Dry sneezing fits worse even after Baytril :/

[Rainn]

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Not sure if the video upload above worked or not but Rain’s been having issues for the past year now with sneezing. She’s completed treatment for Snuffles/common infection three times now, the vet prescribed her Baytril each time. I’m confused because her sneezing fits have worsened, but there’s never been mucus this entire time. I’m also really concerned because she keeps rolling her tongue after sneezing fits and it looks extremely uncomfortable. The video shows her doing that so you can get a better idea. What do these symptoms suggest? It seems like it might be a really subtle tooth problem, because of her opening her mouth like that but I don’t really have much experience beyond the most common rabbit issues :/. Her eating and everything is stable for now at least, I think the vet could never get an x-ray in the past few times because we were more focused on getting her stomach normal. I’m trying to reach her for an appointment focused on an x-ray this time. Is there anything I can do to help with these sneezing fits, I think Rain can’t even sleep for more than 20 minutes because she has them so often.

[Wick & Fable]

Unsure if it’s just me and my browser, but the video is only audio for me.

One thing that stands out to me is “completed treatment… three times now”. — If treatment was completed, it should not have to be repeated. This leads me to two thoughts: 1) each treatment was ended before all the infection was cleared, allowing time for it to regrow and come back again, thus the infection was never fully treated and 2) if the infection has truly been treated, yet re-infects and impacts Rainn, there is something going on dampening Rainn’s immune system, making her vulnerable to this. I feel that if it was the latter, you’d see other problems. The former (i.e. prematurely stopping antibiotic tx for a URI) is very common. How long were each medication course of treatment?

The fact that it’s a dry sneeze for such a long time is notable. It is possible that something is happening with the teeth that’s irritating the sinus cavity as well — I think an xray is a good next assessment.

I think the only thing as of now is getting assessment and treatment. If environmental irritants make it worse at all, trying to dust and vacuum more often, but if it is an anatomical/infectious issue, that won’t help too much.

 

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.

[Rainn]

Thank you for the response. It could definitely be that her antibiotic courses were too short…the vet instructed us to give her Baytril twice a day for ten days each time. She definitely took all her medicine and we never stopped administering it before ten days were over. She had a 3-4 months gap between each time the infection “came back” (or worsened if the infection was never fully treated in the first place.) The first time it happened was in December.

[Wick & Fable]

14 days is typically the minimum for an antibiotic course, with many vets going longer in fear of stopping too soon. I think it’s definitely possible that Baytril was stopped prematurely in all cases.

Discuss with your vet (or another rabbit experienced vet, if possible) about trying Baytril again. If it still seems effective, continue it for at least 14 days. There is a chance the infection may have built some resistance to baytril at this point, so if baytril no longer seems effective like in the past, you can change to a different antibiotic.

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.

[LBJ10]

What Wick is describing is very possible. Sometimes infections can be very difficult to treat. They will “go away” and “come back” because the antibiotic only knocked it back some… instead of fully eliminating it. You may need to try a different antibiotic and go for a longer treatment.

[Author]

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