Snuffles

[Thlayli]

I just bought a new female holland lop two days ago. I knoticed that she was sniffling and sneezing, and i felt the front of her nose and it is wet.

I searched online and came up with a disease called snuffles which is pretty common among rabbits, speads like crazy, and is deadly if not taken care of. It is a respiratory infection that starts with a watery runny nose, progresses to a whitish nasal discharge, and can spread to the eyes and ears. The bad part is I already let her and my other rabbit play for a while, so if she does have it, he could have it now too.

I also found out about an antibiodic called Baytril for pets.

My question is: has anyone ever had the same problem? Does Baytril work? Can I get some antibiodic from my local pet store or petsmart? And how do I give it to my rabbits?

Any other info or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Maureen Las]

You really don't want to start out self treating. There are drugs thatmay be helpful from farm stores but they would be injectable and at this point you don't know exactly what you are treating.
There is a bacteria that causes the symptoms that you are describing that is referred to as "snuffles" but actually there can be different forms of bacteria that would create similar symptoms .. you rabbit needs to have a culture done of the exudate from his nostrils and then have an antibiotic selected based on the specific strain of bacteria's sensitiity to it ;

Baytril is commonly used by vets because it is relatively safe for rabbits . the more experience the vet the more you will find him going outside the baytril . ciprofloxicin mode and trying stronger meds like injectable Convenia , bicillin, oral Zithromax and chloramphenical

The bottom line is that you need to find a vet and you need to find one that is rabbit knowledgeable;

Your other rabbit has been exosed but may or may not become ill. Many times if the immune system is very strong the exposed rabbit will not become ill.

We need to know a little more about your rabbit to help us help you
if you could provide even more info this would help us; we can also provide a list of vets

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=44529&forum_id=16

You did a good job of researching your rabbit's symptoms

 

[Thlayli]

Sorry for so little information.

My rabbit, Hester, is (I believe) about 4 months old, she is a black holland lop, medium small in size.

She is not spayed, she has normal poops and pee as far as I can tell. She chooses to go to the bathroom everywhere rather than in just one corner (even once in her food dish...is that normal?).

She is probably a bit stressed from the move from the pet store to my house.

I have a 3x2x2 cage for her indoors bedded with storebought pine bedding. Right now her and my other rabbit are out in separate runs on the grass. They have water bottles, food pellets, and I picked a bunch of grass next to my fence that they really seem to like. They have been out there all day today.

I knoticed the runny nose yesterday, it is the same today. Occasionally I hear her snort when she is running and breathing heavily. She sneezes every once in a while.

I dont know her medical history, and I havent knoticed anything else wrong.

 

[tonyshuman]

Although you did do a good job researching, you came across old information that is out of date. Snuffles is a catch-all term for any upper respiratory infection, (URI) which isn't a good way to think about it in order to treat it. There are a number of bacteria that can cause URIs, including paturella, bordatella, staph, and others. [ref]

You cannot get baytril on your own and it is not always the best choice for a URI. Many of the bacteria that cause URIs are resistant to this type of antibiotic, meaning they will not be killed by it. A similar drug is Cipro. The best way to treat this type of infection is first to figure out what bacteria is causing it and what drugs it is resistant to, in a culture and sensitivity test. This link is about Culture and Sensitivity Testing. The vet may prescribe Baytril (enrofloxacin) or Cipro (ciprofloxacin) while you are waiting for the test results to come back. Although they may not be able to treat the infection, it's better than nothing for that week it takes to determine what bacteria are there and what drugs they are susceptible to.

Here's our library article on Upper Respiratory Infections

The vet should give you an antibiotic based on the results of the test. Here are safe antibiotics for rabbits--notice that some are only safe injected due to bad effects on the GI tract. Safe Antibiotics

 

[Thlayli]

Iread that most rabbits already have the bacteria that can lead to upper respiratory infections, but their immune systems keep it in check. Stress, however, can lead to a weakened immune system, which would let the bacteria take over. But once the rabbit settles in and the stress levels decrease, the immune system kicks down the bacteria once again.

Is this true, plausible, or false? It makes sense to me, but I dont want to trust a hunch.

 

[tonyshuman]

That is true about the bacteria being there. I can't find a reference right now (too late at night). I can say though that the fact that stress weakens the immune system is well-known in endocrinology of most mammals including humans. However, sometimes the rabbit needs a little help to kick the bacterial infection because it has gotten quite out of control--they may not be able to beat it by themselves, or it might take too long and they would die of the symptoms before they could kick it.

 

[Thlayli]

Yeah I figured as much. But unfortunately, unless it is very cheap, I cant afford a vet visit right now. I wish I could, but I cant. And on top of that the vets around here are shady places. Anytime I bring in an animal, it seems to come out even sicker. Like when I went to get my cat spayed, she came out with fleas, earmites, and a sneezy cold like thing.

That is why I was wanting to know if there was something I could get her at someplace like the pet store or petsmart and give it to her myself.

My more sensible side is telling me that this will most likely kick itself out, but if there is anything I can do to help her, reduce her stress, boost her immune system, or aid in any way, I want to do it.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

If it was me? Here's what I'd do:

Get her a couple toys, they don't have to cost much. I got our boy baby keys at Walmart for a $1 and he loves them. Also, empty toilet or paper towel rolls are good, especially when filled with hay!:biggrin2:

Just a couple of ideas for now.

Wishing you luck with the Hollands! I realize you can't afford it right now, but see if a bet will work with you on cost. Tell them it could be life or death for buns. I would def get to a vet to get an antibiotic for the infection, and it is. It sounds like an illnesscalled an Upper Respitory Infection or URI.

Best of luck to you!

Keep us posted!

Crys

 

[tonyshuman]

Ok, well there are options that don't involve a vet visit, but they're not guaranteed to work. I am putting a lot of caveats on these because I really think the best thing to do is to take her to the vet to get this treated. I know of some treatments that can be gotten w/o a prescription and are used by people who have lots of rabbits and thus can't afford to take 20+ rabbits to the vet if they all have an illness. This is really risky and may not work. I have never done this myself, and I haven't heard of anyone doing it to treat URIs on their own--just abscesses. You need to realize that this advice is just "what some person said on the internet", not even personal experience. I say this because I don't want to be at all responsible if it doesn't work. I do understand that vet care can be really expensive, and if the choice is between no treatment and a home treatment that might work, for the sake of Hester, I'd rather her get some treatment rather than none.

That being said, you can buy a few types of antibiotics at farm supply stores. Some are given orally, but I don't recommend them because you can't make sure they get the whole dose--that's because you dissolve them in the water they drink. Plus, those antibiotics have a lot of resistant bacteria out there. An injectible antibiotic called Penicillin G Benzathine/Penicillin G Procaine can be found. This is a long-lasting form of penicillin. It must be injected because it can cause death in rabbits when given orally by killing all the beneficial GI bacteria. You need to dilute it 1x with a saline solution/lactated ringer's for injection. If you don't have experience giving sub-q injections, it may be difficult.

This protocol describes using PenG benz/proc for abscess treatment, I'd do the same thing for a URI. It may be possible that her bacteria are resistant to Pen G, so if there is no improvement in a few days, a different antibiotic is needed, and all of those are only available at a vet.
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm

When I go to the vet, it only costs $25 for an office visit. Medicine would be less than $20. The culture and sensitivity test may be quite expensive, up to $100. Another option is to check out pet insurance--you have to pay around $12 a month, and pay everything up front, but they reimburse you quite a bit for tests etc. There's also something called IMOM that helps people who can't afford vet care for their pets, and the Humane Society may have low-cost care options for you. Some vets will also do payment plans or take Care Credit, which is a credit card to be used for vet care. Humane societies will also take your animal and give her care, but you may not be able to get her back--I'd call and see if they offer low-cost vet care before taking her in. If you do get investigated for not providing adequate medical care for her, home treatment of this sort is not going to help your case. When they investigate things like this, the animal has to have seen a vet to prove that you're treating their infection. Just a legal FYI.

 

[pocketsizedrhino]

I just took my bun to the vet for the same thing. The total for her was about $37 including meds+exam fee. I have a very reasonable vet but I drive 40 minutes to get there. Call around--you might get lucky like that.

 

[Thlayli]

Wow thanks for all the help!

Last night I talked with my landlord about Hester and she said that she "might" be able to help.

But I went out this morning and held her for a bit and her nose was free of all runny stuff. She did sneeze once, but it seems to be getting better. I think she was just a little over stressed, but she is settling in now.

I will be watching her like a hawk and I will keep you updated.