preventative antibiotics after a bunny died from pneumonia

[LakeCondo]

Sammy, at zazzle.com you can make your own design for many of their items, including tees.

 

[Samara]

Cool!

 

[LakeCondo]

At zazzle.com, just be sure to enter "pet rabbits" not just "rabbits" or you'll get some hunting pictures.

I got a bunch of refrig magnets when I was getting Honey. If you put 2 of them back to back, you can use them like a pin on a pocket, without any holes in your clothes. [on a pocket because you don't want the corners of a magnet against the skin]

 

[LakeCondo]

At zazzle.com, just be sure to enter "pet rabbits" not just "rabbits" or you'll get some hunting pictures as well.

I got a bunch of refrig magnets when I was getting Honey. If you put 2 of them back to back, you can use them like a pin on a pocket, without any holes in your clothes. [on a pocket because you don't want the corners of a magnet against the skin]

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Samara, that comment is so kind, but taking care of our buns is just what any responsible owner does, right? And if you make a T shirt, you have to show us! You know those decals you see on people's back car windows with cute little stick figures of the person's family members? I want to get one with OUR family: man, woman, 6 little bunnies Saw some at Zazzle (I think) but not the right number of bunnies.

 

[Samara]

Stickers would rock!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Thought maybe I should update. I think my babies are going to be okay! What a relief! None of them have shown any signs of illness since Rory and Kerensa had runny noses. They actually haven't had runny noses since the night before we went to the vet. This is at least the 4th time that I've taken a pet to the vet with some kind of an issue only to have the issue completely go away after the visit! Better that than having them actually be sick though I guess.

Sweet Nomi died 18 days ago and I'm starting to relax a bit about them getting sick with what she had since it's been almost 3 weeks now and the vet said that the types of bacteria Nomi had were not pathogenic.

 

[LakeCondo]

Thanks for the update. I'm sure it is a relief.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Oh great, Phoebe Mae is out to prove me wrong! She has the slightest clear runny nose (it's actually damp rather than runny, you can't really tell by looking but when you touch under her nose your finger gets a little wet) and is occasionally doing little sneeze things. Several in a row, like 5 or so and she's had 4 little fits of this in the past hour and a half. Doesn't sound exactly like a sneeze and is fairly quiet. Sounds kind of snotty. Not wheezing. I don't know how to describe it! It doesn't seem to be causing any discharge and she doesn't wash her face after. Creeping me out! She's just been doing this since this morning. I listened to her lungs and they sounded seemingly normal to me but who knows? Going to give her a little bit of time in case she just got something in her nose, but if she's still doing this in a bit I will call the vet and ask what she thinks.

Suppressing the urge to whisk her cage away upstairs so she's not around the other bunnies... She's always been around them so I imagine if she has something, they've all been exposed by now!

I'm lying on the couch working on a project on my lap top, and she is directly in my line of sight behind the computer. That's convenient for CONSTANT observation, at least!

UPDATE: Okay, she's been looking like she's chewing something for the past 15 minutes or so but she doesn't have any food in front of her and hasn't had any cecals. I'm going to go investigate! Wonder if she'll open her mouth for me? And it's definitely chewing, not teeth grinding.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Okay, too late to update the previous post. I held her on her back in my arms like a baby and used a Q tip to pry her mouth open (she is currently not very happy with me). Didn't see anything in her mouth, BUT her front bottom teeth are not wearing perfectly even. Bunny teeth are weird and I've seen them go from not perfectly evenly worn to perfect in a few days (and the other way around), so I'm not TOO worried, but perhaps she is having some dental issues rather than respiratory? I just gave her another chew stick (apple wood) and she's chewing on it. I know that wouldn't help molars though if she's having a problem with them. Perhaps some thicker hay like brome hay would help?

Not to worry, OF COURSE I will take her to the vet if it seems necessary. I do not deny my bun buns medical care! Just want to get a bit more info and watch for a bit first.

 

[LakeCondo]

At least dental issues aren't contagious.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

That's absolutely right, LakeCondo. Of course I don't want her to have dental issues, but that it seems less scary (and less contagious!) than respiratory issues.

I'm thinking more that it's her teeth. She just did the weird series of repeated sound again that I mentioned earlier, but this time she was actually facing me and I could see her jaw moving. I think it's the sound of her grinding her molars together 4 or 5 times in rapid succession rather than a snorting/sneezing/wheezing sound. She's very inconsistent with it- 4 times in an hour, then nothing for 5 hours... Glad I got to see her head on this time, before it was always from the side and it just looked like she was moving her head like when you sneeze or sniffle!

Edit: She did it again. It's definitely her teeth. I can see her moving her jaw from side to side. Poor dear!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

My poor girly! She's having a hard time tonight. Nose is runnier than before and she's doing the molar chomping and doesn't want to eat her hay, though she did eat her pellets. We got her some oat hay and orchard grass in addition to timothy but I think her molars are just hurting too much. It kills me every time I hear her grind her teeth, it's so loud and it must hurt a lot Hopefully the vet can get her in quickly and do whatever needs to be done! Guessing anesthetize her and grind them down? What next if they grow back and bother her more? Ugh.

 

[Samara]

Maybe they can be ground down, like you said. A last resort might be to simply have the vet remove them. It would mean amending her diet in the future...I'm not sure how that would work? Has anyone had a rabbit without molars before?

 

[LakeCondo]

How old is she & what breed?

I know you don't want to go through any more problems, but grinding the teeth down usually works eventually.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Do you guys think I should make a new thread since this is a dental problem, not a respiratory problem? I want to hear from others whose bunnies have had the same thing and the current title isn't very helpful.

We just got up 15 minutes ago (9:30 here) and Phoebs is eating hay right now. I called the vet and the earliest appointment is for 9 am on Wednesday, so that's when we're going in.

Oh yeah, Phoebs is a 3 years, 8 months old and a Holland Lop-Mini Rex mix. She basically looks like a Mini Rex with normal fur. Up until now she has been perfectly healthy.

 

[LakeCondo]

Yes, I'd start a new post.

So she's not a breed that tends to have dental problems & is neither very young or very old, the ages that seem to have the most dental problems. So my guess is that it can be straightened out easier than if it seemed genetic.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I wonder if the oat hay is working. We didn't get home from work/school until 4 hours ago, but have not heard her do the grinding and her nose is less runny. I looked at her incisors and they are wearing straight again. We will be taking her to the vet in the morning anyway, but it is interesting.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Phoebsie update! The vet said her bottom molars are a little long but she couldn't see any spurs or injuries. She agreed that the oat hay is probably helping and said to just keep on giving her the oat hay. She told me one way to check if Phoebe possibly has molar spurs is to manually move her lower jaw from side to side and feel if it catches at all. If Phoebe's nose gets runnier or she seems to get worse, she will be sedated and have her teeth ground down, but for now she seems to be improving. Also, cheapest vet bill ever paid by me- $52. Yay!

 

[ArdenBunny]

Wow! I just read the whole thread. :shock: Good grief! You deserve a vacation after having to deal with all of that (a free one, since you spent all that money on vet bills)!

I hope everybunny is still doing ok. What a nightmare!

:mrsthumper: