The Bunny in the Plastic Bubble

[wendyzski]

My little plague-bunny (pasteurella multocida) bun has been on chloramphenicol since May and STILL has sneezes and snifflies when we take her off it for more than 3 weeks.  So we went back to the vet today and she got a full blood workup and a couple of the vets worked out some ideas.  So today we start her on a sulfa med and she’s also supposed to have a nebulized medication twice a day for the next week and then once a day after that. 

(A nebulizer takes a medication and makes it an aerosol so that it can be breathed in.  When they asked me, I told them that I have asthma and have my own nebulizer and compressor at home already, so they decided to give this a try.)

As it wasn’t very likely that I could convince her to wear a little mask, they suggested that I put her in her carrier and then put the carrier in a plastic trash bag and administer the meds that way. But I got to thinking and realized that I might have a better idea – more effort in the beginning but less hassle for both of us at each threatment.

So I took a large clear plartic tote with a lid and cut a small hole in the side, just the size of the nozzle/mouthpiece.  I’ve sealed around the hole with packing tape.  This way I can load up the machine, chase down the bun, and plop her in the box (probably with something heavy on the lid) and she can have her treatment in relative comfort.  I’ve put a nice clean chewed-up towel in the bottom for her to take our her frustrations on, and some apple-wood sticks to chew if she gets bored.  She’ll have to stay in there for about 15 minutes at a time.

There’s some kind of joke about Pepper and I sitting on the couch sharing an inhaler but I’m too stressed at the moment to think about it.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

WOW How creative! I’m glad your vets are so helpful! When I read the word nebulizer-I’m like…how is this going to work…Your doing a great job!!! That’s a great idea with the tote {{VIBES}} for plaque bunny And *hugs*

[2lops]

Wow, what a good idea! Glad you considered her comfort as well as being very creative!
*kudos to you!! (: * && best wishes to you and Pepper!

[KatnipCrzy]

Great idea and much more hygienic than a plastic bag over carrier.  Does the nebulizer deliver oxygen also?  Otherwise you may need a small vent for air exchange.  I am not familiar with nebulizers or how they work, but at my vet clinic we use a 10 gallon fish tank with an acrylic cover that latches on and the anesthetic tubes attach to it to induce anesthesia on a small animal that we can not touch to inject or apply mask to face.  We used to have a hedgehog that came in that needed nail trims and we would have to “tank” him down first to get him to come out of his protective ball to even get to his feet to trim his little nails.  15 minutes is not very long at all- but I know that if we are treating an animal in the tank with pure oxygen for extended periods (like using an oxygen tent) the temperature in the tank raises due to body heat, etc.  But 15 minutes should be no problem at all unless it is maybe really hot in your apartment.  Also, the smaller the container the more concentrated the treatment would be I would think- or at least it would affect her sooner as there is less “space” to dilute the treatment.

Thanks for sharing your idea- that is a great idea and so much better than a carrier and plastic bag, I hope my rambling made sense to you.   I hope these treatments help Pepper

[wendyzski]

The nebulizer mixes the medicine with fresh air that comes from the compressor, so no worry about her running out of air in that short a time.  It ends up looking like a little fog machine.  Some places online suggested making a “mask” out of part of a 2liter bottle, but I can’t imagine that would go over very well.

She’s definitely not feeling well, but I can’t tell if it’s from the blood draw, the sulfa, the neb-meds, or some combination.  She’s been hiding in a cardboard box next to the bed all afternoon and evening. I brought her her  pumpkin-and-med mush, and later water and pellets and she ate and drank but didn’t come out.    Tried to syringe her some extra water but she struggled and was making congested snorting noises so I let her alone again.  I found a couple of mis-shapen very dry poops in there, so I’m concerned, but hopefully she just needs a quiet place to recover and/or sulk.

Pretty sure *I’m* not going to get a lot of sleep tonight

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Sulfa drugs are supposed to be very good {{Vibes}}

[bunnytowne]

Wow what an idea. Beats trying to syringe it down their throats.             When I first read you headline I thougth of that old movie boy in the plastic bubble.    And thought what the hay.  

Then I saw the diagram of the nebulizer stuff and thought oh my gosh poor bun has asthma I never heard of a bun with asthma b4.

Finally I read your post and thougth wow great idea.  Sounds easy to do.  Hope she gets well soon.  And stays well.  Poor bun is probably thinking why does the air stink.   Everytime Mum puts me in here my air stinks. 

So when are you goiing to start sharing your nebulizer.  Inhaling on the couch while watching scary movies.  Hehe.

Well as long as it is helping her and she gets better thats great.

[wendyzski]

Apparently the solution has a bit of antibiotic, a bit of bronchodialator, and a touch of anti-mucus stuff.

She’s come out of her box and is eating hay.  I tossed and turned all night – I think I woke up every hour to check on her, so at the moment I think she probably feels better than I do.

[KatnipCrzy]

Keeping you worried and sleepless was probably your punishment for taking Pepper to the vet- now that you have suffered enough, she is easing up on you.  I think bunnies are master mind manipulators, excellent at guilt, playing innocent, and the art of spending large amounts of concentration to ignore something.  

[bunnytowne]

Katnip thats funny .   Too true.   Is the bun feeling more better?   Sounds good that bun is eating good.  Must be working.

[Beka27]

oh wow! that’s very inventive! you’re such an attentive bunny mama!

*hugs!*

[Scarlet_Rose]

Wendyzski, thank you so much for sharing this valuable information! I am very sorry to hear about your stress.

[wendyzski]

She’s started putting up quite a fuss when she’s in there.  That poor towel!  But i figure that fussing means she’s feeling better – MUCH better than lying there limp when I picked her up for her first few treatments.  I’d pick her up by her ribcage and she’s just HANG there

So I’m not sure if it’s the neb, the sulfa, or both but we’re making some slow progress.  She still came up on the couch tonight for pettins so she may yet forgive me one day.

[Scarlet_Rose]

OMGosh, that is so sad. It sounds like you’ve done a great job trying to make it easier on her (and you). Keep up the good work, is breathing and clearing the airways the biggest concern now? Have you tried some aroma-therapy like lavender oil to calm her or do you think that would help or interfere with her treatment? My other thought is that is she not supposed to eat during her treatment? My other thought would be give her something yummy like mint to munch on while she is undergoing treatment.

[Sarita]

When I had to nebulize a bunny I made a little nebulizer cage out of a plastic box to put the nebulizer in but I like the carrier idea better. The towel worked great in the box I had too because it gave Jazz something to torment while he was being nebulized. I think I used amakacin for my nebulizer.

[wendyzski]

Posted By Sarita on 01/05/2009 5:38 AM
When I had to nebulize a bunny I made a little nebulizer cage out of a plastic box to put the nebulizer in but I like the carrier idea better. The towel worked great in the box I had too because it gave Jazz something to torment while he was being nebulized. I think I used amakacin for my nebulizer.

Amakacin is what’s in her solutuion.  She also has the towel to beat the crap out of while she’s in there.  I put some apple twigs for nibbling, but about half the time she seems to me using them to bang on the sides of the tub!

The twice-daily game of grab-the-bunny is getting real old as she seems to be getting better or at least livelier.

[wendyzski]

Posted By Scarlet_Rose on 01/04/2009 8:30 PM
OMGosh, that is so sad. It sounds like you’ve done a great job trying to make it easier on her (and you). Keep up the good work, is breathing and clearing the airways the biggest concern now? Have you tried some aroma-therapy like lavender oil to calm her or do you think that would help or interfere with her treatment? My other thought is that is she not supposed to eat during her treatment? My other thought would be give her something yummy like mint to munch on while she is undergoing treatment.

She gets a raisin or her papaya tab right after every treatment, before I even take her out of the box.  I already give her twice-daily meds with a dab of pumpkin and the probiotic goes on her evening pellets.

The neb is to get the meds all the way down as the oral antibiotics weren’t doing the whole job.  She’d test negative, we’d take her off the meds, and 3 weeks later she’d be snuffling again.  So this is the “shock and awe” campaign I think.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

OMG that’s so sad she was just laying there!! I can’t imagine *hugs* sounds like she’s much better already though-beating the side of the tub like that heheh

[wendyzski]

Awwwwwww…

Pepper seems to be feeling better after some days on the new meds and the nebulizer. At least if you judge such things by the increasing difficulty of the twice-daily game of Catch-The-Bunny as well as in the increasing number of holes in the towel in the bottom of the nebulizer box. (Take THAT you…you….TOWEL!!! )

But there was a moment this evening that I HAD to share.

The last few times she’s taken to scratching at the sides of the tub lemmeoutlemmeoutoutout!!! I could hear her all the way down the hallway. I thought that perhaps she might be frightened, so I went and laid down next to the tub where she could see me and began talking to her in my “bunny voice” (come on – you ALL have one!).

She scrabbled two more times, but then settled down to look at me. In about a minute she started grooming herself, with occasional towel-nibbles and THUMPS to make sure I knew she was still Not Pleased About This.

But it was a clear case of at least a touch of “It’s OK, momma’s here” and I wibbled.

[jerseygirl]

Aww….your are a treasure and she really does love you!

[Lightchick]

Poor Pepper…and you! You’re such a good bunny-momma! (Even though Pepper guilt-trips you otherwise…)

Hang in there, both of you!

[wendyzski]

Pepper was feeling MUCH better this morning TYVM and there was absolutely no need for her to go to that icky vet-place. She was very clear on that subject!     *bleeds*

When I began the ritual game of catch-the-bunny, she was quite perturbed. She was growling and squeaking and attacking the broom I was using to “encourage” her to come out from under the bed. I finally managed to get her out and herded her into a corner to grab her and stuff her in the carrier.

Dr. KissyVet (her name is Dr. Grabowski but she sneaks in little kissies when giving an exam, so that’s how I think of her now) was very encouraged by what she saw. She’s been on sulfa-septra-something for three weeks now. It’s been nearly two weeks since I have even HEARD a sneeze, and her eyes and ears look clear. She’s lost a little weight and had some more tooth-point issues – They had me look through the little scope to see them and owie those look like no fun!  I noticed she was eating less when she first went on the meds, but she’s eating like a little piggy now and the new batch of hay that I opened last week is much stemmier than the old one so that should help her toothies some. I’ll pull out some more apple twigs as well – I am lucky enought to have a friend who uses no pesticides and did a LOT of pruning last fall.

As of today we’re going off all meds (though I’ll give her another couple doses of the probiotic to make sure things are getting back to normal. In the past, she got sick again in 3 weeks after dropping the antibiotics, so I’ll watch her closely. If she starts sneezing a bit I’m supposed to pop her back in the nebulizer-box with an amakacin solution once a day up to 3 times a week. It’s hoped that this might keep a flare-up under control without having to put her back on a systemic medication. She’s been on one antibiotic or another for almost 10 months now, and that’s pretty rough on her system.

I am cautiously optimistic. I’m pretty sure she’ll be chronic with this the rest of her life, but it seems for now that it can be managed and kept under relative control. As soon as we got back home she went straight back under the bed to sulk.  I pushed a nice plate of greens under there for her as a reward, and about 10 minutes later I went back in there and the empty plate was pushed back out into the middle of the room.  “You may clear the table now, but I’m STILL not coming out!”   She didn’t come out for anything except a quick snack or littlerbox run until sometime on Sunday.  They can sulk with the best of them!

[Sarita]

I’m glad she is doing better – I agree that this condition probably will never go away but will be able to be controlled.

That’s cute that your vet sneaks in kisses to Ms. Pepper too.

[wendyzski]

I’m OK with seeing any of the vets at this practice, but I am particularly happy when I draw Dr. KissyVet, cuz I can see how much she cares for her patients.

[jerseygirl]

haha! Love that she pushed the plate back out! Dr KissyVet sounds great and how lucky are you to get to look at the tooth points! Great that a vet get you so involved at the exam.

[bunnytowne]

O hthis is good  news.  She is feeling much better.  Hopefully it won’t come back thistime.  Yes thats funny I am done now here’s the place. they sure have a personality.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

LOL Rupert does that when he’s ‘finished’ too Glad she’s doing so well!

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