Please help! my bunny isn’t responding to antibiotics :(

[taija/honeybunny]

 I got a baby holland lop bunny for my birthday on august 28th. Ever since i got her, all she does is sneeze and has thick, white discharge from her nose. I took her to a local vet straight away who put her on Baytril for 2 weeks. When that didn’t work, I took her to a pet hospital in a big city who specialize in treating bunny rabbits. They did 2 cultures but both results were “inconclusive” (could be because she still had the Baytril in her system?) Anyways, they gave her Bactrim. Its been 10 days (shes only got a few days left) and she still isn’t responding. Whats wrong witg my bunny? Could the baytril in her system mess up her culture? Im just really worried. She should be better by now. I don’t want her to suffer at all and i just love her so so much. Any answers at all might help my poor HoneyBunny.  

[jerseygirl]

It’s such a shame you are dealing with this in a young bunny.

How old is she now?
Is it oral antibiotics she’s been having?

A couple things you can try that might help clear the gunk is popping her in the bathroom when it’s steamy.
Also, you can try suction out some of the discharge with a baby ear or nose bulb syringe.

Did the vets you’re now seeing mention what med they’d try if Bactrim didn’t help?

Possibly the culture result were inconclusive because of the sample size or where they got it from. I’m not certain. If an antibiotic on her system affected the culture, my thinking is then you would have seen improvement when she was on it.

I know it’s frustrating when you don’t get answers from a culture. I’ve had that happen before and wondered whether an antibiotic distorted the result.

When are you due for revisit?

[taija/honeybunny]

Well, my honeybunny should be about 4 months old; they said she was only 3 months old when I got her. She's grown from only 2lbs to a solid (almost) 3lb-er! She eats A LOT, and I give her lots of pellets and hay to snack on.

The very did suggest that her sneezing could be due to allergies. I don't have any allergens in my home, though, because I have allergies, too, so everything is all hypoallergenic, including my bunny's bedding. Besides, allergies wouldn't explain the thick, white discharge and sneeziness in all environments. Allergies for bunnies are supposed to cause a clear discharge, similar to human's allergies.

I did not yet set up a follow-up appointment with this particular vet. He seems confident that Bactrim was the right choice, given that it's a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Yes, they are oral. Bayril was a pill that I would grind up and hide in applesauce. Bactrim, however, is a liquid which I give her via syringe (orally). She is not a fan and scratches me a lot.

In all fairness, though, I think I MIGHT be seeing SOME improvement, but I'm NOT sure. Because I haven't heard her sneezing as much, but I also haven't been home as much, either lately. I'm just not sure if any improvement I see is real or imagined (because I just want her better so badly!)

I'll keep praying and praying and praying for my poor, sweetheart honeybunz.

[Roberta]

Sending more vibes for Honeybunny….

[jerseygirl]

Oh that’s good you’re seeing some change. Some infections are stubborn and need at least a month on antibiotics.

Allergy is not that common but they can be sensitive to things for sure. Its just that infection is more likely culprit and should be ruled out via tests before true allergy can be called the probable cause.

She’s adorable! The avatar pic of her eating hay (?) made me think she’s doing impersonation of a fluffy-looking walrus. Lol

[taija/honeybunny]

Since sometimes a month of antibiotics are needed, do you think I should take her back to the vet and get another 2 weeks of Bactrim for her? (her script before was only for 2 weeks and will be gone in 2 or 3 days).

Thank you! Yes, she is eating hay in the picture! She’s all fluff and floppy ears.

Thank you for your advice on my baby bunny. I haven’t read many of your posts, though. Do you have a bunny?

[Hoppybunny]

I would talk to your rabbit savvy vet and tell him about this. I am sure that he/she can help out. Hope this helps!

[jerseygirl]

I agree. You could ring your vet and tell them when you started to see an improvement. Ask if they think she should continue a bit longer or not.
The vet knows best on whether its wise to continue in regards to age, weight and type of antibiotic.

If they say yes, do more meds, you may be able to just drop in and pick it up.

Thank you for your advice on my baby bunny. I haven’t read many of your posts, though. Do you have a bunny?

I have 6
A pair, a trio and a single boy bun.

[taija/honeybunny]

Dandy Bunny and jerseygirl, that’s a good idea. I’ll call the vet that specializes in bunnies, let them know she has shown some improvement in the last few days of treatment, and ask them what I should do.

jerseygirl, 6 bunnies! that’s 6 times the bunny snuggles. aww! what’s a pair or trio…like, three or two buns from the same litter?

[jerseygirl]

No, they were desexed adult rabbits that have bonded. Though, the 2 females in my trio are mum & daughter and they just stayed bonded. I recently introduced a desexed male bun to them and now they live together.

I didn’t have 6 all at once. I think I would have gone mad. Lol
I had a single rabbit like you for over a year. It’s nice watching bonded rabbits but its also nice having one-on-one interaction with just
a single rabbit. : )

[taija/honeybunny]

Ohhh, I see how that works. Once bunnies bond with each other they become pairs, trios, etc.
When I got my bunny from the pet store (I was only in there for meds for my cat), it was love at first sight with my bunny. She had a sister in the cage with her. Sometimes I feel terrible that I separated them. I wonder if my bunny gets lonely. It’s been a month, I consider going back and trying to get her sister, too, but I’m not sure if she has already been adopted.

Off-topic.

Desexed is the same as neutered/spayed? There’s a lot I don’t know about bunny rabbits.

[jerseygirl]

Desexed is the same as neutered/spayed?

Sure is.

When I got my bunny from the pet store (I was only in there for meds for my cat), it was love at first sight with my bunny. She had a sister in the cage with her. Sometimes I feel terrible that I separated them. I wonder if my bunny gets lonely.

Litter mates can actually start to fight once the reach 3-5 months old. Not always but it is often the case. Even if you did get the other rabbit, you may have had to separate the two. Owners can then try re-bond the rabbits after spay or neuter or keep them housed seperately long term.

Honey shouldn’t be lonely provided she has time with you. They like their human companions and when you’re out, they’ll sleep and sleeeep.
It sounds like you got Honey very much the same way i got Jersey, my first rabbit!

[Kbana]

I’m glad I am not the only one who got my fella (my first bun ever) at a pet store. I felt awful when I found out about rescues and such but I just didn’t know much. I hadn’t planned on getting a bun, but it was love at first sight and couldn’t leave without him. I’ve been playing catch up ever since so I’m so thankful for this site! Hope your bun feels better soon!

[taija/honeybunny]

Oh, I didn’t even know it was not good to get a bunny from a pet store. I hadn’t ever considered having a bunny until I saw her laying there all flopped in her cage. I couldn’t get her out of my head for a week, so on my birthday, I went back and got her. The vet said she was lucky I did because otherwise, she would have kept getting sicker (and they, most likely) wouldn’t have spent the money to take her to the vet. :/ Terrible.

jerseygirl, I do spend a lot of time with my bunny. About 2-4 hours a day with me, and 5 hours out of her cage during the day. I just love her like i’d love a child. Thank you for all of your advice and info!

Kbana, your bunny looks so cool! What kind of bunny is he? He kind of looks like a little old man very cute!

[Kbana]

Mine is a lop/lionhead mix. Funny you say he looks like an old man! That is why I named him Albert Einstein! LOL! 

From what I've been reading, there are bunny mills just like puppy mills so buying from a pet store encourages those types of establishments. Though I didn't know that prior.   Unfortunately, pet stores don't care for their animals like they should, so I look at it like we just rescued them from there right? And, according to the pet store, my bun only needs 1 hour of exercise time a day, is low maintenance, is a girl (he is a boy), can eat bulk rabbit food and doesn't need a very big cage.  Luckily for my bun, I wanted to do research to make sure I was taking care of him properly and found out otherwise.  I can imagine many families buy buns from pet stores and just take their word for it. Makes me sad to think of all those buns in small cages who don't get out much.

[taija/honeybunny]

Poor babies It breaks me heart to think some bunnies don’t know the happy life of hopping around freely. I know I couldn’t even imagine my bunny sleeping outside. Right now, she’s asleep under my bed and stretched out. Sadly, my room isn’t bunny-proofed yet, but after talking to you about being buns left in small cages 23 hours a day, I will make bunny-proofing my room my project for tomorrow so she can run freely when I am at work. That would also require me (trying) to litter-train her, though. Right now, I just let her poop wherever and I sweep and clean it up after.

I’m glad you took the time to do research for the sake of your bunny, Kbana (also, what is “bulk rabbit food”?)

Whoah! They got the gender of your bunny wrong? My pet store told me honey bunny was a girl, too. The vet hasn’t said otherwise so that’s a good sign!

Your bunny really does look like Albert Einstein. I’ll bet he is really smart, too!

Finally, I apologize for carrying on in this (resolved) post like this. This is probably the kind of conversation that goes on the in “Lounge” part of the forum, I’m supposing. Forgive me, I’m still very knew. I just love talking about and hearing about bunnies!

[Author]

Messages