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Snuffling - Update - snotty again...

T

Tiggertime

Young Bun
We've had Tigger back to the vets yesterday after a new bout of snuffling - he had a course of antibiotics a few weeks ago.

They've put him on a different course of antibiotics (Sulfatrim) and some metacam also. We started him last night and he's had his 2 doses today but tonight he seems even more snuffly and is sneezing quite a bit. We're now beside ourselves wondering what to do with him. We took him to a new (highly recommended rabbit savvy) vet, but they don't offer much by way of out of hours support unlike our regular vet which has a 24hr hospital.

Are we just being impatient and need to let the meds kick in or are we right to be worried?
 
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Is breathing raspy or are lungs crackley? Is sneezing so frequent it is keeping bunny from eating,drinking? Is there discharge and how does it look?
These are things I would consider before taking to ooh unless ooh has rabbit saavy vet.
Sending vibes.
 
Thanks.

We don't think so @ raspy or crackly. His sneezes are between raspy and dry. Yes there's a bit white discharge but that was there when he saw the vet yesterday. We've tried helping him clean it away with a cotton pad.
 
It is far too soon for the new abx to have had any effect, it usually takes at least 48 hours for them to even start to kick in. As he sounds to be quite congested then I would ask the Vet about nebulising him. Also, giving a mucolytic such as Bisolvon would help to thin out the mucus and make it easier for it to drain.

Is your Rabbit eating and pooing OK ? This is important to ward off secondary gut stasis.
 
Is there anything in his environment which could be irritating his respiratory system? ie smoke, wood shavings, dusty food or hay. Is he indoors?
 
Thanks.

He's still bunged up and sneezing, but more concerning his appetite has gone right back. He's not interested in his usual herbs, kale and pellets. Luckily he is picking at his hay and has eaten some grass in the garden. He's pooing but his output is down and not as big.

We rang the vet last night and they said it was too soon for the meds to have kicked in, and it's his lack of appetite was probably due to his nose being blocked. We have managed to get a few bits of sage and basil into him too...smellier things... which he's normally not keen on.
 
We've taken him off shavings...they only really use their cages for poos and wees anyway as they're free to roam indoors but we thought we'd do it anyway. Have them on some wood based litter but we don't think they like it...sorta wonder if it's interrupted his pooing. He's a clean bunny who normally likes to save them up (despite our best efforts) before having a good sit.

Trying to source some of the paper type stuff but it seems very expensive?


Hay and readigrass we’ve been sieving. He loves his readigrass so we were advised not to remove it, but he's barely touched it last few days.
 
No. My wife rang before I saw the reply... trouble with ringing vets as well is you're having a 3 way conversation with the receptionist. We did try bringing him into the steamy bathroom and have tried mixing a bit vicks in a bowl of hot water to give off a little vapour.

We've been trying to clean away the snot with a warm damp makeup cleaning pad too.
 
I would. not use Vick as the smell will be 100 times stronger for a Rabbit than it is for us and it could actually irritate the nasal passages. Just steam would be fine though.
 
Well he hasn't been too close to it and it was a weak solution. It's on the RWAF site so we thought we'd give it a go.

Vet is gonna ring me back this evening so will bring it up.
 
After ringing last night we got another appointment for this morning. Because the infection is only in one nostril and his teeth look fine they think it could be something up there. The next step looks like a CT scan. Very expensive which isn't an issue, it's the anaesthetic and how his tummy is after* that's worrying us.

*He did have a couple of bad bouts of stasis last year so we do worry about his tummy. As his appetite has gone back with this latest episode he's now coming off the anti-inflammatory and onto metaclop to keep his tummy moving.
 
InspectorMorse said:
I hope that the CT scan sheds some light on what is going on.
Click to expand...
So do we! And hope to God he comes through ok. Whilst it sort of makes sense fir it to be something stuck up there, We're just trying to piece together how something that started with a chirpy noise whilst eating a couple of months ago, some sneezes later, clearing up, the odd bout or two of chirps, and then sneezes again can turn out to be the same thing stuck up there. Monday night he was his cheeky little self, up to mischief, clear nose happy bunny.
 
Tiggertime said:
No. My wife rang before I saw the reply... trouble with ringing vets as well is you're having a 3 way conversation with the receptionist. We did try bringing him into the steamy bathroom and have tried mixing a bit vicks in a bowl of hot water to give off a little vapour.

We've been trying to clean away the snot with a warm damp makeup cleaning pad too.
Click to expand...

No vicks...But chamomile tea is safe to inhale. I put hot tea infront of his carrier and cover it with blanket for 5-10 minutes. ;) I use that until I get neboliser. Rabbits are sensitive to oils, ethanol, etc.
 
InspectorMorse said:
It is far too soon for the new abx to have had any effect, it usually takes at least 48 hours for them to even start to kick in. As he sounds to be quite congested then I would ask the Vet about nebulising him. Also, giving a mucolytic such as Bisolvon would help to thin out the mucus and make it easier for it to drain.

Is your Rabbit eating and pooing OK ? This is important to ward off secondary gut stasis.
Click to expand...

The vet yesterday mentioned getting a nebuliser so me wife is looking at them on amazon now. However she's getting herself l worked up over what to put in the bloody thing? She's seen saline and F10 mentioned... I think the vet mentioned F10 too?
 
Tiggertime said:
The vet yesterday mentioned getting a nebuliser so me wife is looking at them on amazon now. However she's getting herself l worked up over what to put in the bloody thing? She's seen saline and F10 mentioned... I think the vet mentioned F10 too?
Click to expand...

Saline or F10 are both suitable. Saline may be less of a risk re causing irritation to the tissue in the nasal passages so personally I would try that first. Speak with your Vet about giving a mucolytic too as thinning out the mucus will help it to drain. Using antibiotic eye drops can help get antibiotic into the sinuses as the drops should drain into the nasolacrimal ducts ( as long as the ducts are not fully obstructed ), so see what the Vet thinks about that idea too :)
 
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