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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Snuffles

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    • BolingbrookMom
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        I’m really just wanting our bunny forum family advice and input on whether we should get a second opinion from another vet.

        I do want to start this off saying that our vet is listed on the House Rabbit Society website as an approved Rabbit vet.

        So back in May we took our bunny to the vet for his continued sneezing which was now producing some boogers.  He was diagnosed with snuffles.  They had taken a booger sample which came back positive with pasturella.  Our vet told us that pasturella is a life long disease that he will live with and the most we could hope for was to get the symptoms under control every time they surface. They told us that all bunnies have pasturella it just isn’t active in all of them, that when a bunny’s immune system gets lowered enough that it can cause the bacteria to become active.  Their theory was that getting him from the shelter and then the trip to getting him neutered probably was stressful enough to trigger the pasturella.

        So they put him on Baytril and an Immune Blend with Echinacea extract to help boost the immune system.  We soon discovered that even with bunny burritos we could not get him to hold still long enough to give him meds.  So we went to an injectable medication called Ditrim.  We did that medication for two weeks. Our vet did let us know that it is completely possible that he simply has some hay stuck up his nose that could be causing him to sneeze but the only way to tell would be to get a CT scan of his head and even then the only solution would be very expensive surgery to remove the offending hay which would leave our bunny looking mutated.  

        The whole time he continued sneezing and producing snot, so after the two weeks we put him on Doxycycline and Doramphenicol.  Both twice a day for a month.  As we were nearing the end of the month I did the check in with out vet to tell him that maybe the sneezing was less but not very much less.  Our vet told us there weren’t many other options that we could try.  He suggested getting a nebulizer and using some meds in it along with a nasal spray.  So we got the nebulizer and they gave us a Saline, Aminophyline, Acetylcysteine and Amikacin solution for the nebulizer and the nose spray was called Gentamicin Ophthalmic spray.  And to do this for 2 weeks.  Well we did it for two week and it seemed to do the most good for him however throughout all of this he has never stopped sneezing and his discharge is minimal.  But he does still continue to have sneezing fits.  He also has not gained any weight since being home with us.

        The oddest thing throughout all of this is that he still runs around and does binkys and bunny 500’s.  He still plays and is crazy cute.  He will jump and be a trouble maker but occasionally he will start sneezing or plop down and be breathing hard.  I am worried and I feel like not doing anything isn’t the answer at this point.  Our vet has told us to get compressed hay and a humidifier to see if that works.  We have changed his brand of hay 5 times and finally went with the hay he had at the shelter because he wasn’t having any symptoms of this there.  We are using Carefresh natural bedding and Kaytee regular pellets.  He gets the recommended types and amounts of vegetables and fruits.  He’s never looking down or depressed or uninterested in his usual stuff. 

        Any input is greatly appreciated.

         

         


      • Stickerbunny
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          My bunny Stickers has been having sneezing issues, but she never stops eating or anything either and is always active. She just sneezes, a lot and pants a bit after a big sneezing fit. And gets a runny nose. My vet gives me baytril (1ml by mouth twice a day) when it starts and it takes care of it and she stops sneezing for a few months, until it comes back. Our vet thinks it is pasturella as well, though no culture has been run yet.

          So, I understand how stressful it can be. So far, since November last year, our bun has had four treatments with baytril. As long as mine has good quality of life, I just treat her. But, it’s odd nothing you’ve tried has stopped the sneezing at all.

          Some things I have been told help and a few seem to:

          Humidifier to make up for A/C and heat sucking the humidity out of the air. In the natural habitats buns have in the wild, humidity is rather high. Whenever the air gets dry, my bun sneezes more often.

          Shake the dust out of the hay before you bring it inside and before you refresh hay holders. All hay is dusty, but you can remove a lot of it just by giving it a good shaking.

          Be very thorough in removing dust, hair and dander from carpets/rooms the bunny is in. Anything that irritates the nose can make the sneezing worse. My bun sneezes less just after I vacuum or dust the house. Keeping a window open for fresh air also helps reduce sneezing a little.

          Clean the litterbox more than you normally would. Especially if you keep hay in it. 

          Did the vet have other ideas for possible treatments? Is the sneezing constant, or are there a few days/weeks between the fits?

          Edit: Oh yeah and if he’s the type of eater that usually devours/inhales pellets really quickly, try feeding pellets in smaller batches spread out through the day. Stickers sticks her nose so deep into her plate of pellets that she I think inhales some of the pellet dust. 


        • BolingbrookMom
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            Yeah nothing we have tried ceases the sneezing. He has sneezing fits at least every day, when we were doing the nebulizer it was at least every other day. We even wet his hay down although we should probably vacuum more often than we do. He is shedding a lot but our vet says that it’s the time of year. He was really out of ideas for treatments, he told us that you don’t want to give them anitbiotics every day forever, or they will become immune to the anitbiotics. He doesn’t really care much for his pellets but when he does eat them he’s very dainty about it.


          • Stickerbunny
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              Hrm. I wonder if your vet would be willing to consult with another vet to get you a second opinion, or some fresh ideas? Perhaps a university vet, or vet team that specializes in exotics? When my friend who has a parrot that their vet (who is a really good vet, but was just out of ideas) couldn’t find a solution for, that is what they did, phone consultations with someone else in the field who was very respected and they came up with a treatment plan that helped.

              Have you tried switching litters in case there is some sort of allergy issue?


            • BolingbrookMom
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                I will definitely ask him, as well as that we never really gave the Baytril a chance. He absolutely refused to take it in the beginning but we did finally devise a way to pin him with both of us and administer oral meds. So I’d really like to give it a try since I have heard of people having success with it. I am thinking however that a second opinion may just be the best way to go.

                We changed his hay 5 times thinking that it may be an allergy issue. We have not changed the bedding because the carfresh natural is supposed to just be completely natural paper. But we could try switching it if you think it’s worth a try, we also will try changing his potty more often.


              • Stickerbunny
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                  The carefresh can sometimes be dusty, so some animals sneeze on it – I know a rat owner that couldn’t get their rat to stop sneezing and were using carefresh, changed it and he stopped. So, it’s certainly worth a try to try things to see if any environmental issues are causing the sneezing. If you want to stick with paper, you could try yesterday’s news.

                  And mine does stop sneezing on baytril, so that may be worth trying again as well.


                • jerseygirl
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                    If you’re keen to try baytril again, some options are try the injectable form or get the oral med compounded in a flavoured syrup that you think he’d like.

                    If you noticed a small change after using nebuliser, I wonder if it was the humid air in his nasal passages that made the difference… Or if that particular antibiotic?
                    If you still have access to nebuliser, you can always try it just using saline to see if humidity alone helps. It certainly won’t hurt.
                    Did you pop him some sort of box to use it?

                    Some other things to try is move him to a non-carpeted area if he’s currently in one. And any room that’s naturally cooler. A bathroom may work because it gets humid at times also.

                    So did he sneeze for quite a while before he started producing discharge?


                  • BolingbrookMom
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                      To be honest on the meds it’s seems like he likes all the regular flavored ones and if we get them strawberry or cherry he goes nuts and hates it.

                      I will definitely try getting some saline solution and trying the nebulizer again, great idea!

                      I have one of the plastic bunny houses that he likes to go in, so we got him in there then put a square metal shelving grid up against the entrance. Since it has little holes at the top and the grid had holes we just through a light sheet over it and turned the nebulizer on.

                      He started sneezing a couple weeks after we brought him home, and I noticed it because it was more than just once or twice a day but not much more than that. He was sneezing for about 2 months before the discharge started. It was about a month after we got him neutered.


                    • jerseygirl
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                        Hi, hoping for an update. How your bunny getting on?


                      • BolingbrookMom
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                          He’s the same as always, too adorably cute and makes my heart break when he sneezes like crazy.  I’m going to get a humidifier this week, I’ve heard that it can really help him out.  But even as I’m typing he’s jumping over boxes and doing bunny five hundreds.  When I was in there earlier he was jumping and playing with me; although, he does still get the the occasional sneezing fit (3-5 times a day for about 20 seconds each plus the one or two clearing the nose sneezes).

                          We’ve been running the air a lot lately (Chicago area) so I’m thinking there is definitely a lack of moisture in the air, the shelter we got him from had A/C but not like we do (keeping it at 68).  

                          I just mostly feel very sad for him, I wish I could do something to make it stop for him.  Since May I’ve spent well over $500 in meds and I just feel like more meds aren’t the answer.  I’ll admit that I haven’t been feeling well myself the last week-10 days and I haven’t been on top of calling the vet or looking for a good humidifier.

                          Thank you for checking in on us.

                           

                           

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                      Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Snuffles