***NOTE: Obviously, i'm no vet, and as the yellow box at the top of this page suggests, you should discuss any and all treatments, be them medical or otherwise with a rabbit savvy vet - what i have written below is MY experience and is purely for informational purposes ***
Hi Graham, thankyou SO much for replying, I know you're not a vet, no one is on here and I would never take this information over my vet but I just feel a bit lost, just wanted to share experiences. Thanks for your post, so much detail. I have been at work and didn't want to reply on my phone. So here goes...
Firstly, i would want a much longer course of Abx for any persistent 'snuffles' type infection. Snuffles is actually a name for a group of illnesses, so more describes the symptom, than the illness itself.
On top of this, it may not be snuffles at all. It can be many other things, such as a foreign body up the nose; eg a piece of hay, hay seed or other item, dusty environment, dental disease etc
Vet is pretty sure it is. He's had it since we got him (10 weeks) from a closing down garden centre who had taken on rescues and got out of control. There was a thread up on here and I took on Vincent from Barbara.
Pasteurella is one of those and can come in many forms itself. Unfortunately, i know a fair amount about this as i have a relatively poorly bunny who will have Pasteurella for the rest of her life amongst other things.
I'm afraid this is going to be rather long and drawn out possibly for both your bunny and for you.
Here we go...
How many times does he sneeze per episode?
Once. It's literally like ' achew ' and that's it. Sometimes he doesn't stop eating or running or whatever he's doing
How many episodes does he have per day in any 24 hour period?
When we first got him home and saw the green yunk hanging from his nose it was pretty constant! Now I'd say 3 or 4 times a day max. This weekend he didn't sneeze once, and we thought the abx were working, then I get up this morning and he has a white discharge hanging from his nose. ...
Is the discharge clear and watery, or is it white and 'snotty' like a human when they have a bad cold?
It was green when we first got him, then went to wet and then just clear or watery. He had had no discharge for months and then all of sudden, it's back.
Is the discharge from only one nostril or both?
Mostly from one. Never noticed that before, until reading this
Does he have or has he ever had wet/runny eyes?
Never
Has he ever had dental treatment?
Never
Does the sneezing look like this?
No. It's not a sneezing fit. Just one single sneeze at a time.. Once then that's it for hours or days later...
(I'm sorry if this distresses you) this was Ginger at her worst and occured at least 12-15 times per day.
Does your bunny have wet insides/tops of his front paws? (This is an indication of grooming the wet area with his paws - bunnies use their paws as 'hankerchiefs' for want of a better word)
The fur is slightly ruffled, yes I have noticed him use his paws but they are not stained or damp.
What is your bunny bedded on? Newspaper ? Woodshavings ?
Megazorb and hay over the top in two litter trays in one cornor and then vet bed or a towel in the rest of the cage.
There are swabs your bunny could be tested with, known as a C&S Test - Culture and Sensitivity Test - this has to be given when bunny has NOT had any anti-biotics for at least 14 consecutive days, as Anti-biotics will give a false result. They then swab the bunnies nose and send it off for bacterial analysis to determine which and how much antibiotic is requried to fight. Be aware though, they aren't always conclusive.
There are a few abx that you can use to fight 'snuffles' that your vet may want to try but none of them are licensed for use in rabbits so you will have to sign a cascade form to say you are happy to use it but understand its not been tested. I've signed too many of these myself to remember how many!
Baytril is the only one i know that is licensed, but isn't as effective in RTI's in my experience, but every bunny is differnet, so it does help with some.
Septrin is a abx for children and is banana flavoured, so most bunnies love it, as do i :lol:
He had Baytril when we first found out and it did nothing. Then my vet put him on this and within a week we noticed a huge reduction in the sneezing, the discharge disappeared and he came off abx for about three months. He loves this and it's so easy to get it down him, he just takes it off the syringe lol
Azithromycin (Zithromax) is again a human anti-biotic suitable for rabbits and worked brilliantly for Ginger, but just couldn't fight it enough to clear it.
Depocillin (very strong) can be given by injection but can be fatal if injested orally, so either must be done by a vet or you can be trained to do it at home.
The other thing is stress, keep it to a minimum as stress in rabbits can bring on all sorts of illnesses and once a bun is snuffley, it can make it worse.
This has been noticed. When I got back from the vets he sneezed lots. He was very stressed.
That's just a start, but please don't give up hope - snuffles buns can lead a full and happy life apart from being snot bags