SOS: Enterobacter ludwigii/Grim, sticky white devil gunk coming from nose

[Jessi]

Background: We adopted a beautiful rabbit from a local-ish rescue to bond to our lonely male rabbit. They bonded SO well, instant love, amazing. Unfortunately within the first 24 hours we realized she was snuffling a lot and trying to clear her nose of this white gunk. Gahhhh. We took her to the vets, thinking it was a grass seed or something stuck up her nose. After rhinoscopy and CT scan and swab it turned out to be a bacterial infection of some kind.

As of today, it has now been exactly 138 days of rabbit sniffling, different antibiotics, multiple daily nebulizing, mucolytics, and vet visits.
She hasn’t kicked it yet but is soooo much better than she was. We assumed it wasn’t contagious, as did the vet. However, a few months ago our other rabbit finally caught it and he has it pretty bad, so he is now on the same stuff she is prescribed by the vet.

The swab test result was: Enterobacter ludwigii

It is the worst sticky white hard gunk that is forming in their nose and reallllly difficult for them to clear. They’re so frustrated.

Anyone had experience with this?

Is it meant to have taken this long to clear it?

 

[JBun]

If the antibiotic being used isn't particularly effective against the bacteria present or isn't penetrating the tissue very well to get to the bacteria, it may not clear up very quickly or at all. You may need to give it more time, depending how long your bun has already been on the current antibiotic, or you may need to switch antibiotics.

Medirabbit: respiratory issues in rabbits

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Snuffles
I had a difficult to clear bacterial infection spread through a bonded group of rabbits. Started with one rabbit getting an eye infection that continued to worsen even with several antibiotic eye drops tried. To the point her eye had to be removed. Then abscessed and another 2 rabbits developed a respiratory infection. A few antibiotics were tried, but the one that cleared it up finally was azithromycin.

Within a couple days there was immediate and significant improvement, but after a couple weeks on it, once it was stopped, the infection came back. So the higher 50mg/kg dose was given the second round, and for 4 weeks. Completely cleared up after that.

If you haven't tried azithromycin and that bacteria is sensitive to it, it may be worth asking your vet about it. Though do be aware that in rare instances it can cause severe digestive upset for some rabbits. The most mine had was minor cramping for a few hours, then were back to normal.

Along with meloxicam, another med that was helpful was diphenhydramine. It helped thin the sticky white mucous out so it didn't plug up the nose of one with the respiratory symptoms.

 

[Jessi]

If the antibiotic being used isn't particularly effective against the bacteria present or isn't penetrating the tissue very well to get to the bacteria, it may not clear up very quickly or at all. You may need to give it more time, depending how long your bun has already been on the current antibiotic, or you may need to switch antibiotics.

Medirabbit: respiratory issues in rabbits

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Snuffles
I had a difficult to clear bacterial infection spread through a bonded group of rabbits. Started with one rabbit getting an eye infection that continued to worsen even with several antibiotic eye drops tried. To the point her eye had to be removed. Then abscessed and another 2 rabbits developed a respiratory infection. A few antibiotics were tried, but the one that cleared it up finally was azithromycin.

Within a couple days there was immediate and significant improvement, but after a couple weeks on it, once it was stopped, the infection came back. So the higher 50mg/kg dose was given the second round, and for 4 weeks. Completely cleared up after that.

If you haven't tried azithromycin and that bacteria is sensitive to it, it may be worth asking your vet about it. Though do be aware that in rare instances it can cause severe digestive upset for some rabbits. The most mine had was minor cramping for a few hours, then were back to normal.

Along with meloxicam, another med that was helpful was diphenhydramine. It helped thin the sticky white mucous out so it didn't plug up the nose of one with the respiratory symptoms.

Thank you! I’m feeling a bit deflated honestly, as I’ve only read posts so far about how this has lasted for years for other rabbits and is going to be a forever thing, so reading your post gave me a little more hope in that maybe we can kick it.

We have another swab coming up for both of them in a few days to check resistances, maybe even a flush, so I’ll ask about azithromycin or see if I can request it to be included as I’m not sure that is included on the list that it came back. I did some reading and it does sound promising.

Do you have any tips for keeping them comfortable during the process? I’ve read about using a paedriatric ear syringe to maybe relieve some of the snot one of them is getting a lot of. He won’t let me use damp tissue, but he’s ok with my fingers (weirdly!) and definitely wants it out.

 

[Jessi]

If the antibiotic being used isn't particularly effective against the bacteria present or isn't penetrating the tissue very well to get to the bacteria, it may not clear up very quickly or at all. You may need to give it more time, depending how long your bun has already been on the current antibiotic, or you may need to switch antibiotics.

Medirabbit: respiratory issues in rabbits

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Snuffles
I had a difficult to clear bacterial infection spread through a bonded group of rabbits. Started with one rabbit getting an eye infection that continued to worsen even with several antibiotic eye drops tried. To the point her eye had to be removed. Then abscessed and another 2 rabbits developed a respiratory infection. A few antibiotics were tried, but the one that cleared it up finally was azithromycin.

Within a couple days there was immediate and significant improvement, but after a couple weeks on it, once it was stopped, the infection came back. So the higher 50mg/kg dose was given the second round, and for 4 weeks. Completely cleared up after that.

If you haven't tried azithromycin and that bacteria is sensitive to it, it may be worth asking your vet about it. Though do be aware that in rare instances it can cause severe digestive upset for some rabbits. The most mine had was minor cramping for a few hours, then were back to normal.

Along with meloxicam, another med that was helpful was diphenhydramine. It helped thin the sticky white mucous out so it didn't plug up the nose of one with the respiratory symptoms.

Arghh I just realized you mentioned the same medication back in April, when we got the swab test back for when it was just one of them that had the infection. We are currently going down the list trying different antibiotics for a few weeks, as prescribed until we change to the next one.

I’m 1000% going to ask to see if we can test or get the same one in our next appointment this week!!

Thank you thank you thank you.

 

[JBun]

You can try applying a light layer of petroleum jelly on the skin and fur around the nose, or maybe coconut oil if you want to stick with natural products. This might help keep the mucous from sticking to the fur as much, and make the wiping off of the sticky discharge easier.

Like I mentioned, the diphenhydramine is what worked well for my rabbit. It completely thinned out the discharge. There wasn't any sticky discharge produced while I gave it to my rabbit, just thin clear discharge. But you mentioned your rabbit being on a mucolytic, so diphenhydramine may not help. But do discuss with your vet. You would likely need to stop the mucolytic if trying the diphenhydramine.

If your vet tries the azithromycin, be very watchful for signs of digestive upset. If severe upset occurs, immediately stop the med and contact your vet. If it causes diarrhea your vet may need to use other meds to counter that.

Azithromycin can be a really effective antibiotic for rabbits, due to it's ability to penetrate tissue and bone well, but it seems to be a bit unpredictable on the reaction an individual rabbit will have to it. And if a digestive reaction does occur, it can range from mild (what my rabbits had) to critically severe.

The literature says negative reactions are rare, but it's still a possible risk. So it's just something to be aware of when deciding if it's worth the risk of trying, and being very watchful when using it. Giving after a rabbit has food and fluids in their stomach, and the rabbit having plenty of fiber from good grass hay, can help minimize this risk, though not completely.