The verdict is in! (Mimzy)

[MimzMum]

My vet just called me this evening, after having to do some research herself and having just received the test results from Mimzy’s little sample of snot.

He has branhamella catarrhalis. No Pasteurella, which we were both anticipating. She has prescribed, and I will pick up tomorrow, enroflaxcin and a probiotic for him to take, once per day, for the next ten days.

So, my peeps, who knows more about this than I do? I am Googling, but am not finding a heck of a lot that makes sense. I’m interested to know also, when he is done with his treatment, can he still carry infectious spores of this nasty? And if anyone who has used enroflaxcin on their rabbit before can tell me what to expect, I would be eternally grateful!

Now this can be transmitted to other rabbits, and she did say it is a pathogen that can go between rabbits and humans. So, sadly, perhaps even I may have given this to him in some way, shape or form. I’m thinking it may have come in with us either on Shadow, after his surgery, or even in the old vet’s office the last time I had all their nails done-since they often had other animals right there that had respiratory troubles and no second entrance for them to come in by.

All I know is, he’s going to get better now. And I just can’t wait for that to happen! My poor little bunny!

[jerseygirl]

Well it must be a relief to finally know and have an action plan. And no big “P”! *happy dance*. Isn’r enroflaxin just baytril? Have you used baytril before? Sound like a straightforward treatment and not harmful to give the others antibiotic too if necessary.

[MimzMum]

Ah, I don’t know Jerz, I meant to look up the antibiotic and I haven’t yet…I am just so relieved to finally have a diagnosis! xD

Baytril…okay, I’ve seen y’all post about that before. No, I haven’t had to give any meds to any of my bunnies besides the Benadryl for him and Gas-X for the others. Now she just is giving out some for him, the others are not showing any signs of illness, plus they go in to see her on the 5th, so if anything develops, we’ll get hold of it early. Mimzy has been sick for almost a month now, so it is him I am mostly concerned about.

And to know he’ll be his old self again soon. You guys, I don’t know if I can possibly express how much that means to me! *sniffle*

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Thank Goodness you know now!! Mimz I have a busy weekend ahead of me but I’ll see what I can dig up on this for you! I have access to scientific journals (the same ones vets get to see) so I do have some good resources… I’ll see what I can do !! {{Mimz}}

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ohhh I just read that

And to know he’ll be his old self again soon. You guys, I don’t know if I can possibly express how much that means to me! *sniffle*

*hugs!!!*

[MimzMum]

Thanks Lesley, please don’t over extend yourself but I thank you SO much for looking things up for me. I am still floundering around the web, but have to go offline for a bit so my son can use the comp for his school. But yes…jiggity-jig! ^_^

I’ll be back in later to see you all! Thank you!

[Cassi&Charlie]

Thats great! Atleast you have a diagnosis andyou can work towards a better Mimzy

(((Get better soon vibes Mimzy)))

And so good that the vet really looked into it

[BinkyBunny]

Well, I’m shocked with the fact that she said it can be passed between animals and humans. I didn’t think that was possible. (except for e.cuniculi, but that can be only passed to a human that has a compromised immune system – like when dealing with chemo)

[Beka27]

Interesting. I’m so glad you have figured out what this is. I looked it up and everything I’m seeing is showing it in humans, or in reference to serums being tested on rabbits for research. That’s just using the regular Google tho. ;o)

I’m looking forward to reading what others come up with regarding this. I have to say, I have not heard of this particular organism before.

Oh, I just flipped thru my one rabbit med book and it does mention this under respiratory ailments. It goes by a different name Moraxella Catarrhalis as well. It seems the treatment of antibiotics is the right thing to do, similar to other things, including Pasteurella, Bordetella, Staph, and Pseudomonas.

This is kind of weird for me because I play around with these microorganisms everyday in my class. Granted they are inactive/harmless strains, but still… knowing my luck… :o/

[LittlePuffyTail]

Wahoo!!! I’m so glad you can feel the relief I felt when Olivia’s tests came back negative!

[MimzMum]

Thanks everyone! Actually, BB & Beka, I think that’s what the vet had said to me, you have to be immunocompromised…but since someone in this house is usually always sick (one of the four of us) then I would just want to be careful. As it is, considering the proximity of the other two bunnies, I am just thankful neither of them is displaying symptoms!

Well I got his first dose of enrofloaxcin into him and I decided to make sure he had a little something on his stomach first. I do have a question though:

I was given a probiotic that comes in a capsule form, and that says 1/2 cap per day if needed. Now, do I give this to him proactively? Or do I wait to see if he’s not eating first? His appetite is better than I would think of for a bun with, basically, a head cold, but I am not sure if I should take that for granted that he’ll keep eating. I also don’t want to negate the effects of the antibiotic with the probiotic. The antibiotic is twice a day…so should I give the probiotic about mid day?

And here’s the odd thing; the hubby went in to fetch the medicine (in a raging snow storm, no less) and when he got there they took his money and told him, “Oh, sorry but we only have the beef flavor and bunny won’t like that.” Well he haggled with the receptionist for a bit over this, (him wanting the check back so he could go to another vet and get the right flavor, and her saying that was not possible and maybe they could scrounge up enough to do for a few days IF they could find any more), and finally the doc came out and told him she’d found one bottle of the apple flavor left in their fridge. Now I have to relate this to the original visit, where it took her about 20 or 30 minutes to find the swab for Mimzy’s nose. I still think she’ a fab vet, but perhaps just a little absent-minded? 0_o

I keep thinking of Robin Williams in Flubber. ^_^ Hey, I’m just glad she found the right one so hubby didn’t have to trek all over town looking for the right medicine (which he would have done) and that this will probably help Mimzy feel better if he’s just cooperative about taking it.

And I am allergic to cipro, which is a relative of this medication, so I am trying my best not to get any on me, but of course the first thing Mimzy does is turn his mouth away just and I squirt the syringe, so I got some on my fingers (a drop or two)…lolz. I think I’ll keep the Benadryl handy for me! ^_^

[BinkyBunny]

Regarding the probiotic, I think it will depend on the individual case – I think sometimes it is recommended to use proactively while in other cases it’s a wait and see. Sometimes antiobiotics can cause upsets, which is maybe why they would recommend to go proactive.  Since your instructions say as needed, then it doesn’t seem to imply proactive – but bottomline in Mimz case, I think it would be best to ask your vet this question if you haven’t already.

Let us know what she says about that.

OH, and maybe some those thin rubber gloves you can buy for a buck or two may help protect you from getting the meds on you. 

[RabbitPam]

I saw your other post but only found this one now. duh. Not checking the forums right.)
This all sounds very thorough – though next time maybe Hubby needs to call first so they can fish out the meds ahead of time?

What a very, very stressful month you’ve had. The coming of Spring, literally and figuratively, will not be soon enough.
{{{{{{{{{{Hugs and Healing Vibes.}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[MooBunnay]

I’m so glad you figured out the mystery illness! And good job to your husband for not giving up until he had the meds I am not familiar with the illness myself, but I am glad that the treatment sounds relatively straight forward. In my experience with syringe feeding meds, you will definitely get some on yourself. Maybe you could get some latex gloves to wear for the feeding?

[MimzMum]

Well, it would seem every time I feed this to him, I get a small amount on myself. Since rubber gloves make him rather mistrustful of me and hard to hold, I just make sure I wash myself up quickly afterward. So far, so good. No hives or anything…so I should be okay.

I am giving him the probiotic once per day, but I do wonder if perhaps it is impeding the progress of the Baytril-which I’ve already emptied half the bottle and I’ve got 6 days left to go! But he does seem to be doing better, so when I go in to take Pip and Fiver for their (LONG overdue) nail trims, I will ask the vet if we need to get Mimzy more medicine or if I should stop the probiotic or not. He’s eating pretty well considering everything.

[wendyzski]

Sorry I’m coming in late on this….

My vet has ALWAYS prescribed a probiotic whenever there is an antibiotic being given.  You give them at different times (read your directions or ask your vet) so they are not cancelling each other out.    The antibiotic gets in their system, and then the probiotic “jump-starts” the dgestive system again.  Rabbit’s digestive systems are SO dependant on gut bacteria that they don’t want to knock  things out of whack, especially in a bun that is already sick. 

With the pasteurella, Pepper was on an off antibiotics for more than 8 months, and NEVER had any tummy issues – I credit that to the probi.  I would give Pepper her antibiotic with her greens when I got home from work at 6-ish and then she got her ProBi at around 8:30 with her pellets and then again in the morning with her other pellets.

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