Hey all,
First time on this forum. Me & my partner are first time rabbit owners! We got both our rabbits from Pets at Home. One is female, 7 months old and very unique!
We recently got her a male friend to bond with but have had to put that on hold because from the day we got him he's been very sneezy and had white discharge from his nose. We got him seen at Companion Care Vets and the vet said he had an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. She recommended Septrin (Co-trimoxazole) for one week which unfortunately did not work. We then tried another week of this plus an anti-inflammatory (Metacam) but again no luck. Tommy (our little rabbit) has been with us now just under 3 weeks and has been well in himself in this time. He has settled into the home really well, is eating plenty and drinking water and going to the toilet. He runs about and is really playful. Obviously we have had to keep him separate from our female rabbit (Lilly) as we're worried about cross-contamination.
For reference Tommy lives indoors and we have also removed sawdust from his bedding on advice from the vets.
We have been in contact with Pets at Home as it all started the day we got him so clearly was something he picked up before we bought him. They have agreed to cover his vets fees and medicine costs at the moment. They explained it is most likely Pasteurella and could take up to 8 weeks (and a trial of different antibiotics) to work. Some internet resources say that it can be a lifelong infection in some rabbits.
The vet recommended that since the Septrin has not improved his symptoms (nor has he got worse) that we should try Baytril (Enrofloxacin) but warned that along with its foul taste it can cause cartilage damage to growing rabbits which can lead to arthritis. I wondered if anyone had any experience of using this medicine in a growing rabbit or knew anything about this potential side effect?
I've tried researching but there's not much out there so assume it's not a common side effect but rather one that has come up in trials that they are obliged to warn you about. I also wondered if anyone has rabbits with arthritis and what this means for them? How much pain they are in? How it affects mobility etc?
The vets have also suggested doing a full examination under general anaesthetic including X-Rays and swab to identify if there's any tooth root involvement which would make the case more complex. However this is going to cost us £500+ and we aren't in a position to fork that out up front so we're going to talk with pets at home to see whether they will cover this.
Sorry for the long post! If anyone has any questions that would be muchly appreciated or any other advice would be most welcome!
Thanks so much for your time
First time on this forum. Me & my partner are first time rabbit owners! We got both our rabbits from Pets at Home. One is female, 7 months old and very unique!
We recently got her a male friend to bond with but have had to put that on hold because from the day we got him he's been very sneezy and had white discharge from his nose. We got him seen at Companion Care Vets and the vet said he had an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. She recommended Septrin (Co-trimoxazole) for one week which unfortunately did not work. We then tried another week of this plus an anti-inflammatory (Metacam) but again no luck. Tommy (our little rabbit) has been with us now just under 3 weeks and has been well in himself in this time. He has settled into the home really well, is eating plenty and drinking water and going to the toilet. He runs about and is really playful. Obviously we have had to keep him separate from our female rabbit (Lilly) as we're worried about cross-contamination.
For reference Tommy lives indoors and we have also removed sawdust from his bedding on advice from the vets.
We have been in contact with Pets at Home as it all started the day we got him so clearly was something he picked up before we bought him. They have agreed to cover his vets fees and medicine costs at the moment. They explained it is most likely Pasteurella and could take up to 8 weeks (and a trial of different antibiotics) to work. Some internet resources say that it can be a lifelong infection in some rabbits.
The vet recommended that since the Septrin has not improved his symptoms (nor has he got worse) that we should try Baytril (Enrofloxacin) but warned that along with its foul taste it can cause cartilage damage to growing rabbits which can lead to arthritis. I wondered if anyone had any experience of using this medicine in a growing rabbit or knew anything about this potential side effect?
I've tried researching but there's not much out there so assume it's not a common side effect but rather one that has come up in trials that they are obliged to warn you about. I also wondered if anyone has rabbits with arthritis and what this means for them? How much pain they are in? How it affects mobility etc?
The vets have also suggested doing a full examination under general anaesthetic including X-Rays and swab to identify if there's any tooth root involvement which would make the case more complex. However this is going to cost us £500+ and we aren't in a position to fork that out up front so we're going to talk with pets at home to see whether they will cover this.
Sorry for the long post! If anyone has any questions that would be muchly appreciated or any other advice would be most welcome!
Thanks so much for your time