Bunny with urinary issues needs help

[SharminsMagic8]

Almost a year ago we brought our 5 year old lion head to the vet. He came home after having surgery to remove the heavy sandy sludge in his urinary tract, and also they cleared his eye ducts out because they were clogged and creating nasty fur clots below his eyes. Now a year later we have the same issues. The vet doesn't want to operate again so we were trying a different approach. We started with the vet manually excreting as much as she could from his bladder (a LOT!) after I noticed he was frequently straining to urinate. They tested for bacteria, the result being a very tiny amount of bacteria that the vet thought could've possibly been from the method they used to get his urine out. So we decided to bring him home with 1) a 3 day fluid flush under his skin 2) a 3 day dose of Meloxidyl for any pain he may have from trying to urinate and 3)Orbifloxacin antibiotic (which smells and apparently tastes like chicken! what? for a bunny?). That was almost a week ago. I don't see him straining (as much) but now he has the sneezes. He sometimes does it over and over and can't seem to stop. If I hear him, I pet him to take his mind off of it which usually helps him stop. But i'm wondering if there is anything else we can do for him?

 

[JBun]

Did the vet have you modify his diet at all to lower calcium? I had to do it for my bun that was prone to bladder calcium build up, and it seemed to prevent any buildup for him. His living area also had several levels that his hopping up and down would have helped keep the bladder contents churned up and prevent it from settling to the bottom.
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/HypercalciuriaRabbits.htm

Your bun could have an upper respiratory tract infection that has spread to his tear duct and plugging it up, so the antibiotic for the UTI should help with the URI also. Maybe the antibiotic and/or anti inflammatory is thinning the pus and causing the sneezing fits.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm

 

[SharminsMagic8]

Thanks for your input JBun!

Yes we have had to remove spinach, kale.....for the high calcium content. We do have a multi level cage for them and we would make him run (by playfully chasing him) to get him to move more. He is pretty sedentary.

Your theory on the thinning mucous may be spot on. It has been 5 days since he had the last of the antibiotic and I haven't heard him sneeze since 2 days ago. Thank you.

 

[ravenmoore36]

Look into ecuniculi