thebunnyhops
Member
My bunny Lou has had pneumonia since March. He had been wheezing and it was all coming deep from his chest. It would happen mostly at night and also when he was in a deep sleep. Took him to a vet many times and was written off because he wouldn't really wheeze during the day. The vet said "it must be dust or allergies." I knew it wasn't dust, so I kept pushing.
Finally, I get a cat scan in September. The vet called me right before the cat scan and said "You know, thebunnyhops, I don't know how many times I can tell you that it's not the lungs. We aren't going to find anything." It was the lungs. Pneumonia (like I had been saying for 6 months). Also his sinuses and ears. The infection had been so long standing that there was bone erosion in his nose. It was so bad that I was told to euthanize, but the majority of his day was actually still good, so the vet let me try 2 months of baytril/metronidazole even though she made clear that it wouldn't work.
Well, that just about did the trick. 2 months later, he was like a new bunny. Symptoms 90% gone. Happy. A couple of sneezes or wheezes per week, but he was running laps around the house, sleeping well, etc.
Took him to a new vet because I was really displeased with the previous one. I wanted to continue the antibiotics for another month until his symptoms resolved a bit more. The issue was that he looked so good that the new vet didn't believe how sick he was previously nor believe the original cat scan report. She refused to continue the antibiotics and told me that a culture was required to continue them. Now, you do a culture to find the antibiotic that works and this one was clearly working -- it deserved another month and then afterwards we could do the culture. And a culture would have such a low yield for a bunny with almost no symptoms and on antibiotics for 2 months. But the vet was firm. I told her that I didnt feel comfortable stopping the antibiotics because I was afraid of the symptoms zooming back and stopping/starting antibiotics is really tough in terms of getting an infection back under control.
So that's what happened. We stopped them for the culture. The culture yielded absolutely nothing. And the symptoms have zoomed back and now the antibiotics aren't getting it under control anymore. There are no other bunny vets in my area and I truly do not know what to do next. If anyone has any general thoughts or ideas, I'd be happy to hear them. I'm mentally accepted the worst outcome, but I'm also prepared to push as hard as I can for him.
Finally, I get a cat scan in September. The vet called me right before the cat scan and said "You know, thebunnyhops, I don't know how many times I can tell you that it's not the lungs. We aren't going to find anything." It was the lungs. Pneumonia (like I had been saying for 6 months). Also his sinuses and ears. The infection had been so long standing that there was bone erosion in his nose. It was so bad that I was told to euthanize, but the majority of his day was actually still good, so the vet let me try 2 months of baytril/metronidazole even though she made clear that it wouldn't work.
Well, that just about did the trick. 2 months later, he was like a new bunny. Symptoms 90% gone. Happy. A couple of sneezes or wheezes per week, but he was running laps around the house, sleeping well, etc.
Took him to a new vet because I was really displeased with the previous one. I wanted to continue the antibiotics for another month until his symptoms resolved a bit more. The issue was that he looked so good that the new vet didn't believe how sick he was previously nor believe the original cat scan report. She refused to continue the antibiotics and told me that a culture was required to continue them. Now, you do a culture to find the antibiotic that works and this one was clearly working -- it deserved another month and then afterwards we could do the culture. And a culture would have such a low yield for a bunny with almost no symptoms and on antibiotics for 2 months. But the vet was firm. I told her that I didnt feel comfortable stopping the antibiotics because I was afraid of the symptoms zooming back and stopping/starting antibiotics is really tough in terms of getting an infection back under control.
So that's what happened. We stopped them for the culture. The culture yielded absolutely nothing. And the symptoms have zoomed back and now the antibiotics aren't getting it under control anymore. There are no other bunny vets in my area and I truly do not know what to do next. If anyone has any general thoughts or ideas, I'd be happy to hear them. I'm mentally accepted the worst outcome, but I'm also prepared to push as hard as I can for him.
