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URGENT...Coco is poorly

Veronica

Mama Doe
I've just had to nip Coco to the emergency vets.

I went out to feed and lock up the bunnies, and Coco rushed to the food bowl and for a nose rub as usual.....

...however, after taking a few munches of her food...she hopped off away from the bowl...and started, what only can be described as wheezing, coughing, and looked to be struggling to breathe.

Her body and reactions looked similar to that of a human gipping/throwing up. The noise she was making was horrific....she looked like she couldn't breathe or was trying to cough something back up. Her nostrals were so fully open, and her whole body was straining.

I freaked out. I called the vet from my mobile, and took her straight there.
The vet I saw wasn't my usual 'rabbit savy' vet. He listened to her chest. She is sounding snuffley and snotty. Well I can hear that just by being near her. Her breathing sounds very very snotty.
The vet said it sounds like snuffles....and that she's probably always been a suffer of it, but it's flared up bad now because of the sudden drop in temperature.
He've given her some antibiotics I have to give her orally twice a day.

I've had a snuffley bun before, and yes, he did sound similar to how Coco sounds now. However, it never came on so quickly, and I've NEVER EVER witnessed a bun making the body reactions Coco was. I honestly thought she was going to collapse at the end and die :( :( :( It was truely horrific to see :(

I'm not happy leaving her outside. My mum was all for bringing her inside, where I could keep and eye on her....which I agreed, so started to set everything up in my room ready to mover her in.
However, when I went out to her, Bruce was really fussing over her (I think he knows she's not feeling herself), snuggling with her, and cleaning her back. I tried seperating them, but Coco freaked out, and her breathing worsened :? Being in her delicate state, I left her be, were she returned to Bruce and huddled up with him.

I thought about bring the two in, but Bruce sprays so bad :?

I've just put a couple of snuggle safes out there with them, and packed a load of hay in the hutch, but I'm still not happy.
I'm not happy with the vets vague diagnosis, and the fact I don't have Coco inside here with me.

I don't know what to do for the best. I've never seen a rabbit having so much diffculty breathing. I'm so worried.
 
I have seen it happen before where pasturella symptoms have developed this quickly and this severly. If she is breathing through her mouth it was not sensible of the vet to prescribe oral antibiotics. Injectable would have been far better. If she sounds like there is a lot of fluid in her throat/mouth she could do with some bisolvon to help dry it up. If she is still gasping tomorow dont be tempted to syringe feed her as she could choke on it. Most important thing is to keep her warm and keep up with the meds. I would be inclined to get her seen by your rabbit savy vet as soon as possible and ask if you can have a course of injectable antibiotics. Engemycin and Marbocyl are good injectable ones to use for pasturella type infections.
 
sgprescue said:
I have seen it happen before where pasturella symptoms have developed this quickly and this severly. If she is breathing through her mouth it was not sensible of the vet to prescribe oral antibiotics. Injectable would have been far better. If she sounds like there is a lot of fluid in her throat/mouth she could do with some bisolvon to help dry it up. If she is still gasping tomorow dont be tempted to syringe feed her as she could choke on it. Most important thing is to keep her warm and keep up with the meds. I would be inclined to get her seen by your rabbit savy vet as soon as possible and ask if you can have a course of injectable antibiotics. Engemycin and Marbocyl are good injectable ones to use for pasturella type infections.

Thanks, she is exactly like you have talked about. I wasn't happy with the vet I've seen tonight at all. I will be taking her to see the regular vet first thing in the morning.
She does sound very fluidy...especially, like you mention, in the mouth and throat area.

If she is this bad now, will she last the winter outside? I'm so worried as we haven't even had frost yet :(

Poor little girl. I feel so helpless and useless watching her in such discomfort :(

Thanks for your replies. They are much appreciated. x
 
The way you describe it it sounds like she had a bit of food go down the wrong way. She may well be chesty if she has pasturela, it may have been there for a long time. You say your other bun has it. He will have passed it to her. Unless she was very snotty and that was making it hard to breath i would leave them outside, fresh air is always better. Ive had many rabbits with pasturela and i would only givebatril when there very snotty and under the weather. The rest of the time most rabbits cope with it well. I can understand your panic as it happened, if all is well in the morning then i think she must have been gagging on a bit of food. If shes worse then take her back but antibiotics is all they will give her. Because its a life long condition i feel that having the buns on batril too much will lessen its efectiveness when its rearly needed. I hope all is well in the morning. val
 
taylor v 109 said:
The way you describe it it sounds like she had a bit of food go down the wrong way. She may well be chesty if she has pasturela, it may have been there for a long time. You say your other bun has it. He will have passed it to her. Unless she was very snotty and that was making it hard to breath i would leave them outside, fresh air is always better. Ive had many rabbits with pasturela and i would only givebatril when there very snotty and under the weather. The rest of the time most rabbits cope with it well. I can understand your panic as it happened, if all is well in the morning then i think she must have been gagging on a bit of food. If shes worse then take her back but antibiotics is all they will give her. Because its a life long condition i feel that having the buns on batril too much will lessen its efectiveness when its rearly needed. I hope all is well in the morning. val


Thanks for your reply Val, you're a great help, it's really appreciated.

The bun I described in my earlier post with snuffles, was one I had many years ago.
Coco is the only bun I have that now appears to have this illness. Bruce, who she is now bonded with, is clear. Will he now get this illness? :?

Coco isn't showing much discharge from her nose, or mouth....but sounds very fluidy internally.

I will take her back to the vets in the morning, and see if they can give her anything to help this.

Thanks again x
 
Oh no, you must have been terrified! I'm in no position to give advice but I'm sending lots of vibes for the beautiful Coco and you, hope she's feeling better soon.
 
Healing vibes on their way to Coco and calming ones to you....

You did brilliant with your prompt action in getting her to the Vets and good luck today with your regular one
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Isn't it reassuring to know that there's peeps on here like Cheryl, who seem to have seen ever ailment known to buns, available to give good advice in a crisis :thumb:
 
I hope she's feeling better today, and you're a bit happier with the vet you see today.
Sending hugs to you and snuggles to Coco.
 
taylor v 109 said:
Unless she was very snotty and that was making it hard to breath i would leave them outside, fresh air is always better. Ive had many rabbits with pasturela and i would only givebatril when there very snotty and under the weather. The rest of the time most rabbits cope with it well.

That's really good to know, Val. Salt was being treated for snuffles and the symtoms susided, so we stopped the Baytril, but I notice he's a lot snottier this morning, so I think he needs to go back on the Baytril.
 
Oh no poor Coco :cry: I hope she is ok this morning, I think it's very sensible to get her to a rabbit savvy vet as soon as possible. From what I've heard, pasteurella bacteria thrive in warmer temperatures so the cooler fresh air may be better for her. I'm sure for some buns it's different but that's what I've heard. Santa is a chronic snuffler and her partner Dudley has never had a problem with it, so please don't panic that Coco's partner will pick it up - it's always a possibility of course, but by no means a certainty.

If she is still bad this morning I would definitely insist on injectable antibiotics, I find that terramycin works best for Santa, although if it's come on so suddenly and badly it might be worth going straight for injectable penicillin. In any case, I hope Coco is ok this morning and you get to see your rabbit savvy vet very soon xxx
 
Oh no.. i hope she feels alot better real soon! At least she has Bruce to take care of her as well as you of course! :wink:
 
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