Medication questions

[jeni]

Hi I’m new here.. I tried searching for this topic but couldn’t find anything so sorry if this gets asked a lot or there are other places on the site that offer this information..

 

 My rabbit, Jefri, is a spayed mini rex and he is 9 years old. He weights 4.3 pounds.

We took him to the vet a while ago because he started dragging his left leg. Also he had a lot of ear wax build up, a slightly crusty nose, somewhat watery eyes, a slight head tilt once in a while, and he started peeing on himself.

 

The vet prescribed metacam for his hind leg weakness. At first it was just .3 ml per day for about a week or 2 – then she upped it to 0.5 ml (1.5 mg/ml) a day. We saw immediate improvement – no more dragging and he hops into his high sided litter box instead of using the low ones or the ones i trimmed down for him. He LOVES metacam he bites at the syringe for more haha. I know metacam doesn’t treat the watery eyes and nose but after a few weeks on just metacam his eyes are clear and his nose was less wet/crusty looking…

For the other stuff she said she thought it was e cuniculi but when I asked if it could be something else she said it could be an ear infection… at first she was going to treat for e cuniculi but i asked which is more dangerous to rabbits and she said ear infection so she changed her mind and decided to treat for that first.. I’ve heard of people treating for both at the same time but I didn’t know how well he would handle that and I’m glad we didn’t because we think the baytril is causing diarrhea… he’s on 0.4ml (50 mg/ml – liquid) once a day. The past few days since he has started baytril he has had poopy butt and there were one or 2 smears or little mounds of mushy poop a day. Theyve been getting stuck to his butt and feet so I have cut them out and then give butt baths. He’s very docile but i know it stresses him out. He is getting old and cant be bothered to use a litter box most of the time (grr) so he usually leaves poops everywhere… but today he’s been in his big pen all day and there are only a few.. (actually he just pooped a bunch right now while writing and they look normal.. but still) he had mushy poop this morning and before i could clean it up – he ate it. Definitely not his typical cecals… it was like mushy nasty stuff.

 

Also he has an appetite but seems less than usual. He doesn’t seem lethargic or anything.. he looks happy and normal in every other way. I stopped giving him greens and treats so he has unlimited timothy and oat hay and about 1/2 cup pellets a day. I did give him simethicone one day but I didn’t know how much to give so I did 1 cc and it didn’t seem to have any effect… was it not enough? Is it safe to give simethicone with baytril and metacam?

 

What time of day do you recommend to give the medications? Is it okay to give one right after the other?

 

I’m waiting for the vet to call back so I can ask her these things but she probably wont get back to me until tomorrow so until then I thought I would ask here what others have done or experienced with these medications….I was wondering if I should stop the baytril…? Is there something else I could use if Jefri just cant stomach the baytril? I heard of something called SMZ (sulfamethoxazole).. we told the vet about it but she said they stopped using that because baytril was more effective in rabbits… also i read somewhere that any antibiotic could mess with the good yeast and that yogurt pellets or acidophilus should also be given……

thoughts?

 

 Anyways thanks for reading and sorry for the lengthy post !

 

[Sarita]

I always give medications one right after the other – it’s just easier and then it’s done with. I don’t think simethicone will hurt but I don’t see that it is necessary at all.

No, don’t stop the baytril – mushy poop might just be a side effect of his illness – baytril is safe for rabbits as is SMZ – other medications do cause gut problems which is why they are not safe. You could certainly ask her about a probiotic – it may help and it won’t hurt. I do wonder though if that amount of pellets is causing the “poopy butt” – that is alot of pellets for a little rabbit.

Hopefully your vet will call you back soon too.

[Elrohwen]

Agreed with everything Sarita said. I also give meds at once to get it over with.

It’s safe to give simethicone with other meds, though I’m not really sure how it would help in this case. It basically just breaks up gas and isn’t really a medicine so much as an inert substance that works physically on the gas bubbles.

[tobyluv]

Bene-Bac (a probiotic) has been very good at keeping the poop normal with my rabbit and with the rabbits at the Sanctuary where I volunteer, when they are getting Baytril.

[jeni]

Forgot to respond to this post. thanks for the replies!

tobyluv thank you I was sure i heard somewhere that baytril causes some bunnies upset tummies and your post confirm it! I will definitely have to look into Bene-Bac

Sarita – I started giving them at the same time so much easier! About the peelets I should have clarified that he usually completes what i give him in 2 days so its 1/4 pellets a day give or take. The vet said to continue the baytril and call if it keeps happening. It stopped so since it was just the first 2-4 days I think he was just readjusting to something new.. he has a sensitive gut i guess. he’s doing a lot better now.

Elrohwen – thank you. I wasn’t sure what to do at the time but I thought it couldn’t hurt

[Beka27]

Thanks for the update! Glad everything is going better!

If he eats about 1/4 cup per day, I would suggest you just measure that amount out each day, rather than feeding 1/2 a cup every two days. Giving pellets daily in a lesser amount will help you make sure that he is eating and behaving normally. If a rabbit who is normally excited for food doesn’t seem to want to eat, that is usually your first sign that something is off.

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