Upper respiratory infection

[RosieM]

Hello All
I have an 18 month old Mini Lop called Arthur. Around a month ago, he was making little wheezy/piggy noises, which at first we thought were grumpy protests! However, to be sure, we took him to the vets.
He was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection and given a course of antibiotics (Baytril 2.5%). This caused a bit of an upset tummy so were were having to use Fibreplex too.
No improvement after approx 2 weeks so back to the vets. She thought it had improved slightly but not at the expected rate- suggested bringing him inside and slowly increasing temperature- maybe he just can't hack the cold we thought.
He's now been inside for over a week and still on the antibiotics with little improvement from what I can tell. Although the noise sounds a less flemmy and more like little piggy oinks, when he is cleaning himself/eating, it sounds almost as if he is struggling for breath and sometimes a bit squeaky. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a noise he has learned to make or a habit that he doesn't realise he is doing? No other symptoms- no discharge to swab etc. Next step from the vets is to anaesthetise and swab internally to establish the specific bacteria and treat instead of broad-spectrum antibiotic- I'm not keen on putting animals under when not wholly necessary.
He's perfectly happy within himself, eating, drinking, playing and his normal cheeky, loving self. If you put your fingers in your ears you wouldn't know anything was wrong.
Any thoughts from anybody with any experience of this would be really useful!
Rosie

 

[zombiesue]

That doesn't sound quite right to me. Rabbits are usually very quiet animals that only use noise to communicate intentionally and specifically. It strikes me as strange that he would just learn to make a new sound all the time, out of habit, but I guess stranger things have happened.

Definitely keep up on his medicine and keep him inside, sometimes these things just take time. I totally know how you feel little rabbit x(

 

[missyscove]

Respiratory infections in rabbits can definitely be trying. My rabbit Cricket started sneezing ~ 4 weeks after I adopted her. She was on a course of baytril, had radiographs, then we did a culture and sensitivity and then she was on doxycycline for 6 months before we decided to stop the antibiotics and just see if she got worse. It's been about 5 months since then and I feel like her respiratory sounds are slightly increased again and may take her in again. We've also tried nebulization and a humidifier. Her bond mate, Watson, started sneezing about a month into her illness. We did a culture and sensitivity and started him on doxycycline right away and he improved pretty quickly.
Luckily I'm a vet student so I can get good follow up care whenever I want to by just talking with my faculty members.

I definitely recommend a culture and sensitivity. Baytril is a good broad spectrum antibiotic to start with, but some bacteria are resistant to it (one of Cricket's was!) and if you're lucky you may find a cheaper option that will work for you (Baytril was costing me ~$80/week and the Doxycycline was ~$50/month and they liked the taste of it)

They're really good at keeping themselves clean. It's important to check on the inside of their wrist area for signs of discharge as they'll wipe their noses before you can see anything.

We were able to do both radiographs and the culture swab without anesthetizing Cricket although we were willing to sedate or anesthetize if need be. Ask your vet if they feel comfortable doing the swab without anesthesia, but recognize that if they're not, anesthesia is much less risky than trying to restrain an uncooperative rabbit that might break their back.

Respiratory signs can also be associated with a thymoma which is a tumor in the chest. One other sign of this is that the pressure will make it so you often see their third eyelids, so that's something to consider (but Cricket's third eyelids are often visible and her radiographs were clear).

In summary, you do have to be prepared for a long route of treatment when dealing with a respiratory issue, but, in my opinion, there are also times when it's okay to let some symptoms slide in an otherwise healthy happy rabbit.

 

[RosieM]

Thank you so much for all of your help and advice.
It's upsetting that essentially it seems there is no easy solution for little Arthur :-(
We are planning to head back to the vets since the Baytril and indoors combination isnt making a difference- I will ask the vet about the possibility of thymoma. Arthur is usually incredibly laid back but for some reason has really taken against our vet! Anaesthetizing would be the only option really. I've kept a close eye on his nose/paws for signs of discharge, as he is a keen groomer, but havent seen anything at all.
I'll update this thread for anyone interested and thank you again!

 

[Imbrium]

I agree with getting a culture done - Baytril is broad-spectrum and therefore not always successful; sometimes a more targeted antibiotic can generate much better results. I've had issues with Baytril (when used on sugar gliders) - it IS pretty harsh on an animal's system and isn't very tasty; I had better luck when administering a different broad-spectrum antibiotic. I really don't like Baytril and try to avoid it when possible.

Probiotics should *always* be given with a broad-spectrum antibiotic (and probably aren't a bad idea even with a targeted one) - I'm glad you added Fibreplex to what you were giving him (it's got prebiotics and probiotics in it).