URTI inf and nebulizing

Hi, my 2 year old boy has an ongoing respiratory infection, he has been referred to Langford vets and been there for x-rays, bloods and nasal swabs, these showed inconclusive except the x-rays that showed infection in the lungs, they should be clear on x-ray but they looked like cotton wool so he has been on antibiotics on and off for over a year now and nebulized also. He went downhill again recently so he is back on ab's and nebulizing twice daily with f10 and bisolvon, he is now also on metacam. I am doing the f10 at 1:200 ratio so 0.01ml f10 to 2ml water. Just wondered if anyone else here has experience of a similar problem?

I also wondered if it would be worth making him a house bunny?

Appologies for the long post

Hi Im afraid i dont know but hopefully someone will be along soon who can help. hope he is okay.

I am sorry you little boy has been so poorly, what are the symptoms?, I have had and still have a few bunnies with problems like this and I have had a mixed response to treatments, some work better than others, what medication is your bunny on?

He is being nebulized twice daily with f10 and water at 1:200 ratio so i have been doing 0.01ml f10 to 2mls of water, he is also on Baytril 2.14ml once daily and Metronidazole 1.35ml twice daily. He has been ona nd off antibiotics for a year now but the time between ab's is getting shorter and i think now he will be on them for life becaus einbetween the courses he is never 'noise' free. I have read on another forum that people use saline and a much higher dose of f10 so i am now unsure what to do. Langford have said there is nothing else they can do for him other than more nasal swabs which wont show anything

So what is their actual diagnosis?, how is he?

I have read the 3 reports we have had back and there isnt an actual diagnosis which is annoying so i can only assume its snuffles? I would like him to possibly go to John Chitty as you advised but my vet would rather we stick with langford as they know the case but all they want to do is more nasal swabs and i cant see this being beneficial? Im worried about him and i feel bad because i am stuck, i dont know what to do next, he is back on baytril and metronidazole but they are doing nothing for him, i personally think he has developed immunity to them as been on them well over a year now and they worked initially

I don't know anything about snuffles, but it sounds to me like your vets just want to keep the income. If they were really bothered they would refer you to a specialist or at least be more honest with you. I think for them to advise you to stick with them rather than go elsewhere when they have nothing new to offer is a bit off.

I have been referred to Langford so i guess they feel langford are who i should stick with and they have been fantastic but at the moment i feel im not making progress with his treatment. I have also read elsewhere that some people are using a higher dose of f10 and saline in the nebulizer wheras im using the same ratio but smaller dose and im also using tap water?!

With respect to the nebulising. The ratio is the one we developed as being safe and non-irritant (while still being effective). Please don't make it stronger!
Increasing teh volume will just mean that it will take longer to nebulise which will not effectively alter the treatment efficacy. Tap water is fine with F10 but may leave a calcium deposit in the jets (so needs more cleaning) if you're in a hard water area
Good luck
John Chitty

Thank you John, thats a great help, i was concerned i was underdosing him so thanks for the reassurance, i will keep the dose as it is. My other concern is the antibiotics, he has been on these for a long time and has never been 'noise' free, i have never seen a great improvement after 1 or 2 months of antibiotics and my concern is they arent worksing as well as they should? He could have more swabs done which isnt a problem but im concerned they wouldnt show anything as he has been on antibiotics?

Just because I haven't been able to see it in any of your other posts, have any of the tests registered any bacteria being present? I'm assuming the swabs must have been for the purpose of culture and sensitivity analysis to check how effective the antibiotics you have been prescribed should be against the specific infection.

I would have thought, if he was snuffly with a upper respiratory tract infection, something should be showing up in his nasal cavity.

Hi, i dont think anything showed up to say he had a bacterial infection, all the nasal swabs came back clear. I think the infection is in his lungs as the x-rays showed interstitial pattern. He will never be 'cured' so we just have to maintain his quality of life and make sure he is a happy bunny, he is also now on metacam long term and he seems much happier since being on this, just wish there was more i could do for him

Culture isn't always that helpful in abscesses sadly. If you have an abscess/pus then you can pretty safely presume there's infection. However there will be a lot of inhibitory factors (pus is, after all, the body's attempt to kill bacteria) including any antibiotics which is why these swabs often fail to grow in labs!
Fortunately resistance is pretty rare in rabbits so the standard antibiotics work as well as any - as long as they can penetrate. This is why we often fall back on physical therapies - ie surgery/ flushing/ etc
John Chitty