sickness/colds

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Before my husband & I left the country (family emergency)for over a week, I noticed that my rabbit wasn't drinking a lot of water or eating much. Now that we're back, almost 2 weeks later, my mom who watched the house said she didn't eat any of the rabbit food, hardly touched her water and isn't pooping. I gave her some wheatgrass & she ate a little tiny bit. I gave her apple & she ate it all (the core & pieces from 1 apple). She tasted some basil leaves last night but won't eat them like she usually does. She's not lethargic at all, but when I picked her up this morning she blew chunks of white stuff(I'm assuming it's nasal)on me & then I noticed some of the same discharge in the area near her cage. And she still isn't pooping. The family emergency that forced us to fly overseas has left us financially drained & I'm trying to avoid a pricey vet bill. I will take her somewhere if I have to since she may need medicine, but is there anything "natural" that I can do? When we took our cat to the vet last year because he was sneezing, they wanted to run tests on him that would have cost hundreds of dollars. We asked if he couldn't just try an anti-biotic treatment 1st. They finally relented & gave us the phx. And wouldn't you know he's been fine since. So, I'm just scared this same vet will want to keep her overnight, run tests & run up a big bill we can't afford. What do you suggest?
Answer -
Dear Cristen,

Trying to treat this with over-the-counter or natural remedies is ultimately going to either cost you more money, or your rabbit her life.  She is suffering not only from a severe upper respiratory infection, but the stress also is eliciting ileus, a potentially fatal condition that must be treated immediately and aggressively.  Please read this immediately:

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

and print this for your vet:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.pdf

In order to treat the infection properly, there's no need to hospitalize the bunny, but a culture-and-sensitivity test is a MUST.  Please read:

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

and especially:

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

If she's more than 2 years old, there could be dental problems at the root of the problem, and the article above explains how this can be dealt with.

Be SURE you have a vet who knows rabbit medicine.  Certain antibiotics (e.g., amoxicillin (or any oral penicillin) and clindamycin, for example) are deadly to rabbits.  To find a good rabbit vet, check the list linked here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.  Please write back if you have any other questions, but get your bunny to a good rabbit vet ASAP, or you could lose her.

Dana

Dana, Thank you for your answer. Unfortunately, I didn't get it before I left work on Friday. I did make a vet appointment for Friday after work and took Precious to the vet near our home, who isn't an expert on rabbits, but seemed to know what she was doing. By the way, Precious was still acting perfectly normal (except not eating, drinking, pooping) when I got home from work. The vet did feel out and listen to her stomache and said she didn't seem to have a large compacted mass. And she was running a temperature. As the antibiotic for the upper respiratory infection, the vet prescribed Baytril tablets (22.7 mg given once a day for 10 days) and she also prescribed Metodopramide tabs (5mg cut into 1/4 and given twice a day for 10 days). I wasn't quite clear what the latter medicine was for-either to help rehdrate her or to increase her appetite? They gave her the initial dose at the vets and I think they rehyrdated her (they took her into a different office when they did this, so I didn't get to watch). She seemed okay that evening. But Saturday morning when I got up she was lying spread-eagle on the bathroom floor in a pool of urine. She was still alive and I immediately gave her both medicines. Her condition was horrible-her front legs seemed immobile and she was totally listless. I spent the whole day holding & loving her & keeping her close by. I did manage to feed her at least the equivalent of one small can of baby food with a syringe and she ate willingly (a little carrot, green peas and apple) and water during the course of the day. I was afraid to leave her at home, alone, in the evening so my husband & I took her with us to my parent's house (held her on my lap for the 15 minute drive each way) for dinner & the evening and I held her more. When I put her to bed Saturday night after giving her the Metodopramide, her back legs seemed to have seized up and she wouldn't eat or drink before going to bed. I checked on her at 2am and she wouldn't eat or drink. She also hadn't moved an inch. I held her for a bit (she was very stiff) & finally put her back down. I got up at 6:30, gave her both meds and held for an hour and a half wrapped lighly in a flannel sheet because she was still so stiff I thought she might be cold. I tried to force water down but her she hardly swallowed & wouldn't eat. I had to get ready to leave for the morning and when I left at 10 I laid her partly on her side and with the sheet over her lower body. She seemed a little less rigid after being held and wrapped up. But when we got home about 4 hours later, she was dead. I am really battling with the guilt. I should have let the vet take x-rays but I didn't want the expense and hoped the meds would work. As it was the vet bill cost us almost $100. I guess, all I'm wanting to know is whether the medicines she was given could have made her worse? I read that Baytril was ok for rabbits, but I'm not sure about the  Metodopramide. It seems to be used for humans not animals. Do you think that it was an ok combination? I'm not looking to blame anyone, I just want the honest answer---is it my fault that she didn't make it? Did anything I did make her worse? And the vet said she didn't get the upper respiratory infection from me. Could she have got it from my 2 cats (they're both indoor cats & neither have been sick lately)? I miss my baby girl and would appreciate your candid answer.

Thanks so much,
Cristen
Answer -
Dear Cristen,

I am so very sorry about this terrible loss.  

When you found her in the bathroom that morning, immobile, it would have been a good idea to get her to the vet, considering it an emergency.  Without an autopsy, it is impossible to know for certain why she died, but it is possible that she was suffering from systemic infection at that point.  Intravenous antibiotics might have helped, though there's no way to know for sure.

It is also likely that once she was in that state, she was hypothermic.  Once a rabbit's body temperature goes below a certain level (around 98 Farenheit), it is imperative to get the temperature back up to normal, or medications will not be properly metabolized.  I know it comes too late to help your bunny, but when a rabbit is this ill, it is extremely important to monitor her temperature as per the instructions here:

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

Metoclopramide is an intestinal motility agent widely used with good results in rabbits.  It is not likely that this caused a problem.  Baytril is also safe for rabbits, and a good first-choice antibiotic in the case of an upper respiratory infection.

Cats can carry Pasteurella multocida, which also can infect rabbits.  The bacterium doesn't pass readily among infected rabbits, but I am not sure about the zoonotic potential for the bacteria passing from cat to rabbit.  If the cats scratched or bit the bunny, then it is very likely that this was the source of the infection.  Rabbits (and humans) can contract very dangerous Pasteurella infections from a cat bite or scratch.

I wish I could give you better answers.  I am so sorry about the loss of your bunny.  It may or may not have been possible to save her, but the best thing to do when a bunny is that sick is to get her to the hospital immediately for emergency treatments, including subcutaneous fluids, additional antibiotics (if the vet deems them necessary) and--most importantly--maintaining normal body temperature.  That is probably the most critical thing to do when administering emergency treatment to a sick bunny.

Please write back if you have any other questions.  I hope some of this will set your heart at ease.

Dana

Thank You Dana! I don't want to take any more of your time. I think I'll just have to work through the guilt. I wish I'd done more, but I just couldn't justify it (we just put ourselves in credit card debt for over $5K on plane tickets and travel expenses with our recent family emergency-plus had to cancel our vacation plans that were supposed to be this week). We're on a very tight budget as it is. That's a horrible excuse, but that's my only rationale for not taking her to the animal hospital. She was the cutest rabbit ever & I loved her. I also just wanted to follow up about the cats. They never ever bit or scratched the rabbit-they all got along great & they gave her space (she had a bit of a bad temperment sometimes). I did catch her drinking out of their water dish on rare occasions. That's why I was wondering if she could have picked it up from them. But they are perfectly healthy, so I guess we'll never know. Thank you again for all your explanations!
Cristen van Niekerk

Answer
Dear Cristen,

I hope you can take comfort knowing that you gave your bunny a  lifetime of love, even if her lifetime was shorter than we all would have wished.  Most bunnies never know the touch of a gentle hand, and she had you to the very end, her best friend.

Take care,

Dana