snuffles recovery time?? Signs of recovery??

[Thumper and Cinnamaroll's mom]

My new bunny (4/12) Thumper came home very sneezy. I had never owned a rabbit before, and was unaware of snuffles. Through research (this site) i realized he needed the vet. Took him, she gave orbax. That was on the 28th.  His sneezing is less, and athough before the meds, he had no discharge, (or very little and clear) He did sneeze out some creamy white stuff sunday. Not since, no sign of blockage or stuffiness. He is sneezing less. We are about halfway through the treatment. Can i be confident that the infection is responding based on fewer sneezes?

He also was given Ivermex? for earmites.  He never was off his feed, unhappy or uncomfortable. Litter trained himself pretty much and is a binkier. So i cannot see any unwellness at all.

He eats alfafa hay as well as a good grass horse hay mix for his in pen litterbox. (i am sure he eats some of this) I use newspaper end rolls for his livingroom litterbox, and he is on blue seal feeds bunny 16 pellets. I have not offerred veggies, but he dd steal a piece of spinach from a salad I was eating!!! lol 

[Sarita]

Well “snuffles” is really just a catch-all term for an upper respiratory infection. Did your vet do a culture? Are you bringing him back to the vet for a follow up once the treatment is completed?

[Thumper and Cinnamaroll's mom]

The vet did not do a culture, but simply examined, weighed and put him on orbax. After extensive searching, this clinic is my only option within two hours drive.  

 Yes, we will return when he’s done with med, another week.

[Sarita]

I would say see how he is once the treatment is totally completed if that clears it up and the vet is happy with the results then you are good to go. However, if this is reoccurs or doesn’t clear it up you need to do a culture.

[Lagomorphic]

Yep, definitely keep on top of it. Snuffles can be notoriously difficult to treat. But having said that, my older bun (9 yrs) recently had snuffles and recovered just fine with antibiotics (I can’t remember which one).

[Thumper and Cinnamaroll's mom]

ThanMs for your responses! I am relieved to hear of recovery!!! I am very very worried, since it is the “dreaded snuffles”. Even though he seems better than before. Moms are way too protective aren’t we??

[Lagomorphic]

I know, I was worried when she was diagnosed with snuffles, too. But it’s been about a year now, and she’s had some other health issues (and she’s “old”), but she hasn’t had a recurrence. And her boyfriend never got them. I know there are treatment options, too, so if the first treatment doesn’t work, there are other things to try (I think I remember my vet talking about a nebulizer or something?).

[KatnipCrzy]

I would recommend callng your vet and giving an update to see if he is improving as the vet expects. Many times with upper resp infection/sniffles it is more cost efficient and practical to treat with an antibiotic that is broad spectrum for URI/sniffles. There can be some strains of sniffles/URI that might not respond to that antibiotic so sometimes the antibiotics needs to be changed to another reasonable choice or have a culture done.

[peppypoo]

I remember from your intro post that Thumper was being kept on pine shavings – I feel like this may have contributed to his snuffles, so you’re already halfway there by removing him from the environment. My Peppy had a dirty sniffly nose when I got her too and her previous owners used pine shavings. Also, when I was at a pet store a little while ago on unrelated business, I saw noticed the baby bunnies (on pine) had dirty noses too .

[Author]

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