Ear infections and long term

Hello, apologies if this is long but I will try cut to the chase.

On 22nd Dec one of my elderly indoor buns presented with an ear infection. Vet could see puss and ulceration so I'm confident it's that and not EC but I'm treating with panacur in case. He's currently on metacam and baytril.

On the 8th I actually took him to be PTS thinking it was the kindest thing because I was worried about his weight loss due to not eating enough (it's like he knew because having been unable to drink water unless from a syringe which he had started to refuse and odd grazing, he was eating hay with gusto on the evening of the 7th).

On the 8th vet confirmed he'd gained a little weight. Vet gave us the option of whether to continue with antibiotics a bit longer as he had improved (no nystagmus and better balance etc) which I chose to do as combined with his demeanour I wanted to give him a chance.

He has actually made massive strides and is eating, drinking and showing 'happy' bunny behaviours, but is still circling which is his main issue. I have adapted their enclosure for his needs which seems to be working out okay, and I am due back at the vets tonight and need to talk about the longer term.

Has anyone's bun been on antibiotics longer term? Is this something vets will allow? I'm in a position where I am happy to nurse him even if we're talking palliative care as long as he's okay in himself and eating/drinking well. I love the little guy to bits and would never let him suffer, but I don't think his light has gone out yet. He's happy with his friend, they still enjoy cleaning each other etc and I couldn't live with myself if I ended that now.

At the moment I'm going back every 10 days but it's not sustainable in the long term, well, it is but it's obviously getting expensive (£60ish a time for visit and drugs) and I'm 7 months pregnant and will going on mat leave soon so I need to be sensible if possible. I will do it if I have to but I can see if they will give me a prescription I can get 2 months worth of baytril from animed for £20 and 100ml of metacam which is about 3+ months worth for £14. Am I silly to even be contemplating this or cheeky for asking? I'm a sensible person and I'm happy to take him back monthly or so and obviously as needed if he were to deteriorate. I'm hoping they will realise this having already expected him to be PTS once.

I'm also open to any other ideas or experience?

I've not done this myself but I understand you can ask the vet to write the prescriptions for you and then buy the medication directly yourself which is usually cheaper.

Through sites like this one.

https://www.animeddirect.co.uk/metacam-1-5mg-ml-oral-suspension-for-dogs



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Thank you. I was hoping they would do this but they baytril is only available in a 100ml bottle (think because it's used for larger animals too) and I've only been getting 16ml a time so far so it's a lot more!

I obtain a prescription from my Vet and buy some of my Rabbit’s medication online. You are entitled to ask your Vet for this service.

I have had Rabbits on long term antibiotics as part of their palliative care

Re the circling, the use of a medication such as prochlorperazine ( Stemetil) can help to reduce this.

One thing to add, without being 100% certain that EC is not involved, ie if no PCR blood test has been done, then it is good that you are treating your Rabbit with Panacur too. But do be extremely careful re hand hygiene after handling any urine soiled bedding etc. EC spores are shed in the urine and whilst EC is not usually a risk to humans it is if the person is immune compromised in any way. Being pregnant, I am sure you will want to avoid any risks.

InspectorMorse said:

I obtain a prescription from my Vet and buy some of my Rabbit’s medication online. You are entitled to ask your Vet for this service.

I have had Rabbits on long term antibiotics as part of their palliative care

Re the circling, the use of a medication such as prochlorperazine ( Stemetil) can help to reduce this.

One thing to add, without being 100% certain that EC is not involved, ie if no PCR blood test has been done, then it is good that you are treating your Rabbit with Panacur too. But do be extremely careful re hand hygiene after handling any urine soiled bedding etc. EC spores are shed in the urine and whilst EC is not usually a risk to humans it is if the person is immune compromised in any way. Being pregnant, I am sure you will want to avoid any risks.

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Thank you, this is very helpful

I did this with my bun with the exact same issue with head tilt and ear infection. What I would say is if he's improving, keep him on the antibiotics for an extended period. I adopted my bun just after his issues started, I found out he'd only been given meds for a week and it should've been for much longer to really fight the infection. It caused a lot of issues that perhaps could have been prevented. We also used steroid injections in the end when he had a flare up as this would transform him overnight but appreciate you may not want to go down this route as it has side effects. I also appreciate how expensive it gets so would recommend getting your prescriptions online if you can, as others have said you are entitled to ask your vet for this.

I hope your bun recovers, it's not a death sentence but it can be a long road.