Babette and her continuing problems

[Maureen Las]

Babette (7 yr old mini-lop)has had a recurring respiratory infection for months. She has become totally resistant to baytril actually having ALL symproms worsen while on a large dose.

She was on Zithromax ( approx. !00 mg per day at 5.5 lbs) for 2 weeks but all the symptoms returned full force the day after her last dose. I know that this is less than the 50 mg/kg that is sometimes recommended but it is what my vet was comfortable with never using it before in a rabbit.

After the zithromax we tried putting her back on baytril at a higher dose and this is when the symptoms progressed from possibly tracheal to her having coughing and also nasal discharge.

The vet placed her back on zithromax and the intention is to keep her on it for a much longer period than 2 weeks (like maybe 6 weeks). She is on the same dose.

It took about 2 days on zithromax for ALL of her symptoms to dissipate and for her to begin eating again. She has now been on it 10 days and is fine.

I am wondering if it would be a better idea for him to increase the dose and have her on it for a shorter time or leave the dose as it is and keep her on it for 6 weeks.

Without meds she can go from looking normal and fine to becoming desperately sick all within a matter of 24 hr period. .

He had suggested doing a tracheal wash for culture but I did not want her sedated. Now that her symptoms include nasal discharge I could get a culture when she is very sick.

The zithromax cost $40.00/week which in addition to Beau's meds and my other pets is really creating a financial strain.
Right now she is fine and I keep a cool mister going most of the time but I am getting discouraged..............partially because I am suggesting treatment options to the vet and feel tht the pressure for her recovery is on me.; partially because when she is very sick it is very upsetting to see her like that.

He is actually the best of the vets in this town for rabbits.


He is really not familar with drugs other than baytril, Ciprofloxicn ..and now zithromax after I pushed for it after reading Randy's posts.

Any suggestions.???
Because of the severity her symptoms have progressed to I have considered euthanasia if this continues.

This of course would leave little Beau without the "love of his life"which would be a very painful thing.

 

[naturestee]

Poor Babette. And you!:hug:

Have you looked into places like 1-800-Petmeds or Dr. Foster & Smith? I wonder if you could save more money getting Zithromax in bulk from them.

I personally would push for a higher dosage for 6+ weeks. My untrained guess is that the lower dose of Zithromax controls the bacteria enough to prevent symptoms but not kill them all off, so when you stop medicating her it all comes back. The big problem with this is that since you aren't killing them all off at once with a big dose it is more likely that resistant strains of the bacteria will develop, making it harder to treat Babette with Zithromax in the future. That's probably why Baytril doesn't work at all for you any more.

If this still doesn't work, see if you can get the vet to give you injected Bicillin.

At the same time, I'd be curious about dietary supplements and maybe herbal meds. Vitamin C is known to support the immune system. I'm not sure what the proper dose would be, but Oxbow sells 50g Vitamin C supplement tablets for guinea pigs that are apple flavored. They're probably too pricey, especially when shipping is factored in. But you might be able to find something similar for a lower price, or break up lower-dosage human tablets. If she doesn't like the taste, crush them and mix it in with pumpkin, no-sugar applesauce, etc.

I don't know if it's effective or not but echinacea is a popular herb for supporting the immune system and I do know that it has been prescribed for rabbits- I've seen talk about it on Etherbun. If you could get someone there to give you the proper dosage, you could buy it at most drug stores and I think it would be worth the try. The plant it's made from is related to daisies, dandelions, and lettuce.

I honestly don't know if this is curable or is chronic, I have heard that some URIs can be chronic. But if we can find a way to at least keep her symptoms managed and Babette comfortable, and affordable enough for you, I don't think you'll need to think about euthanasia for a long time.

You know where I am if you ever need to talk.

 

[Maureen Las]

I have been on zootoo all day tring to make up for lost time!!!!

I know that this vet will not prescribe bicillin, however, if necessary I could buy injectable bicillin from farm and fleet which is sold for farm animals. I did not know if bicillin was appropriate for this type of infection and since I've never given these types of injections to a rabbit before I'd have to read up on it.

I think the vet will fight me on increasing the dose of zithromax. I saw somewhere (older info) that the dose was 30 mg/kg so its possible his books are not as up to date. I just hate to try to push an idea on him..he is nice but I know that he thinks I'm a know it all or vet wanna be and none of that's true. I am pushy only to try to save Babette. It always seems that when a rabbit gets sick I get even emotionally closer to the sick one

I have been looking into ordering drugs off the internet without a prescription. I am really afraid to do it because I'm not sure where they come from or whether it is legal to do it. I would like to get zithromax powder and just mix it myself like randy does. I would feel comfortable increasing the dosage on my own because she has had no adversesymptoms from the present dosage.

I would try natural immune support stuff after I get an established antibiotic that works for her.

I can tell that she gets too sick for the natural remedies to do much right now. I think they work over time.
Anyway I wrote so many review of stuff on zootoomy arm is sore.
I'm sorry that I haven't been on this site recently to even do anything about Midwest rescue until today
I can't believe what this site has done for them ..unbelievable

Anyway any suggstions on how I can get meds for babette without a prescription and without breaking the law let me know.

or any other suggestions...

 

[polly]

Hugs to you its not easy I have a rabbit with respiritory issues I think he has had it so long now it wont shift the drugs made it better but as soon as he comes off them it gets worse again. We just keep an eye on it to be honest after we gave him a months worth of Zithi it has got a lot better but he definately gets irritataed by dust and stuff.

 

[Maureen Las]

Hi Polly,

I wonder if you could remember the dose of zithromax that your rabbits gets and the weight of your rabbit to compare it to what Babette is getting.

also have you tried other medications? Do you remember what you tried?
I just talked to my vet who won't raise the dosage but wants to keep her on it for another 6 weeks or so.
Yes I agree it is hard to have a rabbit who get violently sick the moment she is off meds...very stressful :?

 

[polly]

angieluv wrote:

Hi Polly,

I wonder if you could remember the dose of zithromax that your rabbits gets and the weight of your rabbit to compare it to what Babette is getting.

also have you tried other medications? Do you remember what you tried?
I just talked to my vet who won't raise the dosage but wants to keep her on it for another 6 weeks or so.
Yes I agree it is hard to have a rabbit who get violently sick the moment she is off meds...very stressful :?

Hi Yeah he was tried on Baytri;l first or one of the equivelents no use ( it had actually got to the stage there was blood in his snot) SO Randy told me about the zithromax Dennis is a nethie so pretty small about 1.2kg can't remember what he was getting give me a mo and i will go check it out (its in the shed) He still sneezes but most of the time its dry not so much snot just little clear bits and my other buns in the house as pets are fine and havent picked it up ( but thats just me folks i wouldn't reccommend it he wormed his way into our hearts!! there is always a risk of it transmitting)

I can tell ytou when he was in the shed he was much worse and dust off shavings and hay bugs him)


Edit to add; 0.2ml/kg of weight