Puss crust

[Courtney Hubbert]

Bunny has respiratory infection, vetc gave us meds to treat it. Bunny isn't takin it and now barely eating or drinking. Bunny has puss crust in his nose, the damp cloth didn't do much. Bunny is breathing harder. Should we go back to the vet for more critical care? I'm at a loss as to what to do, I've been staying with him for 24 hours now and have gotten barely any antibiotics in his mouth (maybe 15% of full 12 dose of 1.5) and he's eaten a few oats with the critical care mix on some pieces tried to trick the bunny. 2 weeks ago bunny was treated for ear mites which have been clearly up and was supposed to get another treatment in a week and a half. Bunny is not neutered

 

[JBun]

You need to go back to the vet. With the increased respiratory effort, the vet will need to check that this hasn't developed into pneumonia, and if it's just clogged nasal passages the vet can help possibly clean that out. The vet may be able to prescribe a mucolytic like bisolvon, to help thin the mucous and making it easier for your rabbit to breath, and if you aren't already giving meloxicam as an anti inflammatory, I would request that as well. The vet may also need to switch antibiotics if it's affecting your rabbits eating.

You have to get the antibiotics into him or the infection won't clear up. And if your bun isn't eating well on his own then regular syringe feeding of the critical care is absolutely necessary, even if your rabbit doesn't like it and fights it. If he doesn't get enough food into him, his digestive tract will slow down and he could develop stasis or even hepatic lipidosis. If you aren't comfortable with or having success getting the meds and critical care into him, then you need your vet to help show you how to get this accomplished.

 

[Courtney Hubbert]

wrapped bunny in a towel and was able to give bunny a dose of both meds, just fed bunny second serving of critical care mix. If I can keep this up will the fast hard breathing stop? Bunnis eyes don't seem to focus but is letting me clean the eyes and nose but the puss crust is really stuck in the fur around the nose, bunny won let check feet to see if they are crusty. Bunny also isn't clicking teeth together as much as before is that a good sign?

 

[Courtney Hubbert]

Bunny keeps tilting head and seems like bunny balance is off

 

[JBun]

Tilting to the back or to the side?

If he is tilting it back or lifting it up and mouth breathing at all, you need to get him to the vet immediately, as he has likely developed pneumonia, a critical illness in rabbits. Which would also explain why he is having fast hard breathing.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Illness/Pneumonia/Pneumon_en.htm (contains medical related photos)
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm

If he is tilting it to the side and off balance, then he likely has an inner/middle ear infection as well, which is also very serious. If you don't get your rabbit to the vet tonight, I would go or call first thing tomorrow.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Otit/otitis.htm

 

[Courtney Hubbert]

Just came back from vet after cleaning nose and giving a hydration injection under the skin, bunny seemed to perk up wasn't laying down. Bunny had another feeding of critical care mix and dose of antibiotics before the vet visit and after bunny had another feeding of critical care mix with the added suggestion to fill a syringe with water and feed it to bunny as bunny isn't drinking or eating execpt the meds as previously mentioned. Vet said if we keep it up we will see a difference in a few days and will call Monday to check in. Vet also wants to xray he is concerned bunny may also have pneumonia but didn't xray due to bunnies current condition too much stress is bad for recovering. Am I doing the right things? Is there anything else I can do? Is there anything that help his breathing? I read a bowl of hot water with a bit of Vicks is okay for bunnies to sit near under supervison of course but is that true?

 

[JBun]

A humidifier or steam from a hot shower(don't put in the shower) can sometimes help. I don't know about the bowl with vicks. Making sure bun is getting the antibiotics is the most important thing as that is what's going to control the respiratory infection.

I would continue to keep a very close eye on breathing. You can see in the links above what it looks like when a rabbit is struggling to breath. They will often raise their head up and will mouth breath. If you see any signs of this or other signs of deterioration, I would get to the vet immediately. With it being the weekend, it would be good to have the name of an emergency vet on hand that treats rabbits just in case.

If bun seems to do well over the weekend and is improving come Monday, I would probably skip the xrays as it's not likely to change the treatment the vet is already giving. If your bun is worse, then yes xrays may be helpful, though I'm not sure it would change treatment any. If your bun worsens or does have pneumonia and increased difficulty breathing, I would want to start nebulizing and oxygen therapy.

I'm glad you were able to get administering meds and critical care worked out. I would just suggest when giving meds, critical care, and water, to go slowly giving your bun plenty of time to chew and swallow, so as to reduce the risks of aspiration occurring, which would be a very bad thing to happen, especially for a bun already having breathing difficulties.

 

[majorv]

There is a trick to giving meds by syringe to rabbits. Our Tans were difficult to give meds to but by holding them against us and putting the syringe in the space behind their back teeth we had an easier time of it.

 

[Courtney Hubbert]

Bunny is improving slowly breathing is not laboured and taking meds a lot better. Bunny is pooping and peeing more but not in the cage. I set a video camera in the room to watch what happens when I sleep and the bunny does go in the cage. Still not eating or drinking on its own yet but does seem like there's more energy. Bunnies nosee it leaking a lot of what looks like puss the vet showed me how to clean it better with a q-tip and bought infant nasal drops. Also bought a high performance air purification unit. I will try the shower as bunny took over our second washroom it's perfect (rescued bunny in ice storm last year) it's my first bunny so I'm still learning but I think bunny is going to okay it's just a working progress right now. Thank for your help and advice I appreciate it with all my heart THANK YOU! I will keep updates coming.