Kyle

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flowerbunny

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Kyle is being treated for a bacterial infection on his nose. We are on the 2nd round of CMZ antibiotic and his right eye appears to have become infected. His bowel and urine are normal, his appetite is still decreased except for his hay, and his water intake is decreased as well. He is hopping around OK. I'm really becoming more concerned since the crusting on his nose is not better and now the eye. His vet considers him to be an "exotic" animal, which means rabbits are not the norm in the practice. Any suggestions? Thanks
 
Hi, thanks for joining. A few other things might help. Is CMZ cefmetazole? This isn't an antibiotic we usually see used in rabbits. How long have the rounds of this medicine been?

Are you in the UK, Aus, or NZ? These places have a disease that causes crusty lesions around the eyes and nose that is called myxomatosis, and it's very deadly. If so, please get him back to the vet ASAP.

Another possibility is syphilis. This often appears with crusty lesions around the nose, eyes, and genital area. It's treated with antibiotics, but the typical one used is penicillin, so I don't think CMZ is very effective against it. The vet can usually determine by looking at the rabbit and perhaps other tests if it is syphilis. Don't worry, it doesn't transmit to people, but it will transmit to the other bunnies, so if he's housed with any others they will need to be treated too. This infection can lie dormant and not have any visible symptoms, and they can still pass it to each other without symptoms.

Other options include a different infection of the eye. Many bacteria are resistant to one or more antibiotics. CMZ is a 2nd generation cephalosporin, which isn't very common, so I would be surprised to find that Kyle was infected with a resistant bacterium. Other things can cause infections, such as fungus, and fungal infections of the skin around the mouth are pretty common (at least I've heard of them on the forum here), also causing crusty lesions.

What I would do is take him to a different vet for a second opinion. We have a listing of good vets that have been provided by forum members or rabbit rescue organizations. These vets will know what syphilis looks like and how commonly CMZ is used in rabbits, if the dose is correct, etc.
 
I am in the USA, Indiana southern part of State. Rounds are 7 days twice a day 5 mil. Very easy to give-Kyle likes the taste. The culture returned 3 different bacteria's - not syphillis. Vet felt that he had an injury to his nose. Where I live, very rural Crothersville, IN. There is not much vet selection I'm afraid. I'll check out the veternarian list. Thanks for the reply.
 
I think that you need a vet more experienced with rabbits. Cefmetazole is a 2nd generation cephalosporin and should not be given to a rabbit orally AT ALL though it is safe to give it subqutaneously.
your rabbit should not be given this drug orally .
it also sounds likehe is not responding to the medication at all and thatthe infection is actually spreading .
I would get a 2nd opinion quickly .

try to find someone on the list or else just call around and ask if a vet specifically treats a lot of rabbits.

he may need 2 antibiotics given simultaneously ...like bicillin and zithromax as an example

here is a list of rabbit safe drugs

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Antibiotics/Safe_antibiotics.htm


here are dangerous drugs

http://www.medirabbit.com/Unsafe_medication/dangerous_antibiotics.htm

Cefmetazole would be in the cephalexin family










 
I suspect the drug you are using is SMZ. That is a sulfanomide. Very old school. Can be very harmful to the beneficial bacteria in the GI. I suspect your vet is treating this rabbit like you would a dog or a cat. And I suspect that staph was one of the bacteria found in the culture. Sulfa is the old school response to staph (doesn't work so well as I know from personal experience). If you could post the labs, I can most likely tell you what antibiotic would be appropriate. I haven't used SMZ (or another favorite among vets, Baytril) in years. Don't know of any vets that know anything much about exotics that would use Sulfa these days. Staph and several of the common bacterium we find are now resistant to those drugs (this staph isbasically the same as community-acquiredMRSA in humans) Those of us that do advanced work on rabbits use much more aggressive antibiotics. And as noted in another post....rabbits (or any other hind gut fermenter) should NEVERbe administered oral penicillins or derivitives such as cephalosporins. Those drugs are devastating on "gram positive" bacteria and that is the primary type of bacteria needed to digest food and keep the GI in good working order.

Your vet is probably trying to help as best he/she can but most vets are "behind the eight ball" when it comes to exotics. Rabbits are"polar opposites" of the animals most vets treat. And treatments that are common in cats or dogscan be fatal inrabbits. I am not a vet but I do consults with vets all the time. If your vet is willing, I would be willing to walk them thru treatment. This shouldn't be a real difficult thing to clear up. The only concern I have is the involvement of the eye which could bring on additional issues.

Randy
 
flowerbunny wrote:
Kyle is being treated for a bacterial infection on his nose. We are on the 2nd round of CMZ antibiotic and his right eye appears to have become infected. His bowel and urine are normal, his appetite is still decreased except for his hay, and his water intake is decreased as well. He is hopping around OK. I'm really becoming more concerned since the crusting on his nose is not better and now the eye. His vet considers him to be an "exotic" animal, which means rabbits are not the norm in the practice. Any suggestions? Thanks
Click to expand...
nasal culture was it done..??...if so,what kind of-(name)- bacteria are we trying to kill.??..facial skull radiogragh?--what did it show??..sorry to sound critical but prey animals don,t give us much time,or many second chances,,...one problem can lead to another real quick.....use benebac when giving antibiotics,,please pm me,,unless this is under control..???...sincerely james waller:p
 
Thanks for the information. I'm taking this list to the vet today and will find out what the culture results actually are. Kyle is so little and so cute I'm just afraid this is not working. There's a vet not too far away that is listed on this web site. Thanks again
 
I am taking the lists of dangerous/not dangerous drugs to the vet today and I will get the lab results. There is a vet listed on this site that is not too far away from here and I will try to consult with him. Thanks very much for the information, I'm new to rabbits but I do the very best that I know to care for them.
 
I'm glad you posted here and got some very good advice. :) Welcome to the forum and good luck.
 
The Vet gave Kyle antibiotic wipes for his nose and referred us to a vet in North Vernon, IN. Kyle nose is not crusting so badly and his eye seems less red. He is still eating his alfalfa OK and drinking OK. I can't get in to see this other Vet until next week. I am going to have to wait for a few days but until then I will continue with the antibiotic that he has. I know that I'm really new to rabbitry, but I wish there was more I could do. Thanks for the interest.
 
Antibiotic wipes? Like diaper wipes, but antibiotics on them? I've never heard of that as a treatment for an upper respiratory infection.
 
The nasal crusting is from an injury. Kyle doesn't have a UPI no coughing, sneezing. The crust accumlates on his nose and makes breathing difficult. Until I see the other vet next week, I am continuing the SMZ liquid-he doesn't seem to have any side effects from this and he is holding his own right now, a little better. The wipes are called Malaseb towelettes and they have reduced the amount of crusting. When it does get worse-the crusting-I remove the crust and have been using the wipe directly to his nose. My thinking is to get to the nose rather than apply this to the crust. There is a minimal amount of bleeding an I'm sure it's not comfortable for him or for me. But I'm willing to do whatever. Kyle is very cooperative, he's eating a little more of the green rabbit pellets, a little corn loves broccoli and carrots. So that part is better. However, my big concern is I'll run out of the liquid antibiotic on tomorrow night and have to wait 3 days to see the other vet. I've been cutting these wipes into smaller pieces to at least have that until Wednesday. The first vet has cut us loose. I really appreciate all of your assistance and thank you. Nancy
 
The bacterial infection is from an injury?

You mean like a rabbit bite. ?? :?

Once an infection sets in it must be treated like any other bacterial infection ;;with oral or injected antbiotics.

Wipes will only clean his nose off but do nothing to eradicate the infection.

Iwould call the new vets office and explain the situation in such a way that possibly the new vet will allow you a small amount of antibiotic untl you can be seen. Maybe you can talk them into an earlier appointment

if you areusing trimethoprim sulfa it probably is just not the correct med for this infection.;if it was ...you would have seen an improvement by now.

possibly the new vet can culture the exudate from the wound.

keep us up-dated :hug:


 
I agree that a new vet is in order as your bet doesn't seem to know much about rabbit medicine. Honestly, the use of this antibiotic and the wipe is not at all what an up-to-date rabbit vet would do.
 
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