Possible respiratory infection in mini rex

[Jody]

I purchased a mini rex on Feb 13 from a pet store for $10 + another $100 in cage, food, toys, etc, etc

It was sneezing while in the store and I asked if it was sick and was told no. Stupidly, I bought the rabbit and it continued to sneeze.. Thought maybe it was the pine shavings so switched to shredded aspen and the sneezing stopped for a day, but then continued.. Now he has a nasal discharge, but is still active.

I called the Vet and looks like it's gonna cost me anywhere from $50 to $100 to treat him.. they were kind of vague on rates/prices, etc other than the office charge of $40.

Frankly, this pisses me off. The rabbit is one of my 4yr old daughter's pets and I'm afraid that if I spend the $$ on the vet that the rabbit will either not get better, or have continual and chronic money costing health problems.

What, if anything, can I do to treat this without a vet, OR, how do I locate a less costly vet?

 

[ksalvagno]

You really want to go to a rabbit savvy vet. You probably need antibiotics which you will only be able to get from the vet. Unfortunately, your best bet is to take the rabbit to the vet and see what is up. Good luck with the rabbit.

 

[JoieDeViveRabbitry]

Listen to me and forget the vet:

Is the discharge white and thick?

Any crusty crud on the inside of his front paws?

Any eye discharge?


Coming from a pet store setting he probably has snuffles or pasturella which is not a huge deal if you don't have other rabbits...
This is common and stress (being in a petstore, changing cages, going to a new home) brings on bouts of it and makes it worse.

You're going to want to go to the feed store and get yourself a package of Terrimycin soluable antibiotic powder for poultry and swine, it's about $7.
Mix up a gallon of this, one tablespoon powder to one gallon of water. Give this in the water bottle ONLY (no plain water) for 10 days. Make a new mixture every 3 days if he isn't drinking the entire gallon, as it will go bad. Keep it in the fridge.

Then look for VetRX for rabbits or something like it, there are several knock offs or other brands including but not limited to:

HomeoPet Nose Relief
RabbitMycin
Peter's Rabbit RX

They range in price from $8.00 to $14.00.

My opinion is that there are so FEW rabbit savy vets out there that you are bound to bring him and get told he has ____(fill in the blankof wrong diagnosis) which it might not even be and pay hundreds...

I am VERY confident that this is snuffles and snuffles is something that can not be gotten rid of but it can be managed, it is very contagious though.
It's airbourne and everywhere and at some point most people who raise and show rabbits will see a case of it.
If you google Pasturella or Rabbit Snuffles you will have a ton to read.

He could have ended up at a petstore in the first place because he had snuffles and the breeder knew it and didn't want to put him down.

Let me know how he does. You should see improvement within a couple of days once you start the Terrimycin water.

 

[chinbunny1]

IMHO i would forget about the antibiotics because they will never cure him of it. Best thing to do is take him back, get your money back from the store, and try to find a responsible breeder in your area instead. I am sorry you are going through this.

 

[JoieDeViveRabbitry]

Well yeah, you could do that too... And if you do be sure to bleach out everything he touched before you ever put another rabbit in his cage or anything...

 

[Jody]

Listen to me and forget the vet:

Is the discharge white and thick?

Any crusty crud on the inside of his front paws?

Any eye discharge?


Coming from a pet store setting he probably has snuffles or pasturella which is not a huge deal if you don't have other rabbits...
This is common and stress (being in a petstore, changing cages, going to a new home) brings on bouts of it and makes it worse.

You're going to want to go to the feed store and get yourself a package of Terrimycin soluable antibiotic powder for poultry and swine, it's about $7.
Mix up a gallon of this, one tablespoon powder to one gallon of water. Give this in the water bottle ONLY (no plain water) for 10 days. Make a new mixture every 3 days if he isn't drinking the entire gallon, as it will go bad. Keep it in the fridge.

Then look for VetRX for rabbits or something like it, there are several knock offs or other brands including but not limited to:

HomeoPet Nose Relief
RabbitMycin
Peter's Rabbit RX

They range in price from $8.00 to $14.00.

My opinion is that there are so FEW rabbit savy vets out there that you are bound to bring him and get told he has ____(fill in the blankof wrong diagnosis) which it might not even be and pay hundreds...

I am VERY confident that this is snuffles and snuffles is something that can not be gotten rid of but it can be managed, it is very contagious though.
It's airbourne and everywhere and at some point most people who raise and show rabbits will see a case of it.
If you google Pasturella or Rabbit Snuffles you will have a ton to read.

He could have ended up at a petstore in the first place because he had snuffles and the breeder knew it and didn't want to put him down.

Let me know how he does. You should see improvement within a couple of days once you start the Terrimycin water.

Thank you for your help.

I'm not certain of the color of discharge as the rabbit is buff in color, but it seems maybe yellowish and a little snotty, or maybe dirty off whitish. No discharge from the eyes, breathing appears normal, but is accompanied with sneezing. I have not been able to noticed anything on his paws.

This discharge was more prominent and noticeable after placing some ferretRX on his nostrils. (RabbitRX was not in stock.. they said it's identically the same product).. where his cage is set up, we believe mold may be inside the wall next to his cage.. I cleaned cage, washed with antibacterial soap and bleached and moved him onto the enclosed porch, and now no discharge and sneezing seems to be lesser than before.

I'm going to pick up the Terrimycin and give that a shot if the discharge comes back.

He is very active and does not appear to be suffering other than inconveniences or minor discomfort.

 

[Bunnylady]

Rabbits have an amazing (or annoying) ability to wall off infections. The problem doesn't go away, and usually doesn't get worse unless some other stress challenges the rabbit's immune system. Combine that with the labyrinth - like construction of the rabbit's nasal passages, and you can understand why respiratory infections can be extremely frustrating to treat.

If you were breeding, or keeping other rabbits, I would be 100% behind chinbunny's advice. You may be able to knock the symptoms down, but you most likely will not remove the causative organism. The rabbit may become symptom-free for months, but then something will change, and he'll begin sneezing again. He would be a constant source of contagion for any rabbit that he came in contact with.

The most common cause of upper respiratory infections in rabbits is a bacterium called Pasteurella, but there are others, including some that they catch from us! (The discharge from Pasteurella is usually white, for whatever difference that makes.) Whatever its cause, this sort of thing isn't usually contagious to people, so it's more a matter of your tolerance. Can you put up with a rabbit that sneezes? Joie's advice on medicating should help deal with flare-ups, as will keeping the rabbit's environment as free of irritants (like dust and strong-smelling cleaners) as is reasonably possible. Odds are, this little guy will have this problem for the rest of his life, at least periodically.

The only thing I would add to Joie's excellent advice, would be probiotics. Rabbits rely on gut flora for a lot of their digestion, and antibiotics go pretty hard on them. Any antibiotic therapy should be accompanied with yogurt or preferably a product like Bene-bac to head off a possible case of diarrhea (which can happen if the gut flora get wiped out.)

 

[chinbunny1]

Listen to me and forget the vet:

Is the discharge white and thick?

Any crusty crud on the inside of his front paws?

Any eye discharge?


Coming from a pet store setting he probably has snuffles or pasturella which is not a huge deal if you don't have other rabbits...
This is common and stress (being in a petstore, changing cages, going to a new home) brings on bouts of it and makes it worse.

You're going to want to go to the feed store and get yourself a package of Terrimycin soluable antibiotic powder for poultry and swine, it's about $7.
Mix up a gallon of this, one tablespoon powder to one gallon of water. Give this in the water bottle ONLY (no plain water) for 10 days. Make a new mixture every 3 days if he isn't drinking the entire gallon, as it will go bad. Keep it in the fridge.

Then look for VetRX for rabbits or something like it, there are several knock offs or other brands including but not limited to:

HomeoPet Nose Relief
RabbitMycin
Peter's Rabbit RX

They range in price from $8.00 to $14.00.

My opinion is that there are so FEW rabbit savy vets out there that you are bound to bring him and get told he has ____(fill in the blankof wrong diagnosis) which it might not even be and pay hundreds...

I am VERY confident that this is snuffles and snuffles is something that can not be gotten rid of but it can be managed, it is very contagious though.
It's airbourne and everywhere and at some point most people who raise and show rabbits will see a case of it.
If you google Pasturella or Rabbit Snuffles you will have a ton to read.

He could have ended up at a petstore in the first place because he had snuffles and the breeder knew it and didn't want to put him down.

Let me know how he does. You should see improvement within a couple of days once you start the Terrimycin water.

Thank you for your help.

I'm not certain of the color of discharge as the rabbit is buff in color, but it seems maybe yellowish and a little snotty, or maybe dirty off whitish. No discharge from the eyes, breathing appears normal, but is accompanied with sneezing. I have not been able to noticed anything on his paws.

This discharge was more prominent and noticeable after placing some ferretRX on his nostrils. (RabbitRX was not in stock.. they said it's identically the same product).. where his cage is set up, we believe mold may be inside the wall next to his cage.. I cleaned cage, washed with antibacterial soap and bleached and moved him onto the enclosed porch, and now no discharge and sneezing seems to be lesser than before.

I'm going to pick up the Terrimycin and give that a shot if the discharge comes back.

He is very active and does not appear to be suffering other than inconveniences or minor discomfort.

rabbitrx is a waste of money and useless. it doesn't work. Its like putting vicks vapo rub on the rabbits nose without giving antibiotics.

If you keep him, keep him away from any other rabbits, if you have any, because they will catch whatever he has. If its yellow or colored it sound slike he could have pausteurella. Which is not a good sign. That is something can be cronic, and can come and go when the rabbit is stressed. I cull rabbits when they start showing signs of that.