Please help – vet visit but not certain of diagnosis

[Geebaxter]

Hi everyone,

We took our beloved bunny Leo to the vets yesterday as he started having extremely heavy breathing (he sort of sounds like a human snoring) and he’s sporadically sneezing. He’s got a snotty nose and some scans on him (one on his eyelid, a couple on his ears and torso) they’re tiny scabs (smaller than a garden pea) and black in colour- they’re not pussy or wet at all and don’t appear to hurt him. The main thing bothering him is his snotty nose. He’s not gone off his food (he’s eaten his hay today, all his pellets and some greens). He’s not overly lethargic, it’s hard to tell if he’s any different at all as I’m not sure if we’re reading into his behaviour because we’re looking for changes.

The vet initially said it looked like a typical case of snuffles but then said he thought it was myxomatosis and the skin lesions were his body trying to fight it because he’s vaccinated? I’m not normally one to assume a trained vet is wrong but he did also check his genitals to see if they were swollen and constantly referred to him as a she, so I can’t say I’m massively convinced

Leo is now on a course of antibiotics (baytril I think it’s called).

I’m just hoping someone has seen this before and has some idea. Obviously the word ‘myxomatosis’ has floored us and we spent most of yesterday cuddling him and crying (I think Leo thinks we’ve gone nuts). I’ve attached a picture of his eye, you can see there’s a small scab on his eyelid, the scab in the inside corner of his eye has come off today. The second picture is today.

[Inserted by Wick]

[Wick & Fable]

Baytril is a broad spectrum antibiotic which may be effective for a range of infections, some strains of snuffles included. Baytril is one medication Wick needed to cure his upper respiratory infection (snuffles).

I am not knowledgeable on myxomatosis, but I will say that these symptoms can be applicable to other sources. For example, discharge of the eyes and nose can be a symptom of teeth root overgrowth. The two symptoms can also be unrelated. If there is a certain test for myxomatosis, that would be helpful to consider.

I am a proponent of having a vet you trust and feel comfortable discussing hesitations. Another opinion can be enlightening, so you can feel more assured of the first vets opinion or that of someone you feel more confident with. Have you considered talking to another vet? Has the current vet asked for a follow up appointment?

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]

Also, I inserted your pictures for you. After attaching them, you need to wait for them to pop up on your attachment list and click insert image so they appear in your post. A non-intuitive step, sorry about that!

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.

[Geebaxter]

Thank you for your reply. The current vet just told us to return once the Baytril ran out if he was still eating by himself to get more antibiotic. He essentially told us to give up otherwise. I guess my main concern is that I anticipated with something as horrible as myxomatosis he would deteriorate fast. His symptoms don’t all correspond either but I’m conscious that I could just be praying that’s not the case so much that I’ve convinced myself.

Update this morning – his nose is distinctly less snotty. He’s still wheezing but it doesn’t sound as bad as last night. His eyes are pretty much unchanged – the scab on his left eyelid hasn’t changed and they don’t look swollen (though to be honest they never really did look swollen).

He’s had his morning medicine (so is now in a fairly bad mood – it mustn’t taste very nice). He’s been eating through the night though still and he snatched some greens out my hand so it’s good to see he’s still feisty.

I will try to take him to another vet but I wish there was more of a rabbit expert near us. Our only other vet option is ‘vets 4 pets’ inside the Pets at Home shop and I’m not convinced they’ll be much more knowledgeable. Or we could possibly ask to see a different vet at the same place we went on Monday. Another reason I’m a little put-off is that I’m 7 months pregnant and he’s told me I’m fine to be next to Leo because he can’t pass myxomatosis onto a human so if it ends up being something else which he can, it’s pretty bad. At the same time, as long as it can’t be passed to me, I want to continue cuddling him because he’s a very affectionate rabbit and he loves being stroked.

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