pnemonia long term for angora bunnies

Question
Hi,
I have 3 angora bunnies who have pneumonia/snuffles.  They have been on Baytril (2 yrs), Tetracycline (9mos) and sulfamite for 1 year. The sickest bunny has rasping in her lungs and has spots on her lung XRAY.  I say the info about nebulizing and wanted to know what amount to put in the nebulizer for a 9 lb bunny?  Also you mentioned using marbofloxacin how is that different from baytril, or tetracylin.. and where could you purchase it cheaply what does would be needed for a 9 lb bunny?
We have found that nebulizing with an amikacin-based saline (including aminophylline to open the airways and Mucomyst (acetylcysteine) to loosen gunk in the lungs) is very effective, if done twice a day and coupled with marbofloxacin (brand name Zeniquin) for most of the bacteria we have cultured in bunnies (and hares) with pneumonia.

Answer
Dear Pam,

You will need the help of an experienced rabbit vet for the nebulization treatment, but it can be very, very effective if done religiously for at least a month, twice a day.  We even coupled treatment with oral marbofloxacin (zeniquin) and injectible amikacin in a hare who we though would die of her severe pneumonia, but she is now fine (knock wood!).

Our vets use the following "cocktail" for the nebulizer:

10ml sterile saline
2.0ml amikacin (50mg/ml solution)
1.0ml aminophylline (25mg/ml solution)
0.4ml acetylcysteine (Mucomyst; 20% solution)

and nebulize for about 10 minutes each treatment, twice a day.  Consult with your vet about the best protocol for your rabbits.

Marbofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic related to Baytril (enrofloxacin), but it is used only once a day, as it remains in the body longer than Baytril does.  It's not cheap, and you need a prescription to buy it.  Most veterinarians have it in stock, as it is commonly used for dogs.  Our vets start with a loading dose of 20mg/kg for the first five doses, then scale back to 15mg/kg for a full course.  For pneumonia, a full course can be a month or more, since you don't want to give the more resistant bacteria a chance to survive and replace the rest of the population.

I hope this helps!

Dana