Four months later and still sneezing...

[serabeth]

I originally posted this thread here: https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/emergency-vet-wont-take-bunny-she-has-a-cold.106959/ regarding my rabbit sneezing.

She was treated with antibiotics and once she was finished, she seemed almost completely back to normal, other than the fact that she never really stopped sneezing. Everything else has been normal...appetite, play, affection, pets, treats, cuddling with her bondmate, grooming, etc. We have called the vet multiple times since then, but she seems to want to stay as hands off as possible. At one point, my husband asked if it was okay to give her benadryl, and they said yes. The benadryl seems to help her symptoms, but I've only given her a very small number of doses over the past couple of weeks because I really don't know if it's safe to give super often. It makes her a little drowsy at first too. Like still definitely able to be roused, but wants to take a nap.

Her bondmate hasn't sneezed at all during his lifetime that I've ever seen, so does that mean what she has might be allergies and not infectious? I've completely stopped wearing perfume and scented body lotions and gotten rid of the febreeze plug-in things that we had, and I keep a cool mist humidifier running. I've also tried to vacuum up the hay dust in their feeder as much as I can.

One interesting thing I've tried that seems to work well but she doesn't like it is I'm using Vick's saline easy mist for kids. It comes with a mask, but she won't let me put that over her lol. I leave it on though in case it helps to direct the mist. But it's a super slow, very gentle saline mist that seems to help loosen up some of the snot. She usually doesn't notice it at first since I pet her at the same time, but after I hold it below her mouth/nose for maybe 20-30 sec, I usually hear a sort of bubbly, snuffly inhale from her. She'll realize that I'm doing something and kind of hop away, but she ends up sneezing a few times and getting a bunch of (wet) snot out. I then have to catch her so I can hold her still for a few seconds and try to gently wipe her nose/face off with a warm washcloth.

Most of the time, she seems more or less fine. Sometimes I think she's getting better because I don't notice anything for a while. But then I get lax on all the above treatments and she'll suddenly have a sneezing fit to the point of gagging, and when she gags I can see her mouth working away. It's very gross....she chews and swallows all of the snot and then poops it out. But aside from that, she really is perfectly fine. In fact, she'll sometimes be sneezing and sneezing and yet inhaling a bunch of hay like it's nothing. I've tried to get her to slow down a bit so she can stop sneezing first, but she doesn't really listen to me. There aren't symptoms in her eyes or anywhere else other than her nose. Her energy levels and desire to eat and play are normal. Her snot is a pale yellow-green color.

Anyways, just looking for suggestions on other things I could do to help and also whether you think I should try the vet again. And what I should say to her. We've tried asking for things like a second course of antibiotics, allergy meds, nebulizer treatment, or nasal rinse. She apparently doesn't want to clean out the rabbit's nostrils if they don't have to, because she's a bit undersized. I think she was the runt of the litter or something. They almost weren't going to spay her because of how tiny she was, but we got her to gain enough weight for them to agree to do it.

 

[JBun]

What antibiotic(s) did the vet prescribe, how long did you give it, and the dose? How long has it been since the antibiotic treatment ended?

Is your vet a very knowledgeable rabbit vet?

 

[serabeth]

What antibiotic(s) did the vet prescribe, how long did you give it, and the dose? How long has it been since the antibiotic treatment ended?

Is your vet a very knowledgeable rabbit vet?

It was Baytril 22.7mg/mL at a dose of 0.4 mL every 12 hours for 14 days. She took all of it fine (I think I may have missed one dose, so I gave her an extra at the end just in case), and her energy level and overall well being returned to normal taking it. She took it for the first 2 weeks of November.

It still seems like the same issue though since her nose never really cleared completely. It was fairly bad at first, though; I was scared she couldn't breathe because she had sooo much liquidy mucus. That was when I was holding her while my husband suctioned the snot out. If we tried to do that now, it wouldn't work because the snot is mostly dried unless I loosen it a bit with the saline mist.

As far as being a knowledgeable rabbit vet, it's hard to say. She's a lot better than our first one, but he was awful lol. I didn't know because my husband takes the animals to the vet, but he was apparently trancing all of them every time. My husband told me though that they did not trance any of them at all at this new place. They did have to wrap Bonnie in a towel though because she is very fiesty with being handled. It's so strange to me that gigantic humans can't hold a tiny 3 lbs. soaking wet rabbit still, but it's somehow so difficult .

I think they were concerned about going in to clean out her nostrils because of how she can't be easily handled, they would have to sedate her. And they said rabbits are at higher risk with sedation, especially one as tiny as she is. And that they wanted to avoid it unless it's an emergency.

They do treat other rabbits there, but we live in a fairly rural area and my husband says most of the stories they tell him about other rabbits are ones that live outside in a barn (which side note is very sad because it is freezing cold lately -- I really really hope they are bringing them inside when it gets that cold). I wouldn't think that would necessarily change the treatment, though, because the pets they are referring to are definitely pets from the description (and not farm/food animals).

 

[JBun]

Respiratory infections in rabbits are notoriously difficult to clear up. In my opinion, your rabbit should have been given a much longer antibiotic treatment. Rarely will 2 weeks on baytril be enough. It can often take 4-6 weeks minimum, with continuing the antibiotics 2 weeks past the last of the symptoms clearing up. It may also require more than one antibiotic or a change of antibiotics.

My rabbits URI took trying several different antibiotics until we ended up doing azithromycin, a pretty 'heavy duty' antibiotic, which was very effective. Even then it took the highest dose, for an extended treatment period (50mg/kg, 3-4 weeks). But that did clear it up completely.

https://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Snuffles

To me it sounds like your rabbit still clearly has a respiratory infection. Even though it may not yet be as bad as it was, it can still cause problems if left untreated. The infection is at risk of spreading, if it hasn't already, and it can gradually erode the nasal passage over time. So it is important to try and get this treated effectively and not leave it too long.

Cleaning out the snot isn't really a common treatment unless it's drastically impeding the rabbits ability to breath. But a proper extended antibiotic treatment is common.

My suggestion would be to talk to your vet about the clear indications of your rabbit still having a respiratory infection and request to start another course of antibiotics. You can ask to try the baytril again since it did seem to be effective. I would request to do at least 6 weeks, with continuing 2 weeks past there being no more symptoms. But start with less than 2 weeks worth so that if it is no longer effective, you can switch to a different antibiotic and you haven't wasted too much on an antibiotic that no longer works.

If the antibiotic isn't working after the first week, or does work but then stops working, get right back to your vet and request to change antibiotics. Don't be afraid to speak up if something isn't working, or if you feel your vet isn't listening to your concerns. Sometimes you have to be your rabbits advocate and push for the help your animal needs. And if necessary, get a second opinion if you need to. It took me 3 tries before I found a rabbit vet I trusted.

This is all just my opinion, but it's what I would do.

 

[serabeth]

Respiratory infections in rabbits are notoriously difficult to clear up. In my opinion, your rabbit should have been given a much longer antibiotic treatment. Rarely will 2 weeks on baytril be enough. It can often take 4-6 weeks minimum, with continuing the antibiotics 2 weeks past the last of the symptoms clearing up. It may also require more than one antibiotic or a change of antibiotics.

My rabbits URI took trying several different antibiotics until we ended up doing azithromycin, a pretty 'heavy duty' antibiotic, which was very effective. Even then it took the highest dose, for an extended treatment period (50mg/kg, 3-4 weeks). But that did clear it up completely.

https://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Snuffles

To me it sounds like your rabbit still clearly has a respiratory infection. Even though it may not yet be as bad as it was, it can still cause problems if left untreated. The infection is at risk of spreading, if it hasn't already, and it can gradually erode the nasal passage over time. So it is important to try and get this treated effectively and not leave it too long.

Cleaning out the snot isn't really a common treatment unless it's drastically impeding the rabbits ability to breath. But a proper extended antibiotic treatment is common.

My suggestion would be to talk to your vet about the clear indications of your rabbit still having a respiratory infection and request to start another course of antibiotics. You can ask to try the baytril again since it did seem to be effective. I would request to do at least 6 weeks, with continuing 2 weeks past there being no more symptoms. But start with less than 2 weeks worth so that if it is no longer effective, you can switch to a different antibiotic and you haven't wasted too much on an antibiotic that no longer works.

If the antibiotic isn't working after the first week, or does work but then stops working, get right back to your vet and request to change antibiotics. Don't be afraid to speak up if something isn't working, or if you feel your vet isn't listening to your concerns. Sometimes you have to be your rabbits advocate and push for the help your animal needs. And if necessary, get a second opinion if you need to. It took me 3 tries before I found a rabbit vet I trusted.

This is all just my opinion, but it's what I would do.

Thank you! My husband was going to call them again on Monday, and I'll send this to him so he knows what to ask for. I just wonder why neither of our other two rabbits have gotten sick if she is. I don't think I've witnessed Remi (her bondmate) sneezing ever. Thumper (her brother) has sneezed once or twice in the past, but I think it was from hay dust. You'd think it would have spread to one of them by now. But like I mentioned, we think she was the runt of the litter and she has always been less hearty and a bit more sickly than the other two from the beginning. She's smarter than both of them, though lol....Remi is always confused, but she understands my verbal commands so he stands there until she obeys the command and then follows her .

She seems to be doing better today now that the humidifier is back on, though. I was kind of getting tired of constantly refilling it and since she was fine for a little while, I let it go. But of course it got worse like 2 days after the last time I filled it . I guess I just need to keep refilling it every couple of hours all winter. Or get a bigger one lol. They're so expensive though...

Edit to add that Thumper doesn't go downstairs where they are since Remi will attack him and he can't stop himself from trying to constantly hop up to Remi and annoy him...So unless I'm capable of being a carrier, then I guess it's possible he wouldn't be exposed. Remi definitely is, though! She still grooms him and licks his ears and he licks her face and nose. But he's as lively as ever and has never shown any signs of illness.