My Rabbit has Enterobacter

Question
Hello,

my 2 1/2 years old lop rabbit has been sneezing for a while. I took him to the vet and she made test to determine if he has some bacterial infection. The result was, my rabbit has a lot more of Enterobacter and also Candida Albicans.
For the Enterobacter the vet prescribed Baytril (twice a day for 5 days) and Rodikolan (to prevent any disorder from the Baytril in the GI tract). For the Candida the vet prescribed Nizoral (half tablet per day).
So my first question is - Do you think Nizoral could be a bit harmful for rabbits (although the vet said she has given this medicine to other rabbits and it was ok)? Just in case I am planning to give my bunny only 1/4 of a tablet.

And the second question: Are these bacteria Enterobacter too dangerous for my rabbit, like for example Pasteurella? All in all my rabbit is very energetic, eats and drinks totally as normal, has no running eyes or nose, just he sneezes from time to time. But I would like to know how serious his condition is?

Thanks in advance.

Greeting, Mira

Answer
UPDATE

Mira,

one more reason to ask your vet to possibly put your bunny on meloxicam  -  not only for pain control, but it also is an anti-inflammatory drug, and if your rabbit has enteritis, it would help the inflammation of the intestines.

END UPDATE



Hi Mira,

nizoral is commonly used in rabbits to treat candida.  I would give him the dose your vet prescribed.  If you give less than the prescribed amount (based on weight of animal) it will not completely kill the candida, and the stronger strains of it will survive, and it will make it that much harder to get rid of.

Enterobacteria can be dangerous for rabbits.  Anything that can cause gi tract problems in rabbits is dangerous, because if your rabbit stop eating or drinking, this is a serious thing.  I would ask your vet if he really believes the enteritis problem can be resolved in 5 days - this is a short period of time.  Usually you really want them to be on antibiotics longer to ensure the bad bacteria have all been killed off and you are not stopping treatment too soon.  Stopping treatment too soon would leave some of the stronger bad bacteria still alive, and they would soon increase and cause an even more difficult (resistant) infection to occur and have to be treated longer, with stronger antibiotics than Baytril.

I would ask your vet if he thinks your rabbit would benefit from any pain medication - as enteritis can cause inflammation in the intestines, which can cause pain.  Here we use meloxicam as it is a very safe oral pain med for rabbits.

The good thing is your rabbit, by your comments, is acting normal, eating and drinking normal.  As long as he's being normal and eating and drinking normal that's what you want to keep seeing.

So basically I'd trust your vet, the treatment prescribed appears to be typical for rabbits, I would just ask him or her the couple of questions I mentioned above.