I have a 3 yr old mini-Rex , who I have had since he was about 3 months. Right after adoption I noted infrequent , sporadic sneezing but he continued to be very active with no other issues, no discharge etc. By the time he was about 9-10 months he began to have sneezing fits and although he still had no discharge it seemed to interfere with his activities, including playing.
Vet diagnosed him with pasturella and We treated him with a long course of oral baytril and injectable bicillin and it cleared up altogether until last May.
‘Last May I noted that he was not as active as usual for a few weeks which led to sneezing with what sounded like some congestion in throat. This alarmed me and although the vet said case was “mild” we put him back on oral baytril and injectable penicillin.
‘I had noted to the vet that the expiration date on the penicillin was one month away but she assured me that it would be fine ( it is not easy to get bicillin from farm stores anymore so I had bought the bicillin from vet clinic)
He had difficulty with the compounded baytril as a new pharmacist had used almond oil as flavoring so the drug did not need refrigeration. Ian lost his appetite and because of this I had to take him off the meds until I figured out what was going on. (Taking him off these drugs , I realize , is wrong due to growth of bacterial resistance to drugs….but his cessation of eating was extreme and alarming !)
I finally, after thinking on this, had the pharmacist redo the baytril in the original formula. Ian’s appetite returned and we resumed meds.
‘He improved but not as rapidly as I had expected . I finally began to suspect the penicillin so went out to farm store and bought procaine g which has to be given more often. The change in his behavior on procaine was drastic. he perked up. I continued both baytril and pen g for at least 1.5 months
He has been off drugs for 6 weeks and I see the lethargy setting in, suspect that sneezing will begin soon.
He is just 3 yrs old and the idea of keeping him on an antibiotic regime constantly for his entire life makes me sad.
I have a lot of knowledge on mainstream rabbit medicine but none on alternative treatments like echinacea..I know that we might have to do another antibiotic like chloramphenicol, azithromycin or trimethoprim sulfa but I am asking for suggestions on both alternative (herbal ) and mainstream meds. I do not have an exotic alternative vet in my area.
I apologize for the length of this post.
Vet diagnosed him with pasturella and We treated him with a long course of oral baytril and injectable bicillin and it cleared up altogether until last May.
‘Last May I noted that he was not as active as usual for a few weeks which led to sneezing with what sounded like some congestion in throat. This alarmed me and although the vet said case was “mild” we put him back on oral baytril and injectable penicillin.
‘I had noted to the vet that the expiration date on the penicillin was one month away but she assured me that it would be fine ( it is not easy to get bicillin from farm stores anymore so I had bought the bicillin from vet clinic)
He had difficulty with the compounded baytril as a new pharmacist had used almond oil as flavoring so the drug did not need refrigeration. Ian lost his appetite and because of this I had to take him off the meds until I figured out what was going on. (Taking him off these drugs , I realize , is wrong due to growth of bacterial resistance to drugs….but his cessation of eating was extreme and alarming !)
I finally, after thinking on this, had the pharmacist redo the baytril in the original formula. Ian’s appetite returned and we resumed meds.
‘He improved but not as rapidly as I had expected . I finally began to suspect the penicillin so went out to farm store and bought procaine g which has to be given more often. The change in his behavior on procaine was drastic. he perked up. I continued both baytril and pen g for at least 1.5 months
He has been off drugs for 6 weeks and I see the lethargy setting in, suspect that sneezing will begin soon.
He is just 3 yrs old and the idea of keeping him on an antibiotic regime constantly for his entire life makes me sad.
I have a lot of knowledge on mainstream rabbit medicine but none on alternative treatments like echinacea..I know that we might have to do another antibiotic like chloramphenicol, azithromycin or trimethoprim sulfa but I am asking for suggestions on both alternative (herbal ) and mainstream meds. I do not have an exotic alternative vet in my area.
I apologize for the length of this post.