Bunny std treatment

[furballlover]

Has anyone ever had a bun with syphilis that required more than 9 treatments? My girl Alfred’s had 15 shots so far at 300 000u/ml every week and has #16 scheduled for next week. She’s had the symptoms of runny eyes and the white pimples since she came to me in July. She’s not fixed yet since the vet won’t spay her until her std is cleared. I’m wondering if I can ask the vet about upping the dosage but since rabbits are very sensitive to penicillin I’m not sure how much increase can be made safely.

Any thought?

[Bam]

I do think moderator Wick has experience with rabbit syphilis. I’ll alert her to this thread.

[LBJ10]

What is the vet using? Pen G?

[Wick & Fable]

I am also wondering what medication is being injected. Wick had 25 days of shots, and concurrently had an oral antibiotic as well (details below):

For my Wick, his syphilis treatment in 2018 was penicillin injections (Penicillin G 300,000 iu/ml per ml) AND azithromycin (an oral antibiotic; Zithromax/Azithromycin 40mg/mL). From what I discussed with the vet, it is unusual to do to both the shots and oral antibiotic, but Wick, for a separate reason, actually had penicillin shots before (prior to us knowing about his syphilis), so we decided to do both treatments, in case his syphilis was penicillin-resistant. His shots started 10/15/2018 through 11/08/18, so that was 25 days of shots. Azithromycin started on 10/13/2018 thru 11/09/2018 (this started a few days earlier because we were given the wrong syringes for the penicillin, so we couldn’t start until we got new ones).

If your vet is using blood tests to determine your rabbit being in the clear, notably, before starting treatment, we did a treponema (syphilis) panel, which showed a weak positive [0.364; range is 0.299 – 0.4)]. Right after treatment, we took another blood sample for a new panel, it was a stronger positive (0.519). The panel tests for antibodies, not the infection itself (is my understanding). We did the panel 6 months later, and it was 0.508… so still positive. That being said, since treatment, Wick has had no symptoms, so we are running under the assumption that he is not positive.

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.

[furballlover]

She still has symptoms so the vet’s going off that rather than blood panel. She is receiving pen g at 300 00u/ml once weekly. The people who were Alfred’s previous owners said they never took her to the vet and she’d been with them since approximately 4 month old. She has not had a blood panel to test for positive status since she’s still showing symptoms. The symptoms are subsiding but very very slowly.

If one of her parents had received penicillin injects would that make Alfred more resistant to the Pen G?

[Wick & Fable]

No idea, but I will specify that I did injections daily, not weekly. So it was 25 shots in 25 days.

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.

[furballlover]

Just to clarify: 300 00u/ml per day for 25 days.

[Wick & Fable]

I believe 300,000 iu/mL has to do with the concentration of the penicillin. It is not a dose. Dosage is determined by your rabbit’s weight.

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.

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