one of my male rabbits got pneumonia died yesterday cause they said the pneumonia was to strong and he had it for 3 months and on his last day he was to weak so he was put to sleep and his symptoms was watery eye, mouth wet, Nose wet, breathing heavy, kept falling when he turned or ran to fast, didn't use his litter, poops were small didn't move much and was only 3 pounds and was 10 before and he was a flemish 3 years old & the vet is doing a culture to see If it's contiguous but then I took another male in and also has pneumonia so it probably is contiguous I hope everyday he lives and doesn't die like the first and the medication he and the first one is penicillin injection Baytril everyday then six months ago a male bunny died from clostridium and died in 2 days and now today my female bun died on one day from it their symptoms not eating, not drinking, mucus In poop and not much poop we took her to the vet and she fell over at the vet and he gave her iv but she still passed and he says that once they stop eating to give them a injection of penicillin to stop it but yet she did get that and still died and he still thinks that would work if the others get it to and another vet said the same thing please if anyone knows about this or went through it because I don't want my other buns to pass away like them from those 2 things
Can someone give me advice please urgent
- Thread starter Selena RD
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Why exactly does your vet think they all had pneumonia? Did they have noisy respirations, white nasal discharge, mouth breathing, or were xrays done and it showed the lungs were compromised? Your female that just died, what were all of her exact symptoms and how long ago did they start? Was she on any medications previously and what was her exact diet? Your male that just died, how long had he had symptoms, what did they start out as, and what were all of the symptoms he had at the end? What medicaitons had fhe been given? The male that you still have with you, what are his symptoms, when did they start, and what is his exact diet?
What is your location/country? Is the rabbit disease RHDV present in your location?
I don't agree with giving a rabbit a shot of penicillin if they stop eating, unless there are known signs of an infection present that warrants antibiotic treatment. Lack of appetite doesn't necessarily call for antibiotics, but for other meds depending on what the cause is. One injection of penicillin won't make that much of a difference when it comes to an active bacterial infection in rabbits, and could possibly cause harm in some instances. It takes weeks of injections given every 1-3 days, for it to help with a bacterial infeciton.
What is your location/country? Is the rabbit disease RHDV present in your location?
I don't agree with giving a rabbit a shot of penicillin if they stop eating, unless there are known signs of an infection present that warrants antibiotic treatment. Lack of appetite doesn't necessarily call for antibiotics, but for other meds depending on what the cause is. One injection of penicillin won't make that much of a difference when it comes to an active bacterial infection in rabbits, and could possibly cause harm in some instances. It takes weeks of injections given every 1-3 days, for it to help with a bacterial infeciton.
Xrays were done on both males and the vet said there was fluid in the lungs and that the infection was going to the eyes with pneumonia and the symptoms on the first male that died was nose clear discharged, eyes watering with white discharged, not using the litter box, only 3 pounds when he was supposed to be 10, breathing heavy, couldn't walk falling over a lot, sleeping more, eating less and the medication he was on was Baytril & metacam twice a day then one day he didn't want to eat anymore and kept putting his nose in the air and now my other just has the wet side of the mouth like the other male started with and their diet is mix veggies twice a day and always hay their bowl of water and bottle didn't have problems before and wasn't neutered yet & before the first one had ear mites but was always happy & healthy and at the first male end the vet said his heart was slower and his breathing that he could die any minute and that the pneumonia was to strong to just put him to sleep and then with my female that just died today is she stopped eating yesterday for a day and her symptoms was not eating, no poops, restlessness, and not moving for a whole day and we did tummy messages and gave her a lactose that my vet gave if my buns start not pooping cause we thought it was a gi till the vet opened and when we got her first poop to happen it was with white mucus then we forced some critical care and water and a benebac then took her to the vet & my male with pneumonia was going 2 and then my vet gave her a penicillin shot cause he said she has clostridium then we put her back in the car then she fell over and wasn't moving then my vet started giving her iv fluids cause he said she still had a heart beat then she died minutes later, I wish they were still here with me and those are the exact symptoms my male did 6 months ago and died in 2 days he also said it was clostridium and he said my male with pneumonia also has the clostridium but it's not that bad yet and probably my other rabbits have it to but it's just waiting for a underlying health reason or a gi cause it's a bad bacteria in their gut and she did take medication before cause she had a infected uterus from holding her kits to long but that was 4 months ago and she was healthy gained weight from what she losted from the kits and was healthy and her diet was pellets of 1/4 in the morning and unlimited hay and veggies at night and the medication 4 months ago was a penicillin shot metacam and now he says if any start not eating give them a penicillin shot cause that the best way they might live, it's hard just living on a might I just wanna know if anyone thinks this Is right cause I don't want the others to pass away I'm so scared about it
And I'm in Arizona and I'm not to sure about the rhdv
Asmarellda
New Member
Hi. I am a new member here. I need advice. I bought a rabbit who I had no idea she was pregnant. She had a litter of 10.all survived and are 12 weeks. The problem is the babies are lionheads and a have a lot of fur and are constantly molting. I groom them every week. But around their bum keeps getting matted. And dirty. I know you are not supposed to bath rabbits. But can i dip their bum into water and use rabbit shampoo to clean their bum. The fur around their bum is a lot I was wondering if I should cut it down. Any advice please. Also sorry if I posted this in the wrong place. Thank you have a great day
It would be best if you start your own thread to ask your questions. I would suggest under the health and wellness subforum.
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/how-to-post-on-the-forum.92892/
Is baytril the only antibiotic that the male you just lost was on, or was he also getting penicillin injections? Was he on one or both antibiotics for the last 3 months since the symptoms started? Were any other antibiotics tried?
If your female rabbit had clostridium, penicillin is absolutely the wrong medication to give for that and might actually make it worse. Penicillin injections should NOT be given to a rabbit with suspected enterotoxemia from the closctidium bacteria. And you don't describe any symptoms that would point to your female having had pneumonia. But she may have still had the uterine infection. Even though it was 4 months ago, infections in rabbits can sometimes be present for quite a while without being fatal. The antibitotics she was given initially for the uterine infection, could have knocked the infection down but didn't get rid of it entirely. And it later reemrged. The white mucous could have come from the uterus and not the digestive tract, and was actually pus from a bacterial infection. Usually mucous from the digestive tract will be brown, reddish when tinged with blood, or a clear jelly like substance, not white. White usually indicates an infection. Was she given only one shot of penicillin to treat the uterus infection, or if she was given more, how often and for how long did she get them?
What makes your vet think all these rabbits had clostridium, and that your other rabbits now have closctidium? Usually rabbits with clostridium will have pudding like or profuse watery diarrhea, where it's not the cecals that are mushy but all of the poop is mushy or watery, with no normal round fecal balls, and it will prove fatal very quickly.
Your male now, is the only symptom he has is wetness at the side of his mouth, or are there other symptoms and what are they? And he's also had xrays that show fluid in the lungs?
How is the living environment that your rabbits are kept in? Is the ammonia smell from the urine allowed to build up at all or do you keep it cleaned and aired out well?
That vet doesn't sound very knowledgeable about rabbits. Do you have any other more experienced rabbit vets around that you might be able to take your rabbit to? Even if you have to drive for a few hours to get there, it's worth it if there is a better rabbit vet you can go to.
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
