Respiratory Infection

[Bunnylover]

Hello, I have a five and a half year old bunny that has had a lingering respiratory infection. 3 months ago she started having breathing issues and the vet gave her duplocilin injections (3 over the course of a week) and we gave her Baytril orally at home for around 3 weeks and she seemed to be much better.

However after a week she was having breathing issues again so we took her back to the vet and she had the same treatment but this time we kept up the Baytril. Again she improved but about 5 weeks after she started showing symptoms again, it happened again and she was puffing her cheeks out when she breathes, sneezing more and coughing at times. We tried the duplocilin again but this time it didn’t have the same effect. Also when she has had duplocilin the last few times it has made her appetite drop for a couple days and force feeding critical care is tough as she gets stressed and her breathing gets worse. We are avoiding that as her appetite is back to normal. So currently she is on Baytril and TMS antibiotics orally and Ventilin inhaler. Unfortunately she is still not breathing normal and sounding congested most of the time and it has been just over a week since this third episode started.
We done a nasal swab but unfortunately this didn’t provide any answers. The recommendation seems to be taking her to a specialist for further testing under anaesthetic. The place that would do this is an hour away and I’m worried both about how the drive and the anaesthetic might impact her. She has been under anaesthetic before when she was spayed and recovered well but as she is sick, I’m concerned about how it might affect her.

Alternatively they could try more x-rays to see if they can see anything new, or try azithromycin antibiotic.

The vet we take her to has been great and are experienced with rabbits.

Sorry for the long story! Just hoping someone might have some advice or be able to share any similar experience.

Thanks for reading!

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