Bunny was diagnosed with snuffles, given medicine, seems to be obtaining symptoms again

Question
Hi Dana,

  I have a dwarf bunny named Chip who is about 5 months old. On December 5 I took him to the vet because of his sneezing and I read upon it that it could be the snuffles. Low and behold he was diagnosed with the snuffles and put on antibiotics enrofloxacin to be precise for 10 days. He seems completely fine after the treatment which ended on December 15. But he seems to be having the symptoms again but not as severe. He sneezes like 4 times a day. He has no runny nose, or discharge and he is still eating and behaving like he normally would. I'm wondering if I should give him more medicine for a few days (I still have extra) or if it could be something else causing him to sneeze. The other thing that I can think of that can cause him to be sneezy is that he really loves to chew on a fleece blanket and he can't really eat it so I don't bother him too much when he does that. Oh, and I almost forgot sometimes when I pick him up he sounds like he's weezing but that only occurs sporadically when he's picked up.


Thank you for your help,
Nina  

Answer
Dear Nina,

Antibiotics are good for things like this, but they never kill 100% of the pathogens present.  They mainly knock back the bacterial population to a level that the patient's immune system can handle, and then the patient's own system takes over.  If an animal's immune system isn't up to the task, then an infection can become chronic.

Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html

for a complete overview of the various causes and treatments of "snuffles" (a colloquial term that doesn't mean much in terms of treatment), as well as:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

It might be time for a culture and sensitivity test, and possibly a short course of echinacea (available at most good health food stores) extract, which may help boost the immune system.

You can find an experienced rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps.

Dana