Bunny with a cold

[journey11]

My pet bunny has watery eyes and now a runny nose. He hasn't been in contact with any other bunnies and at this point doesn't have any sneezing or respiratory sounds. I read a few things about it online that said he should get antibiotics asap in case it is something serious like Snuffles. What I was wondering is if you can get an antibiotic for this from the feed store or online or will I have to take him to the vet to get it? And which antibiotic you recommend if so... Thanks!

 

[Nyboy]

You can buy antibiotics over the counter for fish. I would check for a pet shop that deals in fish and called them to see what they have in stock. Good Luck keep him warm.

 

[Smart Red]

I would check for rodent (mice, rats, gerbils) meds before trying some for fish. Even chicken meds can be pretty generic and might work for your rabbit.

 

[Nyboy]

Amoxicillin is Amoxicillion labeled for people, dogs ,fish it is all same drug. Dosage is diffent, most likely by weight. That you would have to check on a rabbit forum.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I just saw this. I hope your rabbit is okay. I am going to post about my rabbit in case it helps somebody else in the future. About middle of January Cream was losing weight. He was eating everything I gave him. He does not eat hay though. He was losing weight, so I gave him more. He started looking horrible and he was drinking water, but almost looked dehydrated. I had some Critical Care and started feeding him that extra. He about swallowed it whole. He started to gain weight and I got to thinking what was wrong with the food. I know they were eating alfalfa pellets and the Critical Care is Timothy hay, but I looked at my sack of food and thought maybe it looked different than before. So, I went and bought a new sack and it did look better, but I found a little in an old sack and the color was different. I found the company had sold. In the meantime, Hot Shot started doing the same, losing weight a little and eating. I started him on Critical Care and decided to buy Timothy hay pellets for them. I also put Snickers on it because he does not eat a lot of hay and Hot Shot does not eat hay. The rest of them looked fine and eat a lot of hay. Hot Shot then got an abscess on his cheek and his eyes started running. I brought him in and turned him upside down and found he only had 1 front tooth and it was too long and cutting his lip, so I took him to the vet. They put 2 holes in his abscess to drain, cut his tooth down short and gave me Baytril for the infection. I think the vet thought I should put him to sleep and we will see. It has only been 4 days and he is still on the antibiotic. He is stronger now. It did not give him diarrhea yet. His neck is still draining and I am not sure, but I think his teeth are there and just really short and might be growing back. He only eats softened pellets and Critical Care on his own, and I give him some baby food in a syringe. Everything I looked at said that antibiotics are dangerous for rabbits and some will kill them. Baytril is the one that is the safest, but you have to have a vet. I did find a couple of others, but you have to research and see what you think. The vet thinks he has Pasteurella and I think they all have it from where they came from, but do not show any signs unless stressed and the bad food and the abscess stressed them. They do not have any nose or respiratory symptoms, so I am not sure, but the males have over different periods of time had watery eyes that clears up, but never the females. Adding that also Cream looks really good now and Snickers acts like he did when he was a year old. He is 3 now and when he was a year old, he used to jump up over the door where there is a little bit of a ledge and he would jump down and do this every time I came to feed him and that was only the first few months we had them and then he stopped. He would have a runny eye now and then. Never a lot of energy and since putting him on Timothy hay pellets he has changed. He has a lot of energy, his eye does not water and he is happy. They eat grass and vegetables and things, but he is not a good hay eater, so I think it makes a difference when they are not eating hay, actually probably dangerous.

 

[journey11]

I just saw this. I hope your rabbit is okay. I am going to post about my rabbit in case it helps somebody else in the future. About middle of January Cream was losing weight. He was eating everything I gave him. He does not eat hay though. He was losing weight, so I gave him more. He started looking horrible and he was drinking water, but almost looked dehydrated. I had some Critical Care and started feeding him that extra. He about swallowed it whole. He started to gain weight and I got to thinking what was wrong with the food. I know they were eating alfalfa pellets and the Critical Care is Timothy hay, but I looked at my sack of food and thought maybe it looked different than before. So, I went and bought a new sack and it did look better, but I found a little in an old sack and the color was different. I found the company had sold. In the meantime, Hot Shot started doing the same, losing weight a little and eating. I started him on Critical Care and decided to buy Timothy hay pellets for them. I also put Snickers on it because he does not eat a lot of hay and Hot Shot does not eat hay. The rest of them looked fine and eat a lot of hay. Hot Shot then got an abscess on his cheek and his eyes started running. I brought him in and turned him upside down and found he only had 1 front tooth and it was too long and cutting his lip, so I took him to the vet. They put 2 holes in his abscess to drain, cut his tooth down short and gave me Baytril for the infection. I think the vet thought I should put him to sleep and we will see. It has only been 4 days and he is still on the antibiotic. He is stronger now. It did not give him diarrhea yet. His neck is still draining and I am not sure, but I think his teeth are there and just really short and might be growing back. He only eats softened pellets and Critical Care on his own, and I give him some baby food in a syringe. Everything I looked at said that antibiotics are dangerous for rabbits and some will kill them. Baytril is the one that is the safest, but you have to have a vet. I did find a couple of others, but you have to research and see what you think. The vet thinks he has Pasteurella and I think they all have it from where they came from, but do not show any signs unless stressed and the bad food and the abscess stressed them. They do not have any nose or respiratory symptoms, so I am not sure, but the males have over different periods of time had watery eyes that clears up, but never the females. Adding that also Cream looks really good now and Snickers acts like he did when he was a year old. He is 3 now and when he was a year old, he used to jump up over the door where there is a little bit of a ledge and he would jump down and do this every time I came to feed him and that was only the first few months we had them and then he stopped. He would have a runny eye now and then. Never a lot of energy and since putting him on Timothy hay pellets he has changed. He has a lot of energy, his eye does not water and he is happy. They eat grass and vegetables and things, but he is not a good hay eater, so I think it makes a difference when they are not eating hay, actually probably dangerous.

Thanks, GWR, that description really helps a lot. Thumper is still having an occasionally watery eye. Never developed any respiratory problems. I brought him indoors and set up his cage in the heated basement since we have had many cold nights below zero this winter. That helped him a lot and cleared up his eye mostly. He eats well, but does look a little thinner to me, so from what you've described, that has me a bit suspicious. I had him in a draft free area when he was outside (on the covered porch), but I suspect that if it is snuffles, the very cold weather was what stressed him. I haven't taken him to the vet because I didn't think he was sick enough and was wary of him getting antibiotics unless he really needed them. He's a pet, and such a sweet boy. I will take him if it comes down to it. He's not real happy living in the basement and hopefully here soon he can move back outside when it warms up.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Cream has had a watery eye in the past, but whatever he had where he lost so much weight, I will never know. Switching to the Timothy hay pellet has seemed to have stopped the watery eye with him and Snickers. Snickers eye started watering when he was less than a year old and only a couple months after being put in the hutch. His eye never watered when he was running loose and had never tasted an alfalfa pellet. I think it is related to their diet and not eating enough greens and hay. When Cream and Hot Shot started losing weight, it was when it was the coldest weather. I have learned my lesson to really, really check the pellets when I open a bag. Hot Shot is on his last day of antibiotics. He is still not eating pellets dry, but I swear his teeth are growing back. The vet thought I was nuts and asked me if i was sure he was only 2-1/2. His mouth looked like an old rabbit and I do not understand that at all. He was kept with his mother until he was 12 weeks old. He was eating piles of hay and greens, alfalfa hay, but not sure if he ate the Timothy hay. I always bought a high quality pellet, so I hope the roots of his teeth are still there. He has jaw teeth, it is his front that are missing. Glad Thumper is better. I have wondered if winter will get harder on these rabbits as they get older and how I might have to change things if we had a severe cold spell. It is a good thing I have a DH or I probably would have bought big crates and lined them up in the living room for the winter and turned into the crazy rabbit lady.

 

[bobm]

Rabbit teeth grow constantly... once they start to grow like you describe, next time you can easily cut them shorter with a large fingernail clipper. Make sure that you wrap the rabbit in a large towel to prevent it from seriously scratching you. Have someone wrap the rabbit tightly then hold the rabbit firmly while you Hold it's head in one hand then use the fingernail clippers to cut the teeth at least by half. Most of the feed that one keeps on hand are often contaminated with mold during humid or rainy conditions and do not smell fresh or even appear rather drab and many rabbits refuse to eat it, can cause digestion issues when consumed and resulting in weight loss. I raised hundreds of rabbits and the best feed that I found is fresh smelling alfalfa pellets. I too agree with the Vet. , I don't like it but it is better than loosing most of the rest if not all... at the first sign of illness other than from bad feed , put the rabbit down or you have a high expectation of having all of the others become ill and eventually die. Many rabbits start to die of old age by 2 1/2 and others will live to 2 times or more over that .