trick. I was concerned about trying to give a buns medication in tablet form but he prefers this to the Baytril. I syringe it mixed with freshly squeezed cherry juice.

I am watching him like a hawk and he is at this very moment circling me like a looney honking away :lol:

Jo
 
This is what the rescue told us about Lolly
"When Lolly came back she had the terrible Snuffles. It got to the stage that I thought she was going to die. First we tried Baytril. She had that on and off for many months, but it made no difference. Finally the vet suggested Marbocyl in tablet form. It worked a treat and we realised how easy it was to pill pop a rabbit! They have no canines and no gag reflex. It was dead easy!

When she first went onto the Marbocyl she had to have her face washed every day. This was essential otherwise the fur round her eyes and whiskas would matt very quickly. Her paws were caked in dried gunge every day where she was washing her face during the day and we eventually cut the fur short around the insides of her paws just to make life a bit more comfy. She was also in desperate need of a dental and had not been spayed at the time.

By the time the Marbocyl finished her chest was so much clearer. The vet decided to take the opportunity to do her dental. An immediate change for the better for Lolly and the chance to get her teeth back on track. By this I mean to carry on a high fibrous diet and it worked. She didn't need another dental. "

She has been on baytril again since (if you read the other snuffles post you will get ideas how to give it :D :D :D
 
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