Still Sneezing

[MimzMum]

Well Mimzy is still sneezing and blowing goobers from time to time…so I’ve had it with the alternate therapies and trying to eliminate every trigger I can think of from his environment…and he’s going back to the vet. I can only pray she finds the right combination of meds this time to get rid of this once and for all.

He seemed to be in some digestive discomfort yesterday, so I’ve stopped giving him the Benadryl. I know it dries me out/upsets my stomach, so I can imagine what it’s doing to his poor little tummy. A fistful of oat hay last night and he seems much better today. When he doesn’t finish his pellets or snubs his timmy treats, I KNOW he’s not feeling well.

I’m guessing we’re going to repeat a swab, possibly xrays and definitely check the teeth again. I can’t imagine all this comes from one little deformity in his nasal passages, because the mucous is becoming thicker and is slightly opaque. I’ve noticed when I put hay in his pen, it will sometimes start him off sneezing-not every time. So I’m wondering…can a bun live on hay CUBES instead of loose hay if he has to? I know they need long strands to keep their digestion going, and I am concerned he just won’t get that kind of fiber with cubes. (Not to mention what if he decides they are too difficutl to chew on, and he stops eating altogether?) If I do feed cubes, should I up his veggie intake? Because he tends to stop eating hay or any other hay-type food and only eats the veggies if I give him too much…then we start seeing potty troubles.

*sigh* My high-maintenance bun…he’s worth it though.

Please keep good vibes going for decent weather (it’s finally climbing out of the deep subzeroes) and for our car not to fall apart on the way in or out. These are almost as big a worry as Mimzy’s continued illness.

[Sarita]

Has your vet tried Zithromax? Many rabbit people have had great success using this for URI.

Also did we talk about nebulizing? I’ve done that with snotty buns (used Amakacin) and that seems to help.

[rosalie68]

i noticed when i stopped using carefresh and critter care for bedding charlie improved big time with his sneezing. i use a rug now and try to shake our hay out a lot. not sure what u are using though. we were using an antihistamine with him along with baytril and i noticed that the antihistamine makes no difference in him. i hope they can figure something out for your bunny. i definately know how frustrating and stressful it can be when u cant figure out how to make them better.

kim

[MimzMum]

I don’t think we’ve used the Zithromax yet. I thought that was only for young children. Is it oral or injection?
Ah! Nebulizing! I’d forgotten that. I’ll bring it up with my vet. That involves having to hold something over the bunny’s nose while he breathes it in, right? I hope Mimz will hold still long enough for it, I can barely get meds in his mouth when necessary.

I do keep carefresh around, but I don’t use it in his pen. However it is in Fiver’s and I can imagine it must drift. I’m really trying to get Fiver to do without it, but it’s especially helpful for his sore hock, so we’ll have to find him something else to keep his feet comfy.

[Sarita]

No, you don’t have to do it that way – let me find you an article about building a nebulizer that I used when I was nebulizing. It’s basically a plastic storage box (that is large enough for your bunny), you cut a whole where the nebulizer tube goes in. Plop the bunny in with a treat and nebulize that way. Let me see if I can locate the guinea pig one that I used as a guide. I don’t think many rabbits will tolerate a mask on them.

I believe the zithromax is oral.

[Sarita]

Here’s the link MM:

homepage.mac.com/nalyne/nebulizer/PhotoAlbum30.html

[MimzMum]

Thanks for the link, Sarita! Wow…that looks like some serious construction, but I know the hubby could manage to put it together.
Where do you get the pump for it? Is it like one for CPAP type stuff?

[Sarita]

My pump is actually very small – nothing like that fancy contraption. I got if off ebay – it’s called a sports neb – let me see if I can find one like it on ebay…

[Sarita]

This looks like mine:

cgi.ebay.com/Sport-Mist-Nebulizer-F…ltDomain_0

I would look for a children’s nebulizer as well – I bought a few of those for one of the rescues I helped at too.

[MimzMum]

Thank you for all this, Sarita, I’ll consider picking one of these up if the doc thinks this will help him in any way.
About how often would he have to be nebulized? Is it a daily thing or just when symptoms present? And how long does the treatment usually last?

[wendyzski]

That’s basically the setup that I have for Pepper.  She has chronic pasteurella, and every couple of weeks in winter (longer apart in summer) she’ll start snurgling. 

The “pump” is an air compressor and the actual thingie-that-you-put-the-medicine-in is called a nebulizer.  It uses the air from the compressor tube to make liquid medicine into a very fine mist that your bunny can breathe in.  Humans use them too – usually for something like asthma. That’s why I had one already.  I have severe asthma and sometimes if I’m having a flare-up I need to put my “rescue” medication (an broncho-dialator) into one.  It gets the medication down in my lunger farther than a single puff on an inhaler.

I knew there was no way that I’d get Princess PepperPants to wear a little mask like I do, so I came up with the Rubbermaid Tub “Bunny Gas Chamber”.  I traced the nozzle from the nebulizer on to the side of the tub and then used a soldering iron to melt the hole!  You could also use a utility knife but BE CAREFUL.  I also put some packing tape around the hole to make sure it’s a really close fit with the nozzle.

The medication that I use with Pepper is called Amakacin, and it’s mostly an antibiotic solution.  It gets deep inside her sinuses to knock the infection down directly, rather than having to go through her bloodstream like a pill or a shot.

I also put an old towel in there for her to chew on and beat up on when she is in there – she hates it of course, but sometimes mommas need to do nasty things so that their kids get better.    If she’s really scrablling around in there I will go and lie next to the tub and talk to her a little.  She then either listens fo me or is SO focused on giving me The Bunny Butt that she stops struggling.

This is The Towel.  Did I mention she REALLY doesn’t like her treatments?

The treatment takes about 20 minutes.  I have to put a brick on the lid or she’ll get out, but there is plenty of fresh air coming in from the compressor.  It does seem to get a little warm in there, and I’m sure it’s stinky, but she gets a treat when she comes out and after a couple of hours (and a couple of raisins) she’s usually ready to forgive me.

[Sarita]

It depends on the dosage and length of time the vet wants to medicate. It’s just a different way of administering medication.

[Sarita]

Yep, yep, yep, just what Wendy said and that was the set-up I had.

Did you find this to be effective for Pepper, Wendy?

[wendyzski]

Oh and in answer to your specific questions, your vet will tell you about how often you will need to treat – it will depend on your bun’s symptoms and what kind of meds.

When we first started treating Pepper, we did every day for the first 10 days, then every other day for a week, then twice a week for another two weeks.  This was to really knock things down – we were doing an oral antibiotic (sulfa) at the same time.  She’d been on 2 different antibiotics by then – the second for nearly 8 months and while she was fine on it she’d get sick again as soon as we took her off it.  So we needed to really hit it HARD.

Now when she’s snurgly, I’m supposed to give her 2-3 treatments, about every other day.  If that doesn’t work, I should prepare to treat her for another week but call the vet to let them know what’s up.

[jerseygirl]

Ditto, ditto, ditto on the nebulising! I too think this would be beneficial for Mimzy. Even if it is just a skeletal deformity causing his difficulties, just using the nebuliser without meds would help I think. Once they’re used too it, they probably prefer getting their meds this way with all 4 paws on solid ground.

MM, I was reading a discussion a few weeks ago about someone who was trying to problem solve their own gooby bunny. I’ve send you the link. They were able to visit Frances Harcourt-Brown, the vet that wrote Textbook of rabbit med. It had some interesting thoughts in it you might want to discuss with your vet too.

[TheBunnyGirl]

my past bunny had the sneezies once. she got over it pretty fast and it never happened agian. i she was at a bunny vet though.

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