Hello!
So my bun, Milky, (about 7-8 years old, not neutered) has been undergoing treatment for a URI for the past month now. I apologize for the wall of text but I feel it necessary to explain from the beginning.
It actually started back in February, he stopped eating his pellets and hay (he would still eat his treats and veggies though) so I quickly scrambled to find a vet that could take him on short notice because the emergency vet wasn’t open yet. My regular vet wasn’t available, so I called all over the city to find another vet that would see rabbits and eventually I found one on the other side of town that was kind enough to make room in their booked schedule to see him. After getting help from a friend to a ride there (I can’t drive and it would take over an hour to get there by bus), they did a exam and said he had a mild case of URI and prescribed him some baytril.
Two weeks later, he seemed 100% better with only a slight sniffle but I thought nothing of it… probably my mistake.
Fast forward a month later, he again went into stasis, not eating anything, not even his treats and veggies. Since it was the weekend, my sister helped me take him to the emergency vet where they again said it was URI, gave him some critical care, meloxicam for pain and Sulfamethox/Trimethoprim for antibiotic. The doctor said that I should monitor him for 24h and if his condition doesn’t improve, go see my regular vet and even if he does show improvement to see my regular vet in a weeks time for another check up.
24h later, Milky seemed to do be doing better so I just carefully monitored him and made an appointment with my regular vet the following Monday.
Now here’s where all the problems start. I’ve never particularly been fond of my regular vet but he is the closest exotic vet that will see rabbits and because I can’t drive and don’t want to constantly inconvenience my friends and family for rides to the next closest vet that does, I’ve continued to go there. It’s not to say he’s a bad doctor… but coupled with the fact it’s obvious that english isn’t his native language so he has doesn’t explain things very well, there’s just little things he does that I find puts unnecessary stress on my rabbit, this case being a particular example of that.
All the other vets I took Milky to before didn’t touch him unless they needed to, usually directing me to hold my rabbit where he was comfortable while they did their examinations. This doctor chooses to holds my rabbit, usually forcefully especially when my rabbit struggles to get away (like one time I told him my rabbit was still had a slight rattling sound when he breathed, the vet picked him up to hold Milky to his chest to listen when he could have just brought his ear beside his carrier…)
When given medicine, the other vets told me to give it to my bun as soon as I got home, giving me proper instruction on how to give it to him… this doctor decided to demonstrate how to feed the medicine to my rabbit, regardless of the fact I told him I’ve done it before and understood how much I need to give him. This caused my rabbit to struggle and ultimately hurt himself when his toenail caught on a piece of the towel they had him on and tore it open. They had to cut the whole toenail off to stop the bleeding.
The medicine the doctor prescribed me was two types… enrofloxicin (baytril) again at a higher dose than before and docycycline. He also told me to feed my rabbit yogurt, pineapple and papaya. I understood that he wanted me to feed my rabbit yogurt for the probiotics but I also know that rabbits can’t digest dairy… combined with sugar in the pineapple and papaya so I was hesitant to follow those instructions. I had papaya pills at home and opted to use that and went out and bought some bromelain supplements to replace the pineapple.
I then looked for an probiotic alternative and ended up getting benebac… but later read that there is actually no beneficial bacteria in it that normally lives in a rabbits gut contained in it. I’m still debating on whether or not to buy human probiotics and have him try it?? Since it seems some people have done that as well.
I also started giving him a bit of apple cider vinegar in his water to encourage him to drink more but also because ACV is supposed to help the body absorb antibiotics and also acts as a probiotic. I also got him Oxbow immune support supplements (i was actually already giving those to him before he got sick) and Oxbow digestive support supplements.
On top of all that, I also bought him a vaporizer since I read that it can bring relief. It seems to work…?
Anyway, the reason I’m writing this is because… I still have a lot of problems.
So after I gave him the new course of antibiotics I noticed that he stopped eating and pooping shortly after. Worriedly, I consulted the vet who said that the antibiotics can cause mild constipation and sometimes mushy poop and that it was normal and it would pass eventually. I did my own research and the internet gave me the same answer but suggested to give him a gentle belly massage to help get his gut moving. So that’s what I did and it sorta worked…? After a couple of stressful hours, he would pass a few cecotropes and then start pooping normally again.
Fast forward a month, I’ve taken him back to the vet once since then and I have another appointment on Monday again… but since the last appointment, it doesn’t seem like Milky is getting better or worst. The vet has only did an exam and wanted to do an xray (I declined because at the time I didn’t have enough money to pay for it since I didn’t have the money since I took off a lot of time from work to take care of my rabbit). This Monday I plan to ask about a culture/sensitivity test though since it just doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere.
Lately however, it seems like Milky might be regressing. He had stopped sneezing for a period of time but recently started again, although not violently like he was when he was much sicker, usually a series of slight snort but enough that it has me slightly concerned. Occasionally he has that rattling noise in his chest when he breathes, it comes and goes. He doesn’t have a lot of discharge from the nose and he has slight weeping eyes but it’s also not as bad as it was before. His temperature is also normal. I change his litter box and bedding every day for maximum cleanness.
I also don’t know what the cause of the URI was but I’ve been going through my room cleaning parts of it hoping i’ll clean up whatever it was… although the vet told me it could have been caused by allergies or snow-mold.
Today when I gave him antibiotics in the afternoon, but he stops eating/drinking/pooping like he does after taking antibiotics but now it looks like he’s grown uncomfortable and is kinda lethargic and more skittish (he’ll sometimes come over to my feet and start making honking noises though).
He was full of energy and his poops were normal this morning . He’s still eating his treats/supplements though, I’d try and give him veggies but I just ran out and it’s too late to run to the store and get some. I did give him some critical care and he ate it without resistance… I also fed him some water that he took it without resisting. He doesn’t seem dehydrated but he’s definitely peeing less.
This happened once before about a week ago and after 12h he went back to normal after I carefully monitored him….
Has this ever happened to anyone before? Also does anyone else have suggestions for anything else I can do for him? I feel so helpless…
Thank you for your time!! I’m just a poor worried bunny mom with nobody to talk to about these issues…