MightyMax
Banned
Hi.. Thankyou all so much for your replies and advice
This is turning as much into a Behavior / Bonding thread, as much as Health.
We did manage to get to the vet okay.. and as Zoobec said.. the worst bit was getting them into the box at home.
Once at the vet's we did everything on the floor, and the Buns were very good, I'm so so pleased I took them in together, as they really did seem to benefit from being together, and I know Forest would have just bossed Ferni around when she got back, cos he is quite 'king of the bunny ranch' when at home.
So, both Buns were checked.. Ferni does have URTI.. but it doesn't seem to have moved to the lungs, which is good - hopefully caught early enough. Forest is displaying no symptoms (asymptomatic)
We are starting with the conclusion that it is Pasturella, which is present in all buns, but because Ferni is hyper-stressy and Forest is calm, relaxed and confindent.. her immune system isn't coping as well as his - stress related.
I have Baytril for Ferni .. and will see how it goes over the next 10 days... if it gets worse, or there is no improvement i'll ask for a nose swab.
I'm giving Echinacea drops on some apple at the mo.. they like it. Thankyou Mighty Max for the advice
Thanks for reading guys, and thankyou RU X So far so good.
ETA : I've just got some banana and pineapple for the meds ( if Ferni wont put up with syringe feeding )
I've heard they are better for the digestion... higher in fibre / less sugar than apple... so less likely to slow the gut ( on top of the baytril ) but not sure ?
Good, I'm glad you all made it to the vet and it was a productive visit!
Re the syringe feeding, I'm afraid I'm a bit of a tough Bunny Mom and always give them their meds (whatever it is) direct into their mouths. I then give them a treat so they forget about the nasty taste pretty quickly.
However, if you're really struggling, putting it onto a malted shreddie apparently works well too, although I've never tried it.
I think the important thing is to get her to take the meds, and a little bit of sugar in the fruit (so long as it's just a morsel) is unlikely to do any harm.
Good luck and I hope she gets better soon