On Antibiotics

[BeanBunny23]

Hey Everyone, I took Bean to the vet on Friday when he suddenly became very very ill. He sounded terrible (which the vet later told me was crackles a.k.a fluid in his lungs). He is on antibiotics, and has a humidifier on near his cage at all times, as instructed by the vet.

I was just wondering if anyone had ever experienced any kind of respiratory distress with their bunny, and if there was anything else I could do to make him more comfortable? The a/c is no longer on in the room he is in, and I've been keeping up withhis medicine, and heseems back to his old self still getting up to see if I have a yogi for him like usual.Like I said he is on anti-biotics, and he seems to be getting better (I don't hear the crackles in his lungs anymore, he just sounds congested at this point). Just wondering, because other then the antibiotics the vet was not very helpful as far as any other thing that would help him.

Thanks everyone!
:bunnydance:

 

[Maureen Las]

A cool mister might help if there is not a lot of humidity in the room I used that on one one of my buns with a respiratory infection a few years back.....
I am wondering what med you are giving the rabbit and his weight and the dosage

 

[BeanBunny23]

well he's about 4 lbs, and the dosage is .3 oz, given orally 2x a day. So he gets one dose in the morning, and one in the afternoon when I am home from work. I am not sure what the actual medicine is. Kinda smells like penicillin.

 

[Maureen Las]

Make sure that it is NOT penicillin because pencillin given orally and not by injection to a rabbit will be fatal to the rabbit. it will totally disrupt the gut flora of the rabbit.

call the vet and ask for the name of the med. ...

 

[BeanBunny23]

It probably isn't penicillin, but I will double check that just to make sure what the name of the med is for my own records. Thanks

 

[tonyshuman]

angieluv wrote:

Make sure that it is NOT penicillin because pencillin given orally and not by injection to a rabbit will be fatal to the rabbit. it will totally disrupt the gut flora of the rabbit.

call the vet and ask for the name of the med. ...

:yeahthat:

 

[tonyshuman]

Also, while he's on antibiotics, it's good to provide a probiotic to keep his GI bacteria in balance. I recommmend Bene-Bac (from most pet stores) or ProBios (from a farm store).

 

[BeanBunny23]

does petco sell bene-bac? Although petco is not my favorite place, I don't believe the community pet-store has it.

 

[Maureen Las]

petco has it in powder form (which is a better deal )or in gel form. usually they have small mammal kind but dog and cat is the same.

 

[BeanBunny23]

Ok Bean is on Bactrum (not penicillin..phew)..Checked on him when I got home..still has a little congestion/crackle.:nerves1

 

[tonyshuman]

I worry that with an infection so deep in his lungs, a stronger antibiotic will be needed. Of course, let him have at least a week of Bactrim before worrying about that. How many days are you supposed to give it?

 

[BeanBunny23]

Well I am going to make an appointment with the VCA hospital that sees bunnies. This hospital is the sister hospital to where we take our dogs and they always do the right thing, so I'm giving him a week, because he was just started on this medication on Friday night. I wouldn't want to wait any longer then that. :nerves1

 

[BeanBunny23]

Bean is back to a different vet tomorrow. Hopefully he gets a stronger anti-biotic :nerves1

 

[tonyshuman]

Any improvement so far? Good luck at the vet!

 

[Flashy]

Good luck for tomorrow.

I hope they can help him and you.

 

[BeanBunny23]

Thanks Everyone. The crackles are not as bad as they were, but I haven't seen the improvement I would like. I feel very uncomfortable that he is making that noise at all.

 

[Maureen Las]

I agree with Tracy and Claire that he would need a stronger antibiotic for a longer period of time

hope that you can get the help that you need..........

 

[BeanBunny23]

I definitely think he will need something stronger, it seems like the symptoms got worse again, so I'm very thankful that we are going to see the vet in a couple of hours ray:

 

[Flashy]

Poor bunny. Let us know how it goes.

 

[BeanBunny23]

Back from the vet. She seemed very knowledgable, and did a full exam on him (as the other vet should have). She said chest x-rays wouldn't do any good at this point, so he is on Batril .5 ml 2x a day, and she gave me some ointment for his runny eyes so a sore doesn't begin to form. She said it could pasturella causing it or another microplasm, but at this point she feels batril is best for him. Told me to call her before hand if he gets worse, and call her if he gets better. Sounds a whole lot more concerned then the other vet. He is relaxing in his cage now after eating some hay. Hopefully he gets better soon.

Haha..there he goes at his hay again as we speak. Thanks for all your well wishes ray: