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Intolerance to antibiotics

22 9:51:11

Question
Hi Dana,

I have a feral bun who reacted *very* badly to one injection of PenG.  He had a bite wound (that ended up healing just fine with constant cleaning) that I was worried was getting infected.  I gave him a SC shot of PenG and the next day he stopped eating and had terrible diarrhea.  The loose poop was full of pin worms so I gave him Fenbendazole to clear that up.  He continued to have very strong smelling loose stool for a few weeks.  I had to force feed him CC and give him SC fluids to maintain him.  His little anus was fire red and inflamed, which made me wonder if he had colitis or enteritis.  A few months of the CC with Slippery Elm bark and fluids paid off and he has completely recovered from the GI upset.  The poor little dude has now developed an URI.  I am scared to give him antibiotics for this now!  He lives with many other rescues who are on Baytril because this URI has spread to all.  What should I treat him with?!  I'm terrified that another bout of GI upset could really do him in.  Would you recommend a low dose of Baytril or Chlor Palm?  I can't let his URI develop into a worse stage or reinfect the others but I sort of feel damned if I do and damned if I don't with this one.  What to do?

thanks so much,
Caroline  :/

Answer
Dear Caroline,

I wouyld not assume that the bout of diarrhea was due to the Pen G.  If he was full of pinworms, *that* might have been the source of the GI irritation.  But there are plenty of different antibiotics that are safe for rabbits.  The best way to deal with this is to discuss this with your vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to find some options that are less likely to cause GI upset.  But I never recommend a low dose of antibiotics for *anything*.  That will absolutely do more harm than good.

Dana