Mini Rex - runny nose and sneezing, put on Baytril - Questions

[doodlebugger]

My daughter's Mini Rex was diagnosed with a mild upper respiratory infection by our rabbit savvy vet. I posted about our complicated situation in another post (http://www.rabbitsonline.net/showthread.php?t=82494), so I won't bore you with those details, but I will say that we did an extensive cleaning of his cage, and moved his cage to a different room, and started Baytril that night.

First issue I am noticing, surprisingly, after having several rabbits who have all been eager to take Baytril - this rabbit can't stand the taste or the smell. We tried our usual tricks, but it seems like he's not getting the full dose. I do plan on going to the grocery store today to hopefully find something to mix the medicine with. With that said, he has been on the Baytril since Friday evening, but likely getting partial doses (and maybe not even more than a taste), and while he is acting relatively normal (eating pellets and hay, drinking water, and running around when we let him out of his cage), he has been laying down more often than I remember him ever doing. This rabbit has never been sick in the almost 4 years we have had him, but my daughter did start college in August, so he doesn't see her except on weekends and holidays right now, so I wondered if maybe I just never noticed him laying down this much?

So, my questions are:
What works for a bunny that spits out the Baytril and should I try to find organic stuff?
Does he need to be on Bene-bac or something?
Since this is his first time on Baytril, should I be concerned with his poops, as they seem a little smaller, but still normal amounts and consistency.
Should I be concerned about him laying down more often?

Anything else you can tell me? He's the only rabbit I'm concerned about. The other rabbit on Baytril has had it before and seems normal. We used to give Baytril to our two Flemmies (both who are now deceased), and never had any issues with tummy problems or the rabbits acting weird.

 

[hopalot]

:headflick: Hi! Is your baytril a pill (piece of one )? I would stick the Byatril in a small piece of fresh banana and my guy would take it eagerly--and this Baytril was liver-flavored!

Baytril dries out the poops a bit, that's normal. Antibiotics do that.

If the snuffles is in the respiratory tract, it's getting harder for him to breathe, and that may account for a general sluggishness.

This stuff is hard to deal with all the way around. If you have the pill form you may want to contact the vet for a compound with a flavor of choice. They can have a pharmacist make it and send it by mail, if necessary.

 

[doodlebugger]

The baytril we were given is in liquid form and it smells like fruit flavor. As I have said, I am perplexed as I have never had any of our rabbits turn their nose up at it. I tried enticing our little rex with the syringe without meds, but with a variety of organic baby foods and all he did was stomp and turn his nose away from it. I even tried the various baby foods on a spoon and he did the same thing. I've tried putting it on banana (because that is his favorite treat) and he ate all around the meds and left the parts of banana with the meds on it!!! I am really concerned that if we don't start getting his full dose in him, he will not get better. Thankfully today there is no sneezing or runny nose, but he is still laying down more than I'm used to seeing him do. He's still eating and drinking as usual, and I gave him some organic baby romaine (which he also loves) and he is eating that. He will eat banana without the baytril too. He's a very smart rabbit.....smarter than the rest we have now or ever had. :sigh:

 

[majorv]

You may want to keep some Benebac on hand as you're giving him the Baytril. Some antibiotics affect the gut more than others. If you notice his stools getting soft you can give him some. It also helps to push him to eat more hay, too.