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FORUM HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Back to the vet – UPDATE 11/15

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    • LBJ10
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        Wooly has an appointment at the end of the week. For those of you who don’t know, we have been having trouble with on and off sneezing/nasal congestion. He seems fine otherwise and there is no sign of discharge, but it still worries me. He has gone through 3 rounds of antibiotics, same one the first 2 times and a different on the last time. I’m going to ask for a culture, although I’m aware it may not give a definitive result. Should I ask for an x-ray too? I worry about tooth roots, but he has no discharge from his eyes at all and no other signs at all.


      • Sarita
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          I think if this is an ongoing problem an x-ray could be helpful. I think since you have not had success it might be helpful to do a culture.


        • Malp_15
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            With all of Nate’s respiratory problems, we’ve pretty much the gamut of tests. His problems were much more severe than what you’re dealing with (from the sounds of it), but I did a culture and sensitivity on him, once we had tried the second antibiotic to no success. The culture came back showing he was infected with both Pasteurella and Bordetella and the sensitivity showed that the only antibiotic he was receptive to was Tetracycline – not one of which we had tried at that point… so it was definitely helpful for us. I ended up getting x-rays done on him and he was given the all clear for pneumonia, dental problems, etc. So it wasn’t really a necessity, but I felt better knowing that I could rule that out.

            Has your vet recommended anything? At the time my vet recommended the culture & sensitivity and said if that came back inconclusive, then we should take xrays. I decided to do both at once, only because when I got him, he was on deaths door.


          • LBJ10
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              No, the vet hasn’t recommended anything yet. Like I said, it seemed pretty minor at first. We tried one antibiotic (Baytril) and did two rounds. Then we tried another. Each time he would get better. Then the congestion would gradually come back. So no, we weren’t doing anything drastic at that point. Before we try more antibiotics though, I was hoping we could do a culture to see if that gave any meaningful results. I asked when I called and they said that was something they could do. I can ask at the appointment if they think an x-ray is necessary at this point.


            • MimzMum
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                I think it’s good you’re getting the C & S. Nasal swabs should be deep to be really effective, sometimes this is not possible except with a little snootful of anesthetic. It should be at least two weeks since his last round of meds to be accurate. I had xrays done on Mimzy after multiple nasal infections/antibiotics/swabs only because we’d run out of other options.
                Baytril is a low level healer, so if it’s something deep in the sinuses or even the bone, this won’t do much. I can’t give injections properly, but Pen-G is supposed to be good for deep tissue infection. Also antibiotics have to be used longer than just the regular ten days or you get nowhere and the germs just build up resistance.
                I’ve found that Mimzy not only has a minor defect in his sinus cavities, (typical in lops), but he seems to be allergic to a lot of hays. 0_0 Kinda sad for a bunny.
                I hope your vet is able to provide some relief for Wooly. Sending healing vibes for him. xx


              • LBJ10
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                  Thanks MimzMum! It has been awhile since his last round of antibiotics. Over a month I think? He was on the last on for 3 weeks.


                • Hazel
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                    Poor Wooly!
                    I’m sorry I have no advice as I have no experience with something like this but I hope your vet can figure this out soon.

                    Sending healing vibes for your boy!


                  • LBJ10
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                      We’re back and Wooly is a Mr Pouty-Pants.

                      We had a very thorough look at his teeth. They look good inside and out. In fact, the vet said they were some of the best teeth seen in there for quite some time. The vet was reluctant to do a culture because they felt it wasn’t going to give very good results. He has no congestion in his chest or trachea, it is just in his sinuses. So it doesn’t seem like there is an active infection going on.

                      The theory: His messed up third eyelid (from when he as a baby) is causing a drainage issue. Too much stuff builds up in his sinuses and leads to an overgrowth of bacteria.

                      The conservative approach is to give him Benedryl to help keep his sinuses dry. I’m supposed to try that for a couple weeks and report back.

                      What do you guys think?


                    • LBJ10
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                        Well, I have mixed up some Benedryl water and I have it in a pitcher for easy refills. I feel bad drugging Leopold too but the vet said it won’t hurt him.


                      • jerseygirl
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                          {{{Wooly Pouty-Pants}}}

                          Mmm…
                          id have mixed feelings on the approach but i tend to overthink things…
                          If his own immune system can deal with build up in bacteria then that’s great! But you certainly don’t want to leave it to long if not seeing results.
                          Have you found the Benadryl has helped so far?

                          Something I’ve learnt: not all Benadryl is the same! Like in the UK the name is used for a different med altogether. Then there is the allergy versions, paediatric version etc etc.
                          It’s the ingredient diphenhydramine that is used in veterinary (that I’m aware of).


                        • LBJ10
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                            What she thinks happened originally was that bacteria built up to the point of causing an infection (sneezing/discharge). He was given antibiotics and Benedryl to start with. The antibiotics cleared it up (eventually, took more than one), but the Benedryl did seem to help with the nasal congestion (you could hear it). After we finished the last round of antibiotics, Wooly seemed good. I stopped the Benedryl too because, like I said, I felt weird about Leopold drinking it too. So this last time, he started to sound congested again. He sneezed a little bit, but not like before. There was no discharge from his nose. The vet said there was no congestion in his trachea or lungs, it was all in his sinuses. That is where the thought that his wonky third eyelid was causing some drainage issues. The hope is that the Benedryl will help dry things up in there so the Bacteria won’t have a chance to build up again.

                            And yes, that is what Benedryl is. I was told to buy the liquid children’s kind and to dilute it in water. The Benedryl water just goes in the water bottle.


                          • LBJ10
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                              *sigh* I think Leopold likes it a little too much. o_O


                            • MimzMum
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                                We used benadryl for Mimzy too. His issues were only marginally resolved with it. We never really found out what was causing his problems.
                                Now that he’s had head tilt I have to presume it was something like E.C.
                                I hope Wooly will feel better soon. And that Leopold doesn’t become a benadryl junkie. ((((((Vibes))))))


                              • Sarita
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                                  What about doing some nose drops?


                                • LBJ10
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                                    Sarita – I might consider that if this doesn’t seem to work. I’m supposed to report back after a couple weeks. With Wooly the little fighter, I figured it was best to try the less stressful route first.

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                                FORUM HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Back to the vet – UPDATE 11/15