Upset stomach from azithromycin & what other med for snuffles now

[bunnygal]

<p data-xf-p=”1″>So my bunny has been having the snuffles on and off. Meaning wet nose and occasional sneezing. He went on baytril and it came back. This time though he has white discharge. Very very tiny amount. And not really sneezing but he sounded stuffy so we decided to put him on azithromycin since baytril multiple times (14 day dosage time) wasn’t helping. I just have it to him with food so not empty stomach, and 20 mins later he is on the floor shaking and in pain! Ugh! Looks like he is one of those rare bunnies that gets stomach cramps as a side effect. I have given him metacam for the pain and giving him belly rubs. But not sure what else to do and how long this will last?! Since he just got the dosage and it’s supposed to last for 24 hours?</p>
<p data-xf-p=”1″>And now the new problem will be which antibiotic to give because I’m terrified to give him azithromycin dosage tomorrow night (he is supposed to be on it for 1 x a day).</p>
<p data-xf-p=”1″>Thank you!</p>

[DanaNM]

I think this is best to discuss with your vet. Azithromycin is one of the better ones for stubborn infections but perhaps they can give you some other meds to help with the side effects?

. . . 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.  

[bunnygal]

Follow up

So vet decided we obviously stop azithromycin because of his reaction.
They decided to put him on duplocillin (penicillin injections). He has been getting 1 a week. He has had 3 so far. After first I noticed wet nose went away but came back. Same thing right now. Noticed his nose is wet. No discharge this morning but last night there was a tiny amount.

Are the injections too far apart? A bunny we had 3 years ago who had snuffles was getting injections every 3-5 days. But it did nothing to help her snuffles at all. We had tried every antibiotic under the sun for her as well as nebulizing baytril. She ended up passing away (not snuffles related, she also had EC and a thymoma in her chest).

I read about even combining antibiotics. My worry is he has the most sensitive stomach. And also he hates the vet and gets so stressed out that he comes back home and doesn’t want to eat. So then we have second problem of will this turn into go stasis. It takes him the whole day to be himself again. My other bunnies were never like this!

Thanks for any advice.

[tobyluv]

Would Bene-Bac help with his stomach problems?  I know that it is often given along with antibiotics to help with GI issues.

[bunnygal]

He is already on it

[DanaNM]

That’s tough, has your vet done a culture of the respiratory infection to see which antibiotics could work?

1 week apart does seem like a long interval, but my only experience with pen-g injections were for a dental abscess.

. . . 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.  

[bunnygal]

No I was told to do a culture they would have to put him to sleep

last time he was out to sleep and given the meds to wake him up when he had an ultrasound at a hospital location, he did very bad. He came home and had gi stasis and took him a week to go back to normal. He didn’t want to eat and was not himself. So don’t know how they would get a culture without putting him to sleep because it’s not like he’s sneezing out globs of the stuff to grab with a swab and test

[Em]

My rabbit has been undergoing treatment for chronic snuffles since July ‘23. She’s just home from her second rhinostomy.

obviously a bacterial culture swab so you can know exactly what you’re dealing with and therefore can use targeted antibiotics would be best, but if that’s not possible I would discuss nebulising with your vet. There’s a variety of antibiotics you can use in a nebuliser and it can be a lot more gentle on their stomach than oral antibiotics.

With penicillin, those injections seem very far apart to me. When my poor was prescribed penicillin injections, we did the injections daily for a week. We saw little to no improvement. We’ve also done marbofloxacin which did clear up the infection in her nose but she developed rhinoliths in her nose due to excess discharge so her symptom’s never fully went away (hence, x2 rhinostomys) but for a rabbit who doesn’t have rhinoliths it could work (but again, depends on what is causing infection). Funnily enough oral baytril didn’t make a dent on her symptoms, but nebulised baytril did seem to help a little. Right now we are just doing f10 at a 1:250 dilution x2 daily in a nebuliser. So far, no sneezes!

[LBJ10]

Em made a good suggestion. I think it may be time to explore alternative forms of treatment. Delivering antibiotics using a nebulizer could be one of them.

[Wick & Fable]

Definitely speak directly to the vet regarding this, but I will also add 1 week apart is unusual from my perspective. My Wick got penG shots for his URI (in addition to Baytril– he needed both) and the shots were every 3 days.

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.

[bunnygal]

I talked to vet and she sent me home with the shots

im supposed to do them every 5 days

[Author]

Messages