Antibiotics/second opinion? somewhat urgent

[BaileyBun]

 Logan’s vet called, talked to me for about 30 seconds, and told me that she wants to put him on another round of Baytril.  Same dose, same length of time.  She asked if he showed any improvement in his last course of Baytril, and I said that the sneezing had decreased but the runny nose was there the whole time… and actually, he started sneezing a lot again even before the antibiotics were done.  His sneezing levels are so up and down anyway that maybe he was just having a few good days during the time he was taking Baytril, and now something’s aggravating him again.  I’m just wondering why she would prescribe the exact same thing a second time.  Should I get a second opinion?  Am I totally not understanding how antibiotics work??  

WAIT- I just had a lightbulb moment!  I took the buns to my boyfriend’s apartment nearby so I could make sure Logan was getting his antibiotics roughly 12 hours apart.  The sneezing was very infrequent when he was there.  I moved them back to my dorm room toward the end of his round of meds, which is when the sneezing started up again.  That makes it seem like his problem is more like allergies… 

What to do?  Call the vet again to see if that makes a difference in her prescription??  I feel like they’re sick of me calling and being pesky about Logan 

[Sarita]

Sometimes it can take longer for the antibiotic to work. I would ask her what your next course of action will be if you find this does not work.

I don’t know how you can test for allergies in rabbits but I’m sure they can get these as well not sure what the symptoms would be and how to test for this of course.

If it were me, I would be inclined to ask for a culture and sensitivity test at this point.

[RabbitPam]

I think it’s fine to call her since you have new, and significant, information to tell her. Having told her about the difference in the apartments, ask if she still thinks the Baytril is what he should take (I agree that many anti-bios need a longer dose to be fully effective) or if she wants to do the tests Sarita mentioned to see if it’s something different, ie. an allergy.

[RabbitPam]

By the way, you can do some tests of your own, by removing possible allergens. I would start with anything that is scented: candles, hair sprays, perfumes, anything that your dorm room might have that is airborne in the confined space. Then I’d move to what’s surrounding her environment, and see if there’s something holding in an allergen. Look for non-bunny stuff that you might not have noticed. It could be something as simple as a sprinkled foot powder. Think low to the ground, as if you were a breathing bunny. You might be able to solve the mystery yourself, or at least improve her condition. Just subtract things and watch for the sneezing to lessen.

[jerseygirl]

Really interesting that you noticed a difference out of the dorms. Might be worth testing that again.

If it is allergy related – the baytril might have helped take care of anything (minor infections) that developed just because he was gunky. Could you try some baby benadryl?

Do you still have timothy hay in the room anywhere? What’s the ventilation like in the dorm rooms? Rabbits can even get irritations from their own urine if ventilation is poor but this in more in unventilated cage situations.

[BaileyBun]

Thanks everyone. I called to give them the extra info, and I talked to one of the nurses for a bit about it. He agreed that this is useful for the vet to know, but she was busy, so they told me she would give me a call. They’re closed now, and no call… frustrating! She’s in tomorrow, so I’ll just keep being persistent.
I don’t have classes on Monday, so I’m going to do some major cleaning this weekend. RabbitPam, I was kneeling down in their expen area to clean today, and all of his little accident spots are getting smelly- not from my height, but definitely from low to the ground (I clean it up with carpet cleaner every time I spot an accident, but between lingering urine and the chemicals, it seems likely that he could be bothered by that). I’m thinking of buying something to put over the carpet, like a yoga mat (they don’t chew on my yoga mat, so I think they’ll be okay with it), or maybe a chair mat, so I can do a better job of cleaning up. The old hay is in a storage bin with a lid (I’m handing it over to someone on campus with guinea pigs), so I don’t think the dust from that is getting in the air. We actually switched to timothy hay, because that bothered him less than the other hays we tried (it’s 2nd cut, smells delicious, and amazingly doesn’t aggravate my allergies), so I leave that hay bin uncovered. Doesn’t seem to bother him when he shoves his face in it My boyfriend bought a HEPA filter for my room, and he’s bringing it over this weekend.
I didn’t know that buns can take benadryl- good suggestion! I found this page, too: http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/benadryl.html. Is the baby benadryl something I need to check with a vet first, or can I try some tonight?

[Sarita]

I would always check with the vet before giving any medication even if it’s over the counter.

[Author]

Messages