Hi, I’m sorry Dobby is going through all of this, but it sounds like he’s in good hands. I haven’t had experience with this (although it’s ironic, because my mother had something that sounds quite similar on her tongue). My impression is that he is getting the right treatment and after a few more weeks he will be out of the woods altogether. Having head tilt get better after one week is very good – so it boosts my confidence in your vet as well.

Hey, you guys, anyone else have experience with yeast noses? Please tell us.

I’m curious as to how you give the anti fungal. Is it an oral med? Could a topical anti-fungal be administered in the ears (or eyes??) and make it’s way into nasal tract at all? Or one that can be administered with a nebuliser perhaps?

Re the antibiotics, I know it can be worrying having your bun on them but I personally wouldn’t do any less then 4 weeks. If bacteria is still a culprit, it can be come trapped in the deep crevices and therefore 1)not always picked up in a culture, 2) take longer for antibiotics to clear and can reinfect if not completely cleared. One of the things that can help with nasal infections is anti-inflammatories. It reduces the swelling allowing other medications to be more effective. I wonder if this is why the baytril was helpful the first time around. OR if it was just the anti-inflammatory (metacam) that stopped the sneezing. 

I’ve also read a decongestant will help infected mucous trapped up in the nose to flow out. Some things to discuss with the vet perhaps.

Just took quick look at your history of threads. Do you think it’s worth having him tested for T. Cuniculi (rabbit syphillis)? I cannot remember if you treated him when Pip had his treatment, sorry.

I was reminded of when bunnytowne was trying get a diagnosis for Cotton years ago. He did have a lesion and I’m pretty sure it was treated as fungal infection originally. Eventually, a vet diagnosed him correctly with rabbit syph.

It’s a pity Dobby reacted badly on the penG. Many do well on it but occasionally, it can cause gi upsets for some bunnies.
Or could it have been stress reaction also, I wonder? There are some alternative abx that can be used to treat syhp. PenG is usually choice as is the most effective.

If you were to try another course, are you comfortable to give them yourself at home?

On penG topic, I’m actually treating my bun with it currently. He is on daily metacam too though. I’m pretty certain he stopped sneezing once starting on the penicillin. This was just an added bonus as the abx was being used for his facial abscess. He’s been a long term sneezer with no discharge that was always written off as allergy. I now think he had chronic infection all along.
I was advised by some rabbit-savvy owners that injectables are often needed alongside oral abx to really make an impact.

Yeast is a common “side-effect” or rather consequence of abx-treatment, but I’ve never heard of it in a bunny-nose before. It’s not uncommon in bunny ears though. Yeast gets the opportunity to colonize tissues when the bacteria normally residing there have been killed off by abx. And while the whole point of giving abx is for the bad bacteria to be killed off, abx don’t know the difference between good and bad bact so it kills indiscriminately.

It can be difficult for meds to reach the site of infection though, bacteria can linger passively in the nasal cavity and sinuses and start to grow as soon as you stop the abx. So I think perhaps a decongestant like Jersey suggests could be beneficial to help make mucus more liquid so the abx get better penetrance. Mucus is good “soil” for bacteria. When humans get pneumonia secondary to a common cold it’s often because they have thick mucus in their airways where bacteria can thrive (nice warm moist environment). The thick mucus makes it hard for the lungs to self-clean and provides excellent conditions for microbial growth.

If the decongestant you tried didn’t make a difference before, I doubt it will now. You don’t want to give more meds than needed of course, so I’d hold off on it and go with the yeast-treatment and the syphilis-test. You seem to have a good vet, it’s always great when your vet has bunnies of his/her own!

Sending him many vibes (((((Dobby)))))

Thanks for this. Really interesting that your vet has seen this in her rabbits and had a resolution by treating yeast. Great to hear it’s starting to take effect for Dobby!

I’m due at vet this week and definitely will be mentioning yeast and respiratory symptoms to see what his thoughts are. Might be something to test for in one or two of my rabbits currently.

Keep us updated on Dobby’s progress.

Thank you for the update! We are very interested. I’m glad to hear he’s doing better, absolutely fingers crossed that it will all be gone when his treatment is finished!

*bump*
Any further improvement with Dobby?