Cocoa has an ear infection

[KimandCocoa]

Hi everyone,

On Friday morning I noticed that my rabbit Cocoa was acting strange. He is a 5 year old male dwarf mix. He seemed dizzy, not very good balance and his head was tilted a little bit. I got a vet appointment for him that afternoon. The vet checked him, said he had an ear infection and gave us Baytril for him. Cocoa is supposed to get .2 ml of Baytril twice a day for 30 days. 30 days seems rather long to me. Cocoa had this same type of problem a year and a half ago and the emergency vet that we went to gave him Baytril, but he only needed to take it for about 7 days.

So far he's had the Baytril 3 days and doesn't seem to be improving much. He stays in his castle all day because if he comes out he loses his balance and falls over. Luckily he is eating and drinking. I put the food right in front of him so he does not have to come out. Here is a photo of Cocoa. As you can see, that's about as far as he comes out. I am worried that he is sitting around all day and not moving around much.

At this point I am wondering when I should expect to see improvement with him? And is 30 days too long to give him Baytril? Thank you!

 

[JadeIcing]

I would see if you can have a culture run see exactly what is causing it. See if you can try a stronger med. Honestly I always go at least 3 weeks of meds. 7days is way to short.

 

[TinysMom]

I would have thought you might have seen some improvement by now - but then again - I don't use Baytril - I use something else.

Thirty days really doesn't seem too long to me because you want to make sure you get rid of ALL of the infection.

I also give mine something to help with the dizziness - I forget what it is called - but it is for car sickness. I cut the pill in half and then I put some water with it and syringe it into their mouth....I find it helps a lot.

BUT - I am not your vet....just a breeder!

 

[pla725]

Call the vet or get another opinion. I would go with Zithromax. Baytril really won't help. There is a medicine for the dizziness. I forget the name too.

 

[TinysMom]

I looked it up - its Bonine.

 

[JadeIcing]

Zithromax is good depending the cause. Somethings do better with certain meds. It is my first choice for most things.

 

[KimandCocoa]

Cocoa was on Baytril a year and a half ago and he got better very quickly. The vet could not do a culture because his ear drums were only swollen and I guess there was nothing they could get out for a culture.

 

[tonyshuman]

There are a few different formulations of Bonine, I think--the one you want to get has meclizine in it and nothing else. 30 days isn't too long, but you should see some improvement in 4-5 days. If you don't see improvement, a different antibiotic should be used. Baytril is rather old and often ineffective for rabbit infections. Ear infections need to be gotten under control quickly and then have the antibiotic continued for a long time after symptoms are gone.

 

[TinysMom]

tonyshuman wrote:

There are a few different formulations of Bonine, I think--the one you want to get has meclizine in it and nothing else. 30 days isn't too long, but you should see some improvement in 4-5 days. If you don't see improvement, a different antibiotic should be used. Baytril is rather old and often ineffective for rabbit infections. Ear infections need to be gotten under control quickly and then have the antibiotic continued for a long time after symptoms are gone.

Wow - I didn't know that - I was just told to go to Walmart and pick it up there....didn't realize that there were different formulations.

I've had several head-tilt bunnies and used it with almost all of them once I knew about using it.

 

[JadeIcing]

I pick up regular dremamine(sp?) Same as the one the vet prescribed. Vet approved.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:. Any news?

 

[KimandCocoa]

Nancy McClelland wrote:

ray:. Any news?

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for asking! Cocoa has a good appetite and has been eating normally. He still does not come out of his castle very much each day, and still seems wobbly and dizzy. He has been on the Baytril 5 days now. The vet called today to check on Cocoa but I missed her call since I was at work, so I'll have to try to talk to her tomorrow and give her an update. We'll go from there. I thought since Cocoa was on Baytril before and got better quickly, it would work again this time, but so far that is not the case.

 

[KimandCocoa]

Cocoa is getting worse! When I first took him to the vet over a week ago, his head was tilted very slightly. I barely noticed. In the past several days his head tilt has gotten a lot more noticeable, even though he is getting Baytril twice a day. I just called and left a message for our vet this evening to see if we can get him on a new medication.

I am just really upset because I don't know what I can do for him! He just sits around most of the day and barely gets up, although he still eats pretty normally. I feel so sad because he is obviously not comfortable or happy. :tears2:

 

[tonyshuman]

The bacteria is probably resistant to Baytril. Something like Zithromax, penicillin, or chloramphenicol should probably be used. I hope the vet prescribes something else for him. Poor dude.