Slippers will see a new vet

[bunniekrissy]

I made an appointment for Saturday with a different vet office I found on the list of bunny vets. It is only 7 minutes away from me according to yahoo maps!

They said they see bunnies on a daily basis, and they are called an "animal and bird clinic" so that hopefully indicates wider experience than just cats and dogs!

Slippers has not been to see a vet in 2 weeks and her eye is still a bit runny but not horrible and does not seem to be getting better with the continued chloramphenicol, so I decided to get another opinion. The original vet had referred me to a "veterinary eye specialist" but I think maybe just another rabbit vet would be a better choice. In defense of the original vet he acknowledged that normally both systemic and topical treatment combined works best, but he did not want to upset her system since she had been having GI issues. I am just tired of working with them now, though!

Hope this helps us get to the bottom of the problem!

 

[tonyshuman]

That sounds good to do. A lot of vets (especially non-exotic ones) are afraid to give bunnies antibiotics because the wrong ones can upset their GI flora enough to kill them. If you don't give the -cillins orally (they're fine injected), and give a probiotic daily when the bunny's on antibiotic therapy, their GI should stay fine. It's good that the chloramphenicol is helping!

 

[bunniekrissy]

So here's the deal... we ended up going to a different new vet because the close one called and said the vet was sick today. This other new vet is also on the bunny vet list though.

Vet prescribed injectable penicillin (label says Pen-BP) to be given every other day. She also prescribed gentamicin eye drops. She recommended combining it with oral baytril which I told her I already have. Not sure whether I should bother with that since it didn't do anything before (which the vet knows).

She looked at her teeth with some sort of "scope" and said they look great, and if it was a tooth root problem she'd probably see some inflammation or pus in the back.

She said there was not enough discharge at this point to do a culture, especially with her being already on antibiotics, so she'd have to give her anesthesia and lance one of the white pustules to get a culture. So we're not doing that for now.

 

[tonyshuman]

You can't necessarily see tooth root problems visually--sometimes you can only see it by x-ray. I am glad you have an injectible antibiotic though. Pen-BP is what we call bicillin--a combination of penicillin g procaine and penicillin g benzathine. It contains both slow and fast acting pen g. I think the 3-pronged approach is good: eye drops, oral, and injectible. If that doesn't do it, you're going to have to do tooth root x-rays and lance to do culture and sensitivity. Exactly where are the pustules? On the eye? Sorry I am a bit forgetful.

 

[bunniekrissy]

Yeah, I know its been stated that you can't see tooth root problems without x-rays .. but all the vets seem so insistent that they don't think that's it. Don't know what to think!

The pustules are tiny white spots on the inside of her eyelids.

 

[tonyshuman]

OIC. Thanks. That would be pretty easy to lance. I think though that since there are pustules in the eyelids a tooth root problem being the cause of this is unlikely--the eye itself seems to be the main location of the infection instead of the tooth roots.

 

[Yurusumaji]

Here's hoping this new approach works and your bunny starts getting better.

:bestwishes:

 

[bunniekrissy]

Can't believe what happened today.

Slippers was at the vet all day to get the eyelid pustules lanced and drained (under sedation) and get a culture taken. We're waiting 3-5 days to get the results of the culture.

However ----- Sonicka started biting Slippers after I put her back in the pen with her! I sat and watched and they kept getting into scuffles. I separated them for an hour or two, put vanilla on their noses to neutralize any funny smells Slippers may have picked up and the vet, and tried again. They groomed each other for a little bit but then Sonicka started instigating aggression again. I sat with them and moderated, but I now have them in separate cages for the time being (Slipps in the pen and Sonicka in the NIC cage.) I wouldn't want them to hurt each other, but I fear having them separated will make it harder to re-bond later.

:-(

I have heard of this happening but I really did not expect it. They've been separated for medical care before and had no issues getting along again when reunited

I can't believe all the bunny issues that have happened one after the other

Meanwhile, Sonicka's ears looked normal by the end of the week, then I ran out of the antibiotic after 8 days (yesterday) and now they are looking a little droopy again. It must be an ear infection since it responded to the treatment but perhaos the course was not long enough.

 

[Pipp]

Time for a car ride? I guess they'll have to go appts together and hope for the best.


sas :clover:

 

[bunniekrissy]

Got the results of the culture back ... it showed no bacterial growth. Vet said this could indicate that the antibiotics are working (though she was off them for 4 days before the culture) or that the white spots were sterile. Her eye still looks bad, though. In fact, the fur around her eye is now quite matted rather than just a bit damp.

The bunnies also are still separated; each time I put them together they do semi-ok but eventually Slippers starts attacking her. Slippers keeps demanding to be groomed which Sonicka usually does, but then after a bit Slippers decides to bite her anyway I guess this will take some time and effort to resolve.

 

[aurora369]

There is another possibility. Pasturella is an anerobic (sp?) bacteria that does not grow in the presence of oxygen. Often times if a culture and sensitivity returns with no growth, it's pasturella.

Zithromax is a good antibiotic for pasturella. It is an oral antibiotic, but you need a high dosage for 14 days.

--Dawn