Doxybactin tablets for rabbit?

[Jessi]

Hi all

My rabbit has been poorly for awhile with an unknown upper respiratory infection (we are waiting test results but its going to take awhile to come through).

In the mean time, I’ve been prescribed some Doxybactin tablets until we have the results back to target what the issue could be. Suprisingly after a quick google search I couldn’t find much info on this being given to rabbits. Has anyone had any experience with this? And how did you get your rabbit to take a tablet?

 

[Shmibunny]

Has anyone had any experience with this? And how did you get your rabbit to take a tablet?

How's your bunny doing? My elderbunny was on Doximycin tablets (doxicycline) for a long time for a mild but chronic upper respiratory infection. We had a culture done and Doxy was the best (and kind of only) choice.

Her dose was 1/8 of a tablet twice a day. The way we gave it was to first cut the tablet into 8 pieces with a X-acto type crafting knife against a hard cutting board, then keep those crumbs safe in 8 x 1ml syringes without any liquid.

Then, when it was time to medicate her, we would crush just one crumb into powder in a small clean bowl with the backside of a spoon, and then with a small funnel made of copy paper, carefully transfer this powder back into a 1ml syringe (from the big open end). Then, I would draw water into the syringe from a cup. Unfortunately unlike some other tablets, the Doximycin powder was not really water-soluble, so I would swirl the mixture through the small tip of the syringe by "going in" with a long injection needle, and after I gave my bunny the dose into her mouth (from the normal syringe), I would have a water cup beside me and keep drawing more water into the syringe a few times to try and get all the dregs of the medicine out. Fortunately the powder was yellow so it was kind of easy to see whether I was getting it all out of the syringe or not. Sounds complicated? It was, but we did it for a long time and once routine, it was not that bad.

Summary: cut tablet into doses, crush a crumb when you need it and transfer into a syringe, then draw the syringe full of water and feed to bunny.

Also, to not upset her tummy or throat, I would also give some wet Critical Care right before and after her medication.

Check with your vet -- it might be possible to get this medicine in liquid form which would be a whole lot easier.

 

[JBun]

I don't know if this is too late to be helpful for you, but here's some info on it. It's not an antibiotic that I ever used with my rabbits, but tetracycline antibiotics are generally considered safe for rabbits according to the literature. Though there is always some chance of any antibiotic causing side effects, even the ones generally considered safe.

For difficult infections in my rabbits(head abscess and respiratory infection), I had very good success with azithromycin, though the higher dose and longer treatment period was needed. There's also some risk of it causing abdominal cramping and/or severe digestive upset. My rabbits only had minor cramping, so I was able to continue the antibiotic. Diphenhydramine was also helpful in reducing the amount and thickness of the nasal discharge. I think in the UK, bisolvon is sometimes used for a similar effect, to help thin the discharge.

For baytril tablets, I crushed and mixed with a little maple syrup. Baytril isn't soluble in juice, so the thicker syrup worked best for me. Though also keeping in mind, it's important to limit excess sugars to reduce the chances of it contributing to digestive upset.

Medirabbit: safe antibiotics

https://rabbit.org/care/antibiotics/
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Common_drug_dosages_for_rabbits
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/10/3/310

 

[Jessi]

How's your bunny doing? My elderbunny was on Doximycin tablets (doxicycline) for a long time for a mild but chronic upper respiratory infection. We had a culture done and Doxy was the best (and kind of only) choice.

Her dose was 1/8 of a tablet twice a day. The way we gave it was to first cut the tablet into 8 pieces with a X-acto type crafting knife against a hard cutting board, then keep those crumbs safe in 8 x 1ml syringes without any liquid.

Then, when it was time to medicate her, we would crush just one crumb into powder in a small clean bowl with the backside of a spoon, and then with a small funnel made of copy paper, carefully transfer this powder back into a 1ml syringe (from the big open end). Then, I would draw water into the syringe from a cup. Unfortunately unlike some other tablets, the Doximycin powder was not really water-soluble, so I would swirl the mixture through the small tip of the syringe by "going in" with a long injection needle, and after I gave my bunny the dose into her mouth (from the normal syringe), I would have a water cup beside me and keep drawing more water into the syringe a few times to try and get all the dregs of the medicine out. Fortunately the powder was yellow so it was kind of easy to see whether I was getting it all out of the syringe or not. Sounds complicated? It was, but we did it for a long time and once routine, it was not that bad.

Summary: cut tablet into doses, crush a crumb when you need it and transfer into a syringe, then draw the syringe full of water and feed to bunny.

Also, to not upset her tummy or throat, I would also give some wet Critical Care right before and after her medication.

Check with your vet -- it might be possible to get this medicine in liquid form which would be a whole lot easier.

Thank you!! After a panicked evening (part of which led me to write that post!) of trying our best to research how best to give it (and laughing after stumbling on this picture: 6 Ways to Give a Rabbit Medication - wikiHow because there is no way!), we caved and contacted our vet, but also because we wanted to query whether doxybactin and doxicycline were similar and they changed the medication to doxicycline paste.

Your experience is extremely good to know though if we have to do it in the future, so really thank you for your post and for taking time to write your steps out so clearly Your way makes a lot more sense than what we were imagining.

We haven't had this rabbit for very long, we took her the the vet within the first 24 hours of having her when we realised she was sneezing an aweful lot. She doesn't trust us 100%, and it's been a nightmare syringe feeding an already very wary rabbit. A tablet would have meant figuring out which fingers we would be willing to sacrafice. Thankfully, banana has been the saving grace here. We've been hiding it in a small piece every night and she's wolfed it down.

This paste has actually worked out pretty well because the results came back and doxicycline is one of the antibiotics that the swab results have recommended to use to treat what she has for 3 weeks, along with some bisolvon powder to help with the mucus.

Results = She had a CT scan and a swab done, and CT scan came back looking pretty good (phew!)
Swab result was "Enterobacter ludwigii"

 

[Jessi]

I don't know if this is too late to be helpful for you, but here's some info on it. It's not an antibiotic that I ever used with my rabbits, but tetracycline antibiotics are generally considered safe for rabbits according to the literature. Though there is always some chance of any antibiotic causing side effects, even the ones generally considered safe.

For difficult infections in my rabbits(head abscess and respiratory infection), I had very good success with azithromycin, though the higher dose and longer treatment period was needed. There's also some risk of it causing abdominal cramping and/or severe digestive upset. My rabbits only had minor cramping, so I was able to continue the antibiotic. Diphenhydramine was also helpful in reducing the amount and thickness of the nasal discharge. I think in the UK, bisolvon is sometimes used for a similar effect, to help thin the discharge.

For baytril tablets, I crushed and mixed with a little maple syrup. Baytril isn't soluble in juice, so the thicker syrup worked best for me. Though also keeping in mind, it's important to limit excess sugars to reduce the chances of it contributing to digestive upset.

Medirabbit: safe antibiotics

https://rabbit.org/care/antibiotics/
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Common_drug_dosages_for_rabbits
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/10/3/310

Hey thank you for your post, as it's really so good to know other people's experiences on how they've managed different rabbit medications for their sick rabbits. It's really useful to have these to read when in a panic on figuring out what to do when you're in that situation. So I really appreciate you sharing this, thank you!

Our results came back, and we're on doxicycline paste and also bisolvon powder I do think the bisolvon powder is working as well - the discharge is a lot less thick, like you say. We've also converted our humidfier (that we got especially for her actually!) into a DIY nebuliser, to also help with the mucus. There's no medication in it or anything, the vet just recommended using it to make it easier for her to clear, which has also helped.

 

[Mom to Minx]

Thank you!! After a panicked evening (part of which led me to write that post!) of trying our best to research how best to give it (and laughing after stumbling on this picture: 6 Ways to Give a Rabbit Medication - wikiHow because there is no way!), we caved and contacted our vet, but also because we wanted to query whether doxybactin and doxicycline were similar and they changed the medication to doxicycline paste.

Your experience is extremely good to know though if we have to do it in the future, so really thank you for your post and for taking time to write your steps out so clearly Your way makes a lot more sense than what we were imagining.

We haven't had this rabbit for very long, we took her the the vet within the first 24 hours of having her when we realised she was sneezing an aweful lot. She doesn't trust us 100%, and it's been a nightmare syringe feeding an already very wary rabbit. A tablet would have meant figuring out which fingers we would be willing to sacrafice. Thankfully, banana has been the saving grace here. We've been hiding it in a small piece every night and she's wolfed it down.

This paste has actually worked out pretty well because the results came back and doxicycline is one of the antibiotics that the swab results have recommended to use to treat what she has for 3 weeks, along with some bisolvon powder to help with the mucus.

Results = She had a CT scan and a swab done, and CT scan came back looking pretty good (phew!)
Swab result was "Enterobacter ludwigii"

Oh I love the idea of putting the tablet in small piece of banana!!!
Recently Minx had a bit of GI and the bunny specialist Vet gave tablets that we had to dissolve overnight in fresh pineapple juice
Which was also not a picnic to syringe
She was not a happy patient snd since it’s just me and Minx it’s impossible to medicate,
Thankfully I have a friend in our condo building who came every am at 7 and at 5 pm to help! I held and she dosed!
It would have been so much easier to put it in small piece of banana
Thank you so much for the idea