Seventh time with Pasturella.

[AmberW]

Hi there.

I have a Netherland dwarf I’ve had for about six/seven years. She has a bonded partner. A male white dwarf. He’s a little runty.

Anyway. Dustbunny, the rabbit in question has had seven (possibly six, I’ve had trouble keeping track.) pasturella infections. She gets them from sudden changes in temperature, mostly. And stress. I’ve had her blood paneled, they said it was pasteurellosis, and that she was also anemic and allergic to herself. To the best of my knowledge, at this time she was tested for E Cuniculi as well. But I’ve heard they aren’t always accurate, and this test did not come back with her being positive.

I’ve ended up moving away from my normal vet, so I took her to one here. She had the normal head tilt, bulging eye. However she was rolling and nystagmus. However she’s never had nystagmus before and never rolled. (Last year she had an infection and kind of just laid on her side, her “rolling” wasn’t really rolling, she just. Couldn’t stay up. Now it’s so bad.) She was not sneezing this time and had almost no nose discharge.

The vet hardly knew anything, not to be rude. But I pretty much was like ‘Just give me Baytril and I’ll be on my way.’ And they did. .2 ml a day, twice a day. Two weeks. (They gave me only enough for a week, however, I’m going back tomorrow and getting some more. No way did I accidentally somehow waste a weeks worth.) They also gave me baytril ear drops, since the vet didn’t tell me which ear, I’ve been doing both. I’ve honestly forgotten which was the ear that always gave her trouble. It’s been a week with this sickness, and she’s still rolling. Her nystagmus has stopped. She’s eating fine, drinking fine. I’ve had to hand feed and water her for a few days because she was unable to find the bowl. She’s her normal feisty self. She’s very talkative, she grunts and talks to me and I’m able to tell her mood because of this. She’s grinded her teeth a few times, so I know she’s been in pain, but I feel terrible for not being able to do anything.

I’m really unsure what to do here, the symptoms are different from her normal pasturella infections, and she’s been on the antibiotics for a week and not shown any sigificant sign of improvement other then the nystagmus.

I’ve read about a horse de wormer I can give her in case its e cuniculi, and there not being any side effects if she doesn’t have it. I’m also going to ask my vet about giving me fenbendazole, which is the same thing, but for rabbits. I’m refusing to pay for another blood panel, because their expensive, and my new vet has already bled my dry of money. I’ve spent thousands on this tiny rabbits in the years I’ve had her, I just want her better. I’ve got no money to spend on any thing for her anymore, I’ve been having trouble staying afloat myself.

Does anyone have any advice? Should I get another weeks worth of antibiotics and just wait it out? 

It’s been breaking my heart to see her roll, and then continue to roll and eventually just lay on her side out of exhaustion. I’m so worried about what to do.

[Monkeybun]

well, pasturella isn’t curable, so she’s only ever had one infection. It just flares up at times. best thing is to treat symptoms, and the antibiotics can help with that during flare ups.

[jerseygirl]

Yeah, its chronic with flare ups unfortunately. So keeping her in environment where you can maintain a stable temperature might help. Had baytril been effective in the past? I know you don’t wish to do further blood panels but what about culture and sensitivity test to find the most appropriate antibiotic? When she was tested for pasteurellosis before, did the lab results suggest more then one antibiotic that could be used? If baytril is no longer effective, it might be time to move onto another.

With a bulging eye, I would suggest some head xrays to rule out an abscess behind the eye. They can often stem from the upper tooth root, into the sinus area and behind the eye. It’s common to find pasteurella species of bacteria in abscess infections I believe. A thymoma in the chest are can also cause bulging eye. Im not certain, but a vet may be able to investigate that by palpatation but it may require chest xray too.  I know this could all be expensive.   I think though, if you have a consult with a truly rabbit savvy vet, they may be able to give their opinion from just a straight forward check up and then you can decide on diagnostic test from there or they might be happy to proceed with treatment for whatever they suspect.

If you feel comfortable doing so, post your general location here and some members might be able to reccommend a good vet for you.

[Sarita]

It is definitely chronic if it is indeed Pasturella and some rabbits are just more likely to get symptomatic.

I agree you would be wasting your money doing a blood panel for EC – better to just treat. I would treat for both – maybe you should consider doing pen-g shots instead of baytril as well – speak to the vet about this.

I agree as well with Jersey – talk to the vet about the possibilities she mentions.

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