Coughing? (Resolved)

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lol I am laughing about Nick and the vacuum. He usually bites at the vacuum? That is one brave bunny. You have to get a picture of that to share. Mine run and hide.

I think you are doing such a good job Beth, of taking care of Nick. He is a lucky bun to have such a great mom. I never knew antibiotics could cause this many problems with eating.

Keep up the good work. I don't really have a lot of helpful information to offer you but just want you to know I am watching your thread and thinking about you and Nick.

If you ever need to vent let me know. That is something I have some experience with. Being burned out and frustrated with a sick animal, so really if you ever need anyone to vent to let me know.
 
The stress-free days is a really good idea. Great job and it's good to hear there are some sassy days in there.
 
Nick still refuses to eat hay, but is REALLY intent on eating carpet.
(Is this some rabbit folk remedy for an upset tummy?! "If you're feeling sick and can't get to a doctor, just eat some of the stuff humans put on their floors." lol.)

I have removed some of the small area rugs in his pen, but one is covering a seam in the linoleum floor, and if I take it out he'll just eat the linoleum (unless Amelia gets to it first). He's also been eating the piece of rug I hot glued onto the top of his cardboard house for traction.

This is really frustrating, as the only I can totally prevent him from doing this is to put him in a cardboard box all day.:pssd:



This morning, I did give him Bene-bac, and attempted to syringe Pedialyte. He was very stubborn, though, and let most of the fluid drip out of his mouth instead of drinking it. Same with apple juice.

His poops get tinier and tinier. :(
 
it 's possible that he would do better if you could learn to do subqutaneous fluids.
maybe you could set up a time at the vet to have the vet ortechnician teach you how to do it. It actually is easier than struggling with a stubborn bun and a syringe.

Sorry that things aren't going well..:(
 
I think he's just being angry and destructive, and that's why he's eating the carpet. Maybe a phone book would be more fun to destroy, without potentially stopping up his guts? I guess now it's just a waiting game, waiting for his meds to be done, and for him to want to drink on his own.
 
I have to go to the clinic tomorrow to get the second half of Nick's meds (they only had enough to give me half the script last week). If I can't get more fluids into him tonight, I will see if I can take him in and have a vet tech give subq fluids. I did it myself last year when he was in stasis, but I'm really not comfortable doing it. (I probably need more practice to get comfortable, but am not comfortable practicing.)


I will try putting the phone book box into Nick's pen this evening. He only take occasional interest in it, but it's worth a try.


 
Although Nick's fluid intake is still a bit low, we decided not to take him back to the vet. He is eating salad well in the mornings, and I'm supplementing his greens by giving him extra in the evenings. (Hand-fed, so Amelia doesn't eat them.) I've been soaking the greens in water before feeding them. I have also continued not handling him on the "off" medicine days, for lower stress.
Last night, I got Nick to take greens at two different times, and he ate a small amount of hay.
I tried offering diluted apple juice, but he doesn't care for it. I had to take it out of the pen, as Amelia was slurping up as much as she could get.

This morning, he was out and about, and even attacked my jeans. He was also excited for his banana (I've only been giving him half a piece). This evening, I saw him eat pellets on his own.

Tonight was meds, and I made his slurry with just pumpkin and pedialyte, just to get some wet fiber in him. Today is day 6 of 10 for meds.

I wasn't able to weigh him on my kitchen scale, but I can certainly tell he's lost weight. He was pleasantly plump before, and now I can feel his hips and backbone with no trouble. I picked up some oats on my way home this evening, and will start giving him a pinch here and there to get some weight back on.

Nick is not better yet, but he's hanging in there.
 
Awesome that he ate pellets on his own! Only 4 more days, and then you can spoil him with treats and lots of things he wants to eat.
 
But his respiratory problem is better ..right?
I think that thezithromax is causing the appetite reduction but most likely worth it if you can get through the 10 days. Hang in there :pray:
 
angieluv wrote:
But his respiratory problem is better ..right?
I think that thezithromax is causing the appetite reduction but most likely worth it if you can get through the 10 days. Hang in there :pray:
Click to expand...
I have not heard much sneezing since I started treatment. Nick has sneezed a little bit, but mostly when he's grooming his chest. Probably fur up the nose!
Definitely no sneezing fits like before. Also, the sneezes seem.....lighter, "choo, choo, choo" sneezes. Before, the sneezing fits sounded much deeper, like they were coming from his chest. No coughing since treatment started. Thank goodness!

I'm glad I'm sticking with the treatment. It's been difficult, on me and Nick both, but if it clears up the respiratory problems, it's worth it. Although Nick's appetite is not where it needs to be, it does seem to be increasing, bit by bit. I just hope I can get a bit of weight put back on him. We're more than half-way through the every-other day phase, then just two treatments every-third day. Whew!


 
I hope things have went better for you over the weekend. I have been thinking about you and Nick.
 
Thank you, Amy, for keeping Nick in your thoughts!

He seems to be doing a bit better. He's eating salad like a champ, and doing much better with pellets. Last night, I did see him eat hay, but still not much. Still trying to eat carpet. Also, I still haven't seen him drink water.

Nick is still much skinnier than he really should be. Hopefully, his appetite will keep increasing and he'll put the weight back on. I am about to start switching over to a new brand of pellets, so I hope that won't set him back again.

Overall, I think he's doing much better. We've still got medicine tomorrow and Wednesday, then two more doses, three days apart.
 
Hopefully the zithromax will rid him of the infection

unfortunately it does sometimes suppress appetite. thank God you only have a few days left....
 
Thank you for asking, Amy!

I have been meaning to update this thread.

Nick seems to be doing MUCH better. We finished out the Zithromax (I was actually one dose short), and Nick's sneezing has been much less than it used to be. I also haven't heard him cough in awhile. He's still a bit on the thin side, but he's gained a little bit back.

One curious thing is that Nick is SO full of energy lately. He is getting into trouble left and right. I can only let them out to run for short amounts of time before I have to put them back in the pen. Nick has been chewing the baseboards, pulling up carpet, etc. He has even been going into the kitchen, which he hasn't done in years. He is crazy. Amelia's always been my trouble maker, now it's Nick I have to keep my eye on.

He has also started snorting when he gets excited for food, which he never did before.

Overall, I am going to say this issue is resolved, at least for now. I just hope there isn't another recurrence in 6 months.
 
I would guess that Nick feels a lot better maybe having had a low level infection for a long time. I don't know how long Randy keeps a rabbit on zithromax but I, too, hope that this course was long enough to eradicate the infection.

Although his behavior is 'above normal" I would be slightly concerned if there are any symptoms left at all. (if there are symptoms despite the horrendous amount of effort requirqed with feeding him etc) I would still consider asking the vet to extend the meds for a longer time.

I have used injectable bicillin a lot for rabbit infecitons of many types. It does not (with my rabbits) create any Gi disturbances whatsoever nor does it affect appetite at all. This would also be a drug to consider if you feel that there are still some symptoms present.
you did a great job of nursing Nick through this (particuularly with the appetite reduction)

A lesser person would have stopped the drugs.

you did a great job!!!!:)
 
angieluv wrote:
I would guess that Nick feels a lot better maybe having had a low level infection for a long time. I don't know how long Randy keeps a rabbit on zithromax but I, too, hope that this course was long enough to eradicate the infection.

Although his behavior is 'above normal" I would be slightly concerned if there are any symptoms left at all. (if there are symptoms despite the horrendous amount of effort requirqed with feeding him etc) I would still consider asking the vet to extend the meds for a longer time.

I have used injectable bicillin a lot for rabbit infecitons of many types. It does not (with my rabbits) create any Gi disturbances whatsoever nor does it affect appetite at all. This would also be a drug to consider if you feel that there are still some symptoms present.
you did a great job of nursing Nick through this (particuularly with the appetite reduction)

A lesser person would have stopped the drugs.

you did a great job!!!!:)
Click to expand...
Thanks! I don't know if I could have made it through without the help and support from everyone here. The emotional support and experiences of everyone here, along with the medical advice, were what kept me going.

The sneezing Nick has left is very infrequent, and really sounds different from what he was doing before. More like a tickle in the nose now, and I have noticed he will sometimes sneeze after grooming his chest, as though some fur got into his nose. Before, it sounded like the sneezes were coming from deeper in his body. No couging, either. The couging was awful!

I was also thinking that he may have been feeling poorly for awhile, and that is why his behavior seems so drastically different.
For awhile, I think he was doing things out of anger towards me, the medicine, force feeding, etc. We are also moving right now, so every day something is different in the apartment, which might be unsettling to him. (Amelia doesn't care.)

I am switching all my bunnies over to APD pellets, as they are less expensive for me than Oxbow now; so far he seems to like them and they're not bothering his stomach. (Just finished a week of 1/4 APD, 3/4 Oxbow, today will start a week of half-and-half.)

I will, however, keep in mind the injectable bicillin. I will look into it if there's a recurrence. I will demand to see the more experienced vet, get an x-ray, and ask about the bicillin. But I'm crossing my fingers that I won't have to do that.

Thanks again!
Like I said, I couldn't have done it without RO.
 
I am glad Nick is doing better. He must be feeling a lot better to be that active. That is funny he gets so excited for his food he snorts.

I will be crossing my fingers that this stays gone. You did such a great job taking care of Nick. I am sure you are really happy you are done. I am sure Nick is also.
 
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