Bactrim for snuffles? + any natural remedies?

[Oliverhunbun]

Hey everyone, this is my first post!
I just got my flemish giant Oliver last week and he is suffering from the snuffles already. I took him in to the vet the second day I had him and he was put on baytril that did nothing for him. Before the baytril he only had a wet nose, but during treatment, he started getting discharge under his nose that would stick to the fur there. I couldn’t tell if it had a color because he is “sandy” his fur is light brown but it did stain the fur darker. I took a pic but dont know how to post it. Anyways, today he made two weird noises. Once while I was carrying him and it sounded like a reverse dog sneeze and then once while he was on the ground it sounded like he was breathing in but it was long and squeeky. I called my vet but because I really don’t have any more money (im a minor and saved up $200 for him and his supplies. he was $100 so since the price was so high I was definitely not expecting him to be sick) I can’t come in for a revisit but he prescribed bactrim. The vet I go to is the only one within 10 miles that will see my rabbit but he’s not very rabbit savvy, however, I do trust him because he saved my past guinea pig from a URI. I only got to talk to the receptionist on the phone not the actual vet so he also didn’t really give me any insight on what the drug is like or anything. I’m so stressed trying to do research but there is not much to find. I found that it works great for pneumonia and uti but nothing on uri…………  If anyone who has used it could please comment about their experience and some natural things that I can give him while he is on the antibiotic that will better help him fight the snuffles, it would be greatly appreciated! He is also only 10 weeks old so I dont want to give him veggies or anything. I have given him some but he got diarrhea and a grumbling stomach so I stopped. I also have been adding Apple cider vinegar to his water bowl and he drinks a lot. He is also still acting very healthy. He binkies, eats, eats his poos, etc. like a normal bunny but his head bobs whenever he breathes, his nose is always wet, and he was making those weird sounds today. I also noticed his third eyelid is constantly showing but someone told me that is normal. He does get crust in the front corner of both eyes too so I was wondering if there is anything cheap or over the counter that could stop that? Thanks so much and sorry for the super long post.

[LBJ10]

How old is he?

[Oliverhunbun]

He is 10 weeks and was born on feb 26

[Oliverhunbun]

I’m also wondering because he is only being prescribed it for ten days, if I should push for a longer prescription? Ive seen a lot of the time that bunnies are put on longterm prescriptions when they have uri

[jerseygirl]

I was just thinking that.. Sometimes the duration is too short. The vet may just being cautious and since he’s a young rabbit, his gut is still developing good gut bacteria. Getting something like benebac wouldn’t be a bad idea.

How long was he on the baytril for?

Is it getting warmer where you live?  Rabbits that have chronic snuffly issues often get flare ups in the warmer months. So keeping the air cooler and humid might help some. 

[Oliverhunbun]

he was only on baytril for 7 days but I noticed that while he was on it, nothing changed and he actually got worse with the discharge and eyes so Im thinking that maybe that was not the right antibiotic for him but I havent found anything about anyone having better luck with bactrim. yeah where I live the weather is really weird. It was raining yesterday but today was super hot. Things like that are always happening here. I have a fan in my room but it irritates my eyes and I was thinking that if what he has is allergies then it might make him worse so I do put it on but only for a few hours when it gets too stuffy in the room. I’ll pick up some benebac after the vets tomorrow. Will it be ok if I still give him acv in his water? I don’t want to overwhelm his immune system with so many different new things

[Oliverhunbun]

he was only on baytril for 7 days but I noticed that while he was on it, nothing changed and he actually got worse with the discharge and eyes so Im thinking that maybe that was not the right antibiotic for him but I havent found anything about anyone having better luck with bactrim. yeah where I live the weather is really weird. It was raining yesterday but today was super hot. Things like that are always happening here. I have a fan in my room but it irritates my eyes and I was thinking that if what he has is allergies then it might make him worse so I do put it on but only for a few hours when it gets too stuffy in the room. I’ll pick up some benebac after the vets tomorrow. Will it be ok if I still give him acv in his water? I don’t want to overwhelm his immune system with so many different new things

[Wick & Fable]

Did your vet prescribe a probiotic with your medicine? It’s typically a powder. Since your rabbit is young, it’s important to keep the gut bacteria healthy. Antibiotics will affect it, so the probiotic keeps your bunny’s tummy feeling good. The diarrhea may be from having no probiotic. Wick’s had probiotic twice a day, every day for the past 3 months because of his medications.

Wick went to the vet at 10wo for sneezing as well. He was given bactrim first, then Baytril. For him, bactrim did nothing but Baytril helped a tad. It wasn’t into Wick was on both Baytril and an injection of penicillin that he got a lot better. Wick’s now 5mo old and he still gets Baytril every day. He’s much better though. A lot of different bacteria can cause sneezing, so it’s about finding the medicine that works. Some vets may do a bacteria culture to find out. Mine opted for a trial and error, which I was fine with because we needed to treat Wick immediately.

Have clean towels to wipe your rabbit’s nose gently if needed. Never reuse the same towel. You can wet it a little as well. Wick likes when I do this because he’s getting groomed, haha. I also would carry Wick and stand in a steamy bathroom for a few minutes then let him exit. The steam helped clear his nose a bit. Personally, I also gave Wick tiny nostril massages, up between his eyes. Only for a few seconds and very gently, but with all his sneezing, I figured it’d help relax him a bit.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Wick & Fable]

You can also reduce irritation by making the environment less dusty. This includes vacuuming, dusting, and maybe shaking out hay before using it.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Oliverhunbun]

We weren’t prescribed any probiotic but I’ll be picking up benebac after the vets office or ask if they have any when I go today. How long do you do the steamy bathroom for? I tried it for 10 minutes and when we got out he started sneezing again so I thought maybe I did it wrong. How long were the prescriptions prescribed to Whick when he was 10 weeks?

[Wick & Fable]

I do the steamy room for about 1 minute really since it’s hard to breathe. It won’t make the discharge run out of the nose, but I think it loosened it for Wick so his sneezes were more effective in clearing it out.

No prescriptions for Wick had a planned timeline regimen. It was try it out for a week and come back. We did bactrim for two weeks until deciding to do Baytril. He’s on Baytril indefinitely until we think the sneezing is officially done. Which may actually be in the next few weeks actually.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[jerseygirl]

Another member (Celamentum) recently mentioned giving echinacea helped their rabbit a lot. That might be worth something to try.
The echinacea flower is bunny safe – just be aware the supplements are more potent then just the flower alone. I have heard of many owners using them though as a way to support the immune system. Im just not certain on what amounts were given.

Ive also heard of using ACV in the water. Again, I don’t know how much is used. It is supposed to be a good prebiotic so could be beneficial if you are also giving probiotics. My concern with ACV is if it could change the pH of the stomach at all.  If it actually alkalises the stomach (not bad for people) it could be an issue for rabbits as their stomachs are typically very acidic. Im really not sure is a small amount of ACV could even do that. Maybe some others that have given it could weigh in here. 

[Celamentum]

Yup I’ve been using echinacea! I did a fair amount of research, but be warned that is not a substitute for good medicine, but more like an aid.

There are two types of echinacea herbal products out on the market — echinacea angustifolia and echinacea purpurea. It’s a flower native to North America and the only difference between the two is that angustifolia was used traditionally in medicine by Native Americans while purpurea was brought to Europe to study and therefor has had the most research preformed on it. People argue that angustifolia is better than purpurea but there’s not enough evidence but it is often suggested to give purpurea in higher doses. Angustifolia is also a little more difficult to find and acquire and also more expensive.

As for doses… it’s hard to say? My bun is a dwarf and is less than 1lbs in weight, so you may have to increase the amount given. Either way, I’ve found you can give your bun relatively high doses with no ill effect? In low doses, it acts as an immune booster but in higher doses it can act as a antibiotic. Although it might be good to come off the treatment for a few days a week (I don’t give my bun it on the weekends) but if you feel that you need to be aggressive with the treatment, you can use it for a few weeks straight.

If you find the pill form, most people dissolve one pill in 1 gallon of water and you can just fill their water bottle/water bowl with it every day. You can also crush the pill up and sprinkle it on their food.

Liquid form is the easiest to administer, which is what I got. You have to make sure you find a echinacea tinture that is de-alcoholized/alcohol-free. For my own bun, give about 1ml of tinture in his 250ml water bottle. I often feed him a few drops of tincture straight out of bottle several times a day too since he will drink it straight out of the syringe.

Be warned though that they often do put a sweetener (glycerin) and/or flavoring in these tintures. Since I don’t know how much sugar that introduces into their stomachs, I’d only feed them pure tinture if you know your bun has been eating so that there is plenty of hay to keep the flora in their tummy healthy.

Lastly, you can apparently find the dried flower in health stores and just sprinkle it on their food. I personally haven’t found it in my own health stores, but I have seen it available online.

On another note, another URI treatment that I’ve heard about on my quest for natural URI remedies is actually dandelions? Apparently it has been used to treat respiratory infections. I have yet to try this and have been meaning to go out and pick some dandelion and dandelion leaves but haven’t had time. I know that you can’t give your bunny a lot of dandelions because it can be bad for them in high quantities… but a few leaves and a bit of a flower wouldn’t hurt as long as you pick them off someone’s lawn who hasn’t sprayed it with pesticides. [edit: oh wait, apparently it’s only dandelion taraxacum breed that is used for respiratory infections)

Oh and about ACV! ACV is acidic by nature but in the human digestive tract, it is known to sometimes become more alkaline in the stomach — but usually only a small brief period of time. While it’s hard to say with bunnies, as long as you start by giving a bunny a small doses and then build the amount of ACV up to a higher dose, it shouldn’t effect their tummies too much as digestive system can adjust themselves to something that’s given regularly.

[Wick & Fable]

For dandelions, don’t feed the dandelion greens in large quantities — made Wick pee like crazy. It was like someone kept spilling mini-cups of water everywhere.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[vanessa]

Great writing for a minor!
Back to your bunny… 7 days is too short. I would call that inappropriate use of Bactrim – also known as baytril or enrofloxacin. It could lead to resistant bacteria, if not used properly.
I like using ACV in my rabbit’s water. I also agree that your should try benebac.
Part ofLancelot’s herbal mixture includes 38mg D. Mannose, (the ingredient in cranberries that is useful for UTI), 18mg Natures Way Echinacea/Goldenseal, 38mg dandelion leaf extract, (peeing is good for a UTI – it helps to flush out bacteria from the urinary tract), amongst others.

If his URI is caused by pasteurella, it can be notoriously difficult to treat. 7 days of Bactrim won’t do it. I’d want to try 4-6 weeks of Bactrim, along with benebac for probiotics.

Are you in the United States?

[Oliverhunbun]

Thank you guys for the replies!!! I bought echinacea tea and have been giving him the tea but haven’t seen an improvement. I’m going to GNC today to buy the liquid form. Since this post he’s been to two other vets and he always seems to be getting better on like the last two days of the antibiotics. He’s been on SMZ and azithromycin ever since the post.

[Oliverhunbun]

And yes I’m in the US

[Theo&Mickey]

I bought Solgar echinacea capsules after reading about its use in bunny immune support AND as an antibiotic (at a higher dose). My rabbit had a URI when I first got him, and was treated with a low dose of Baytril (1 ml once a day) but didn’t improve. He then got a culture which revealed a staph infection that had also transferred to his ears. He had to have his ears cleaned of pus while he was under sedation. I would also have the vet check your bunny’s ears in case that has happened to him too. The vet upped the Baytril to 4 ml per day (2 ml twice daily). He is a 4 lb rabbit. It helped and he stopped sneezing within a couple of days but still had a bit of a wet nose at times. Totally cleared up within 3 weeks of high dose antibiotics, but a week later after he was off the antibiotics, he started sneezing again. I decided to treat him with echinacea (at antibiotic level) to see if it would help. Within 2 days of drinking his brew (I mixed it with his water) he was showing no signs of URI. His dishcarge disappeared. So I continued with it as it cannot harm him, and want to ensure the darn staph doesn’t get any chance to come back.

Here is how i prepared the mixture:

-4 capsules of echinacea (Solgar brand)
-1 gallon of boiled water

mixed, cooled, and stored in a sealed container in the fridge
I added 1/2 of this brew and half water to his bowl daily

Yay for herbal remedies

[LBJ10]

How long have the courses of antibiotics been? Sometimes they need to be on them longer, like a month or more.

He’s so young, I would hate to think there is an underlying issue. I only think of it because it reminds me of my Wooly. He has tooth root problems, so he has chronic problems with bacteria building up in his sinuses. He didn’t start having real problems though until he was a few years old.

[happymoon]

Hi, I recently got a rabbit and I’m using Echinacea for his URI since taking him to a vet is not in my funding right now. I don’t really have a lot of money even for myself as we speak. what was the Mg amount of your pills? mine are 139mg equivalent to 2500mg of the actual plant. Is that too much I place a single capsule into a dropper of water which is about 150ml… which based on your mixture is probably too concentrated.

My rabbit is also very picky. He’s a 12 week old standard rex and he doesn’t enjoy change very much. We also have only known each other for a week, so He probably doesn’t trust me much.

[Q8bunny]

Hi there. I agree – bunnies should usually do long courses of antibiotics and most bunny savvy vets will prescribe what seems like weeks of it for that very reason. Their immune systems are just slightly different from the average mammal, I guess.

I can also vouch for echinacea, though, for strengthening a bun’s immune system and as a potential supplementary antibiotic treatment.

I give fresh or dried echinacea when I can get it (brought back from my father’s garden) or make a mash out of a bag of pure organic echinacea tea and some banana or water and feed it once a day during times of seasonal change.

[Author]

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