Flemish Giant with severe pneumonia

Question
Our Flemish Giant, "Moose", (almost 4 yrs old) was just treated at the Washington State University veterinary hospital.  We are told they are an excellent facility.  Moose has severe pneumonia which we will treat with Batryl for one month and then have a recheck of his condition.   Is Batryl the best product for this?   Should we be backing it up with "Benebac" sp? to be sure not too many "good bugs" are killed?

Answer
Dear Tammie,

Baytril is safe for rabbits, but it might not be enough to reach the pneumonia all on its own.  When we have rabbits with severe respiratory infections, we *always* nebulize them with the following:

5.0ml sterile saline
0.5ml aminophylline (to open the airways)
0.25ml Mucomyst (acetylcysteine - to loosen pus and mucus)
1.0ml 50mg/ml amikacin (antibiotic)

We nebulize for at least 10 minutes, twice a day, using a cone mask on the bunny's face for maximum exposure and inhalation of the medication.  You can't get these medications or a nebulizer without your vet's prescription, so please ask about this.  You might also want to consider a veterinarian who is very experienced with rabbits, and perhaps moreso than the vet students at the university hospital.  Please go here to find a private vet in your area who can help:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Baytril should not significantly affect the GI tract flora.  Benebac won't hurt, but it might not help.  It doesn't have many of the archaeans and strange bacteria native to the rabbit GI tract.

I hope this helps.  Please write back if you need more information.

Dana