Vibes please :(

Hi guys, I'd really appreciate some vibes for Willow please  

We had to rush her to the out of hours vet this morning as when I went to feed them she was running frantically in circles around the run, mouth gaping open and a discharge coming from her nose (it was too hard to tell if it was clear or mucus-y). She wasn't interested in her food which is not like her at all, she normally is right under your feet and then wolfing it down.

We got the vet and her breathing was audibly raspy and she was panting heavily. The vet had a listen to her lungs and said she feels there's definitely an URI and thinks it might have even hit the Pneumonia phase  

She was absolutely lifeless, lying in the carrier and totally unresponsive. She's also lost weight.

The vet gave her an injection of Baytril, and injection of Metacam for general pain relief and she also gave her some fluids via injection. She's home now with some Critical Care which I'm giving her around the clock and her and Mojo are in the spare room, out of this horrible wet weather.

She seems to have picked up a bit, a few pellets were gone from her bowl when I looked but it's hard to tell if it was her or Mo who ate them. Fortunately she adores CC and has been lapping it from the bowl herself. Her breathing is still very heavy.

Luckily it's my day off college tomorrow so I'll be able to look after her through the day, and we've got a follow-up with the vet tomorrow at 11.30am.

I'm trying to be hopeful but the vet has pretty much given her a 50/50 chance and says it's up to Willow to pull through it now  

I'm trying to stay strong but it's so hard seeing her like this. I hate watching her suffer. I'd really appreciate some vibes. Thanks guys xxxxxxxxxxx

Oh no this is awful news  

Sending all the Vibes I can muster for the beautiful Willow xxxxxxx

I hope she will be ok I really do please keep us posted

Thinking of you     

I definitely will keep you posted Maysie. I just really hope she pulls through

Thank you for the vibes

Oh goodness!!!

Keeping everything crossed for Willow

Thank you

Oh no, not Willow  


Loads and loads of vibes for this special girly, you must be absolutely terrified at the moment    

I'm afraid that our experience of Baytril for this condition is not brilliant. The only thing that worked for us was Alamycin, given by injection every 3 days. If your vet is open-minded enough to try other antibiotics it's a route I would go down soon. They might be more comfortable with something like Septrin which at least has more history of use in buns. Unfortunately they have to tried the licensed drug first. It might be more effective by injection than orally.

I wouldn't normally link to another forum on here, but this thread, all 47 pages of it, might contain some useful information and / or help to convince your vet if her treatment needs changing.

If there is any way you can get hold of a nebuliser quickly (a local rescue may have one) I'd also try using that to try to keep her airways clear, and get meds deep into her lungs.

I'm going to PM you our vets details and ring them to tell them that they can give your vet any information from our files which might help Willow.

Thank you so much Sparky

How long will she have had to be on "trial" with Baytril before they're willing to change it? My vet is normally quite open to trying other options, especially if I have something to back up my request. Thank you for the details from your vet, hopefully they'll be helpful if they need a bit of "convincing" at our end.

I'll go and check out that info on the other forum, too.

I have absolutely no experience of nebulisers and bunnies? How do they work? Could you explain a little further for me please?

Thanks again

Loads of vibes for Williow. Sparky really gives the best advice on this.

I don't think you really have much time to waste. If you don't see a quite significant improvement by morning I'd perhaps ask about penicillin injections, which are a bit more widely known among buns (note - penicillin is fatal to rabbits if given by mouth, injections are safe).

A nebuliser is basically a small air pump with a special bottle and nozzle that turns a liquid into an incredibly fine mist, which can then be breathed in. The molecules in the mist are small enough to travel to the areas in the lungs that they need to be to work, so if there is medicine in the mist it can get to where it is needed.

We have this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Omron-NE-C28-UK-Comp-Air-Nebuliser/dp/B001UGEQT4

Humum made up a solution of F10 antiseptic and Bisolvon powder and put it in the container. She then put me in a carrier with a towel wrapped round it, prodded the nozzle through the mesh in the door and switched it on. I spent half an hour in there up to twice a day, breathing in a nice mist of antiseptic and decongestant. I would bound out of the carrier and bunny 500 around the upstairs of the house, it made me feel so much better.

lots of vibes for Willow!

oh no!
sending mega vibes to gorgeous willow        

Willow is picking up!  

She's loving her CC and I even caught her nibbling some hay. She's had a mooch around the room and seems a bit brighter. I've set them up a pen off their cage to give them a bit more space, and I'll shut them back into the run later tonight, just so she doesn't over-do things.

It must be the magic hopper vibes working

FluffSlave wrote:Willow is picking up!  

She's loving her CC and I even caught her nibbling some hay. She's had a mooch around the room and seems a bit brighter. I've set them up a pen off their cage to give them a bit more space, and I'll shut them back into the run later tonight, just so she doesn't over-do things.

It must be the magic hopper vibes working

That's brilliant news  

Keep it up Willow please  

Oh I'm so glad to read this!!

Keep it up, Willow!

Do you guys think I should be putting Willow away now? The run is 6ft x 2ft so she has plenty of space. I'm just worried about her over-doing it with that big pen I've made up for them using the second run.

Mojo is so stressed back inside. I feel awful

Hoping Willow continues to improve!
Sending healing vibes for her, and de-stressing vibes for Mojo.

Sending vibes for her hunni keep us updated xxxxxx

Hugs for you too!

Im glad she is starting to recover, how scary!

She seems brighter and is eating but her breathing is still concerning me quite a bit. I'm off to the vets with her in fifteen mins, I'll update you all when we're back

Hope she is ok , Topping up the Vibes for her xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We had a bunny called Hope who was had breathing problems most of her life and we had to nebulise her nearly every day sometimes 3 times a day when she was really bad, we were lucky as we were able to borrow an intensive care unit and nebulise her in that which was a great help.

Any news?

Well, the vet seems happy with Willow's progress so far considering it's only been 24 hours. She's having a nibble at pellets and hay again now, and still enjoying her CC (hasn't been too happy the last couple of times I've offered it to her though).

She said it was difficult to judge the breathing as she was obviously stressed about being at the vets but the fact we can't HEAR it today is a good sign.

She's sent her back with a course of Baytril starting tomorrow morning, and said if she seems to be in pain again we can bring her back for another Metacam injection. She gave her another injection of Baytril, and an anti-inflammatory injection this morning.

She's got to stay in the house until she's back to herself, but I'm not convinced I'm not going to keep her in permanantly. Mo has settled a bit now and they can have the room pretty much 24/7, they'll just have to be shut in when the chinchillas come out for half an hour or so. The chins are getting used to them, and them used to the chins. Opinions guys? I just wonder whether she's not suited to life outdoors. She's not a very robust girl and has fallen poorly quite a few times in the past. I'm also concerned that she's lost the weight since moving out there.

She's actually a bit more withdrawn today than she was last evening but it's hard to tell if she's just sleepy as it is the middle of the day. I'm keeping a close eye on her  

Thanks for the vibes guys

Sending loads of vibes for gorgeous Willow. I have no advice on the inside v outside decision. Maybe keep them indoors during the winter and then back outdoors at springtime?

Thank you

That's an option. I'm stuck between a rock and a hardplace, as I have one bunny who loves life outdoors and thrives whatever the weather, and then I have one bunny who in my opinion was born to be a house a bunny. She loves interacting with people and always seems so content when indoors. I'm stumped!  

My gut is telling me to keep Willow inside though. She just doesn't seem able to "cope" with life outdoors. The vet did say sometimes you may get some who, despite outside being their natural habitat, just cope better inside. Maybe she's just one of those buns...

I'm glad she seems to be brighter  

Make sure the vet keeps her on the abx for at least two weeks after she seems completely recovered

My Humum thinks I probably wouldn't be here now if they had not brought me inside. I know she has given some consideration to me having summer quarters outdoors though...


More vibes for Willow, I really hope she continues to improve