Snuffles - has anyone had success?

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Charlotteandbetty

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Hi all,

I’ve had my boy for one year. He is a rescue and I don’t know how old he is. He came to me with a weepy left eye.

I took him to the vet straight away and was given Isathal drops. This cleared it up for a while. A few months later it returned but now in his right eye and vet gave isathal again.

It has returned a couple more times over the year, and in June he started sneezing when also (only when his eye was watering, it went away with the Isathal drops.)

Last month I was concerned when it came back again, with more sneezing and nose cleaning than before. I took him to a specialist vet (RVC Camden) who flushed his tear ducts and prescribed Chloramphenicol drops for 7 days. It came back a few days after fininshing the drops and the vet then prescribed Doxycycline oral antibiotics for 2 weeks. They did nothing.

I called up and she suggested a culture test and the eye drops in the mean time. His eye cleared and sneezing reduced slightly after only a day of drops, so vet said to postpone the culture test to see if a longer course of the chloramphenicol might work- the vet said to call after 2 weeks and see how he’s doing.

The past few days I’ve noticed him shaking his head lots and scratching at his ears, which I gather indicated the infection has gone to his middle ears.

Any advice for what to do next? Will he ever be cured of this since it’s kept coming back? Has anyone successfully treated chronic snuffles?
I’ve read about eye drops being used in the nose ?
Also, should I ask to try a broad antibiotic like Baytril at the same time as the chloramphenicol drops? Or just wait and see?

Absolutely terrified I’m going to lose him. Any advice or experiences with respiratory infections so gratefully received x
 
Might want to ask your vet about azithromycin. I had chronic infections spread through my group of 6 rabbits and for two months I couldn't get rid of it. Started with one getting a severely infected eye while I was away, which had to be removed, which later abscessed and the infection wouldn't clear up. The bacteria spread through the group and one got a UTI, which cleared up with an injection of convenia, one got an infected tear duct which didn't clear up with sulfa eye drops, and one got a URI which didn't clear up with oral baytril or sulfa eye drops in the nose.

The three that still had infections were put on azithromycin 20mg/kg. The one with the URI cleared up within 3 days, same with the infected tear duct. The one with the abscess took about a week. The first two were on it for two weeks, the last for 3 weeks. It's been about a month and they are still all clear. I've also read of severe ear infections causing head tilt, clearing up with azithromycin when nothing else was working.

It's what I would want to use in your situation. Though there is a caution with it's use. In rare instances some rabbits have severe digestive upset and it has to be discontinued.
 
Thanks so much for your response- it is so encouraging to read that you managed to find something which has worked. I will be calling my vet in the morning to ask to try azithromycin.

I really appreciate it x
 
You're welcome. Of course it does depend on the bacteria involved and if it's sensitive to this antibiotic, but it certainly worked well for my rabbits.
 
If anyone else reads this in the future, we managed to clear Clive’s infection by using the Chloramphenicol 0.5 eye drops in BOTH eyes for 3 weeks. He stopped showing symptoms altogether after 2 weeks and I continued for another week to be sure it was gone. We’re now 2 months down the line and no symptoms have returned!

I’ve also been supplementing him with dried echinacea, a probiotic powder, and a blend of immune boosting herbs.
 
If anyone else reads this in the future, we managed to clear Clive’s infection by using the Chloramphenicol 0.5 eye drops in BOTH eyes for 3 weeks. He stopped showing symptoms altogether after 2 weeks and I continued for another week to be sure it was gone. We’re now 2 months down the line and no symptoms have returned!

I’ve also been supplementing him with dried echinacea, a probiotic powder, and a blend of immune boosting herbs.
Thank you for sharing. This is very useful information.🙂
 

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