I'd appriciate your prayers..

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Bunnylova4eva

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Well, I've confirmed it with the breeder. Thursday they're bringing several bunnies to my home for me to look at and pick one from and then they're also taking Charlie back with them. They'll try to nurse her back to health since our vet didn't know of anything else to try.( She wouldn't leave her on Baytril though it had been working some)...

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry. Since she keeps getting worse, I'd have to put her to sleep soon. I'm glad I won't need to deel with that kinda of loss after losing my little Jelly in April. But I am sad to lose her. I've gotten very attatched in these last 2 1/2 mo. of owning her. I know I'll love my new bunny too, but I'm just not sogreat atdealing with loss. I'd appriciate your prayers,for me sendingCharback with her breeder and for me to pickout a*healthy* bunny that 's not going to be sick like Charlie was. Pasteurella definetly isn't a fun thing to deal with, especially in a new baby bunny. I've learned that. =(




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Benjamin and I will say prayer for both of you. You for a healthy bunny and the ability to go on without feeling quilt, knowing that this is the best recourse for Charlie. For Charlie a speedy recovery and long life. Who knows maybe sometime in the future when she is recovered you can go see her.
 
Anyone know how long I should isolate the new bunny I"ll be getting from Charlie's things ( like dished, hutch etc.) and what I should clean Char's stuff with so the new bunny doesn't get sick? I have a spare cage to keep the new bunny in until its safe to put it in Charlie's hutch.
 
Wow....a breeder is taking back a rabbit that is known to have pasturella? And is going to treat it (after risking bringing it into their herd)?

Um...ok.

I hope you find a new bun that will work for you.
 
well, we didn't get the bloodwork done. The vet just suspects. The breeder hasn't noticed any buns in her heard with symptoms so kinda doubts its Pastuerella. She wants to try and treat it as well as possibly testing for Pasteurella to find out if her heard has it. I'm a little worried the one I get will be sick.. =/
 
Most of us who have had rabbits a long time know that even when you get a "well " rabbit that bunnies do occasionally become sick.
A healthy bunny this week could be a sick bunny next week..part of owning the bun is learning how to deal with the problems... that is one of the many reasons that forums like this exist ; many of us have extensive knowledge of rabbits

It is rare that a breeder would take a sick bun back to her place ( but it is not impossible. )
Possibly the breeder could share with you how she would plan on treating Charlie and you could use this as a learning experience..and at the same time Charlie ( who I am sure is happy with You ) could remain with you...

It isn't going to help Charlie's immune system to send him back...
just a thought


you know what you can handle and we do respect that.. whatever you choose to do :)
 
I just don't know. i'm so confuzled. Char's been sick since I bought her from the breeder in May. SHe told me what she'd like to do to treat her and gave me the option to keep her or send her back. I'd like to keep her, but our vet won't even keep treating her it seems. She says she'll just have a runny nose her whole life and we'll have to live with that.

So you think somethings up that she wants to take the bunny back? I don't know what to think. Imput is very appriciated. :/
 
Also, so y'all think its a bad idea to then get a different bun from her, in case care the ilness as well? That's the feeling i'm getting. i don't know.
 
Unfortunately, if it is Pasturella, it was likely contracted through Charlie's mom. I'd bet the breeder's entire herd is infected and any bun you get from her will be infected as well. This doesn't mean that every bun will show symptoms and it doesn't mean that you shouldn't proceed with a transaction with this breeder.

It is estimated that over 50% of rabbits are infected with Pasturella bacteria. They don't all become sick or develop infections, but some do. Some are carriers, some have mild flare-ups, and some develop massive infections like pneumonia, though this is not common.

Pasturella can be detected by a culture swab, which if you haven't had done, I recommend you do. I would also recommend a different vet, as any vet that gives up without even suggesting bloodwork does not deserve your money. It is likely something that can be cured by a stronger antibiotic.
 
I'm just very hesitant to get another bunny from her, that'll be infected. She said she's sure she hasn't seen any other symptoms on here buns, but I have heard that alot, that it comes from the mom usually.

As far as a vet, the office she's at is House Rabbit Society recomended. She said we could do bloodwork, but she was pretty sure it was Pasteurella and Char would always have a runny nose, and if Baytril hadn't worked after 10 days on 1.5 ml and 7 days before that on 0.6 ml, then it wasn't goin to work. I'd seen improvement, but since she wasn't all the way better, I guess that's not what she was looking for.
 
You definately would need a cell culture. Your vet needs to swab the nose for secretions and test it, to see if pasturella is present (and if it isn't, then what is). Blood work would be useless, I would think. Standard bloodwork would test the kidney/liver function.

It's entirely possible that it isn't Pasturella, and it could be allergies in which case yes, your bun may always have a runny nose. But if you saw a difference from the Baytril I doubt it. Also, Baytril is a rather soft-core antibiotic and is usually a good first step, but won't always work if the infection is severe enough. Something stronger should do the trick.

Even if your vet was HRS recommended, she's clearly not doing her job if she's only tried Baytril and now refuses to offer your rabbit care, ESPECIALLY since she hasn't done any culture analysis. It really would be a shame for you to return your adorable Charlie because a lazy vet has led you to believe that he's incurable. He really is an adorable rabbit.
 
Here are the forums list of vets; we really cannot endorse these vets, however, over the years different forum members would add a vet if he/she thought they were good.

here is HRS article on finding a good rabbit vet


http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/vet.html

The vet that you have is not rabbit knowledgeable ; there are numerous stronger drugs that are effective and can work to eradicate an infection like this. I had a bun with a lower respiratoy infection that responded to baytril..but then several months later the infection returned . I finally was able to learn to do bicillin injections on the rabbit myself (sounds hard but really just takes getting used to) and bicillin can be purchased at farm stores almost anywhere . My bun 's respiratory infection never returned

I am not suggesting that you do this yourself but try another vet and possibly ask for a medication like oral azithromycin and/ or injectable bicillin.
this condition is treatable in a rabbit with correct meds , given in strong enough doses.
If you went back and read numerous threads on RO you would see time after time that people have rabbits that do get well and live normal lives
 
I dont think its very fair to charlie that you return her like this when shes not feeling well.

As others have said, this is a part of rabbit ownership.
We dont just return our pets when they get ill, we help them work through it and do everything we can to make them feel better, including the expensive tests required to figure out whats wrong.

I think its time to find a new vet and get a second oppinion there are more drugs then baytril.... Youve had her for 2.5 months, thats enough time for you to bond to her, and for her to bond to you, imagine how confused and stressed out she will be to have you give her up just because she isn't feeling well.

Please give her another chance.
 
The vet did try Bicillin before the Baytril. The first injectoin of it kinda made a little bit of a difference and then the second didn't seem to do anything whatso ever.

I do want to give her another chance and hang onto her. I have gotten very attached to her, and am sure she would feel the same way. She does itch her ears now, as well, which could indicate an ear infection.

Its not that I don't want to keep treating her, but being that the breeder has a good vet who'll give her the meds she needs, and she has some of her own, I think it'll give Char a much better chance at recovery..Not to mention the fact that the breeder is thinking of doing the bloodwork/culture, which we could do, but after talking about it, we're hesitant, being that the meds we've tried haven't done anything anyway.. :?:p




 
Any med usually has to be continued at the therapeutc dose for at least a 6 week period. If there is no improvement in possibly 4-5 days on one drug then the vet would change to a different antibiotic.

Any vet giving a dose here and a dose there is not prescribing correctly and actually causing great harm by causing the bacteria to build up resistance to the drugs.This ispoor veterinary medicine plain and simple

Can you tellme a little more on how your vet used bicillin??

Ask the breeder if you can come and visit Charlie while she is treating him and after he recovers. That would assure you that she actually is going to do all of these great things that most breeders cannot afford to do...
 
That's a good idea. I'll ask her about that. She had said she could keep me updated, but asking to come see Char isn't a bad idea at all.

The breeder said several years back a bunny of hers had these kind of symptoms, and so she got it cultured and the bloodwork done. It came back negative for pasteurella, and after several weeks on Baytril it cleared up. I think she wanted to possibly do the blood work also jsut to be sure her whole herd doesn't have Pasteurella.. idk
 
I'll be praying for your bunny... poor baby..
but I had a bunny who had a runny nose and some other symptoms and I even posted here in the infirmary section, thinking it was pasteurella and I guess it was not. My rabbit had molar spurs! What I heard is that pasteurella might not kill and might not even show any symptoms in many rabbits.
If I were you, I'd get a blood test done, just to make sure you're not making a mistake.
Also, make sure that, if you decide to send your cute bunny back to the breeder, that they won't kill the poor bunny. Do you really think they'll take the bun back and treat him?
 

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