Have sought 3 vets with no definitive answer

[Binx86]

My fiance and I adopted 2 netherland dwarf brothers nearly two years ago. No behavior problems, they ADORE each other, cuddle constantly, groom each other and even share veggies. With all this the smaller of the 2, Groucho, got sick about a year ago. Every symptom matched the snuffles and our “trusted” family vet who has a rabbit doctor put him on an antibiotic (baytril). It cleared for nearly a month and came back in full force. They suggested a 2nd round and said they were 99% sure it would clear it. Same thing happened as the first time. While on the meds he was great, 3 weeks off and it was back. I had asked about a culture before the 2nd dose and was assured it wasn’t needed. Upon the repeated return I took him to a rabbit only vet and they did a culture and told me it was some strand of bordatella(?) they hadn’t seen before and put him on a 2 month dose of chloramphenicol. Same as before, great while on medicine, a month later back to sneezing. We increased dark veggies high in nutrients and he got better for a while but it was also summer. When winter start rearing its ugly head the sneezes came back. The past 2 days they sound like someone ripping apart denim… His nose is very little red, and not wet. There has also been only 1 instance of discharge and it was very little, to the point I couldn’t tell the color. We contacted the vet and he is clueless. Groucho is eating, sleeping, and pooping fine. Zeppo (the brother) has never shown signs of being sick and has always recieved a clean bill of health (when one goes to the vet, the other goes because even when nuetered they’ve never been seperated and the vet checks Zeppo at no extra cost). I’m not looking for expert advice just anyone who has maybe had a sick bunny like this before. I’m lost, confused and worried,especially for Zeppo if something happens to his brother. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to cover details.

 

Adding a pic since people always like to look at cute bunnies, and it wouldn’t let me add it to my sig.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Have you done a culture for Pasteurella? With Pasteurella, symptoms like that often return.

Your bunnies are so cute. I hope you can find the cause of the problem.

[3 buns mom]

Max has Pastuerella (diagnosed over a year ago) and has similar issues that come and go. He seemed to do well while on antibiotics. I used to give him a penicillin injection once a week to keep it under control. But now he gets a daily injection for that plus his abscess issues. He is doing great on it. The heavy sneezing in the winter could be due to dust that aggravate his issue more (your heating system could be blowing up dust), lack of fresh air due to the windows being closed…etc… I know those issues seemed to bother Max more. I would talk to your vet about putting him on a low dose of antibiotics, or pen injections to keep it at bay and see if that helps.

[Sarita]

It sounds like you have done a culture and sensitivity test.

Has the vet done a head radiograph?

[Binx86]

A culture was done by vet number 3, it’s not pasturella. He said Groucho has some strand of bordatella he hadn’t seen before. Head radiograph was not done, vet never even suggested one.

I was told by the same vet that penacilin or any “cilin” medicine is bad for rabbits… And Groucho doesn’t take meds easkily at all. The months of being on them changed his personality and he actually bit me for the first time towards the end of the 3rd dose, his name suits him now. With that I’m terrified of how much more he’d change with a daily med for a prolonged period.

As for the heater, we have one of those tower fans with a hepa filter that are made for people with horrible alergies, it’s improved my alergies so I’m sure it helped him a little too.

[Sarita]

Injectible pen-g is fine, just not oral….however bortadella may not even be sensitive to pen-g shots, so it’s a moot point. But just for future reference, your vet is right as far as oral penicillin, just not injectible.

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