Chronic pasteurella? Need advice, I'm lost.

[AllieBUNderland]

Hi guys. So back in December my Florida White bun Alice got snuffles, and it was causing her to sneeze and breathe noisily, and she was really fatigued as well. I can't remember the names of the medicine, but it ended with Floxacin; the vet had her put on diluted subcutaneous injections twice a day for two weeks (the oral marbofloxacin didn't seem to work). That seemed to have cleared up the infection for like a month or two, but recently she's been back with a runny nose.

It doesn't cause rattly/snorty breathing or feel like it's in her chest like it did in December, and no sneezing, but she seems "messier". Her nose runs everywhere, on her mouth/lips a lot and the inside of her paws are dirty (but not wet). The discharge is very clear, but hay dust attaches to it when it's on her fur, making it look very green/brown. She seems to have "drooling episodes" about once every week, although this may also be an abcess draining as my teacher suggested - what signs would I look for to find an abcess? I haven't noticed anything unusual but I'll keep looking. She does wheeze a little when she breathes laying down, but she's done that her whole life.

I'm worried that the Pasteurella became chronic and I won't be able to treat it. What should I do? Should I take her back to the vet and get her back on more medicine? Is it hopeless to try curing the infection? Is there any way I can lessen her symptoms safely? Is her quality of life okay right now? Can this kill her? Would I have to put her down? Will the infection spread to other parts of her body, and how do I prevent that? I think my other rabbit is mildly sick too, they were only together one time but are housed close together (not by my choice); should I get her to the vet too? Is it worse than it looks? Because I know for a fact Alice is great at hiding illnesses! All of these questions and more are making my mind race with horrible possibilities and I can't right myself and figure out what the right thing to do is. My family won't take me seriously either lol so I feel like I'm alone.

I should mention I'm 17 and I don't have a job yet. My parents refuse to pay for vet bills this time around (understandably) and I don't want to burden them anyway, so I'm desperately trying to make money off of art commissions and loaning from family to afford a vet trip. I want to get her (and possibly Domino too) to the vet ASAP no matter what, so they can have a look at her and tell me what I should do next, but in the meantime I want to get opinions from the forum. I feel so lost and scared and all of the information online is overwhelming and confusing. I started ruminating about my last rabbit Peanut and feeling guilty and I didn't want to lose another bunny to something I probably could have prevented. I just need some advice and guidance or something. Thanks for reading.

 

[Catlyn]

You're in a really tough situation.
I feel you on being a jobless minor whose parents don't want to deal with the vet costs. I've been there, done that.
But breathing and drooling issues are a definite sign that you need to have professional medical help on the case. If your parents allowed you to have rabbits in the first place, they should be willing to chip in with the costs when ever needed, not only when they feel like it. It is your family's collective responsibility to care for all their members' wellbeing and health.
It would be nice to call the vet office and, if possible, speak directly to the vet on if you should take your other rabbit along or not. Sometimes, if the symptoms are exactly the same and both rabbits' weights are known, the vet might just send you back with the other rabbit's worth of medicine as well. But i am not a vet and will never know exactly what is wrong with your rabbits, nor how to treat them.
On a financial note, could you maybe reach out to a nonprofit organization for support? Maybe let your parents have you ''owe them some credit'' ie you'll pay the bills back when you do have the money?
Regarding the illness. It could get chronic, it could get fixed if you can get the right medications started fast enough. The treatment must go on longer than when the symptoms have cleared, or you run the risk of the illness coming back. If not, it may cause permanent damage that we wouldn't see by just looking at the rabbit. One of my boys' infection treatment ended as soon as the symptoms cleared, and the result was yet another infection which basically took his sense of smell. We went longer that time, and his senses returned a little, but apparently the long-lasting infection did a number on his heart and he didn't live long after being completely cured.
There is still hope. Though harder to cure an infection, it isn't impossible and if you can get it cured with the right medications, the remaining quality of life is usually good. There aren't many cases where it would be so serious to let the rabbit leave this world.
It is wise to trust your intuition when something is wrong. Your parents must learn to trust your intuitions, or rather, agree to act upon them.
Best of luck to you and your rabbits.

 

[Mileybun]

Just here to offer some healing vibes for Alice

 

[ZipperNipper]

You may have put the Pasteurella into remission, but the "drooling episodes" are worrisome. For that reason alone, I'd work to find a way to get her to the vet. It may have nothing to do with the original infection. The discharge from her nose being clear is a good sign; were it to turn cloudy, white/green or red/pink, that would be an emergency.

To find an abscess, feel around for hard, usually round, lumps where they don't belong. You might not be able to find a dental abscess, but it wouldn't be clear when it drained, the pus is the consistency of toothpaste and is white. I've only dealt with foot abscesses, so this is all that I can tell you for sure.

My elder buns have had Pasteurella and Bordetella their entire lives, with two out of three being asymptomatic. Booper's nose runs most of the time and she's launched into sneezing fits if too much dust gets kicked up. I do consider myself lucky that I haven't lost any of them to breathing issues, but I keep a super close eye on it.

I also faced the vet bill issue while being an unemployed minor and living with parents; you're not alone. But you sound like you're on top of it, though not sure what you're going to do yet, you've thought about it--excellent. Remember to breathe and enjoy every moment with your bunnies.

Side note, you might look into GoFundMe to raise money.

 

[Tam O Ham]

ah, you're in a tough spot. Drool might indicate something going on with the teeth. You've already had great advice here so I'll just add - I'm not a fan of Reddit but they do have several threads /r/Assistance and /r/charity that help people out. There's also a pet food one so perhaps there's pets too. Your parents should take responsiblity or at least foot the bill and then let you pay them back in payments but life, and parents, don't always go that route.

 

[AllieBUNderland]

Hi everyone, I have an update
I took Alice to the vet last week (under $50 bill, thank goodness) and the vet said her teeth were just overgrown. Not to a point where she can't eat or close her mouth, but they were definitely longer than usual. I never really noticed, I thought her teeth were actually at a normal length, but I was wrong. I had a look at Domino's as well, and only her bottom teeth seem to be longer.
So I suppose that explains the runny noses but no sneezing, and the occasional drooling episodes, as well as the two buns being "messy eaters".
I've provided the both of them with wood chews (and excess hay), the first of which they only seem partially interested in - they get bored with toys quickly. Any advice to keep the bunnies interested in chewing toys and stuff? What can I provide that's interesting enough for picky buns?

On to replies.... Hopefully the @s will work.

@Catlyn Thank you for the support. Unfortunately now we have a dog so any finances from my parents are going to her now. I'm opening commissions soom though so I can save up an emergency fund. Also, when we treated her for Pasteurella, we went way past when her symptoms disappeared, luckily.

@Mileybun Thank you as well <3 I've extended the message to Alice and she says... "Sniff sniff."

@ZipperNipper I've tried so many times to feel for an abcess and I don't feel anything, at least outside her face. Also the wet on her chin definitely wasn't pus, so yeah, just assuming it's just drooling. Thank you for the help

@Tam O Ham I'm a bit nervous about going on Reddit, it's kind of intimidating lol, but I'll consider it if I ever fall into a situation like this again. As I said tho, I'm saving up for an emergency fund now. Thank you for the message!!

Edit: I forgot the emoticons turn into emojis. They look so weird lol sorry

 

[Catlyn]

Glad to know that your lady is pretty much okay!
When trying to wear down slightly overgrown or spurred teeth, the best thing is often the simplest thing.
Grass hay gallore. It is crunchy, dry and packed with fibre. It is also one of the very few edibles that make rabbits eat in a figure-8-motion, the movement that actually files teeth down. It might be a little messy, but hay can be woven into mats, tunnels, wreaths etc, stuffed into tp rolls, racks and treat balls.... Point is to get hay involved in as many places as possible to entice her to eat more.
You might want to cut back on not-so-fibrous things for a little while so that she has no choice but to eat more hay, though i haven't yet tried it myself to know if this actually helps or not.
I've read that tree twigs and branches are also high on the fibre content list. These are much easier to weave into different things and serve the same boredom breaking and enticing function as hay toys.

 

[overhear]

On my vet's advice, I eliminated all treats and reduced my bunny's pellets and fresh greens to the bare minimum. I also started putting a generous amount of hay on top of the wood pellets in her litter box.

She eats TONS of hay now - like double what she used to.

It eliminated all of her GI stasis problems and apparently her teeth look great, although I wouldn't know the difference, just echoing what my vet said.