Update on Pepper the PlagueBunny

I hope both of you feel better real soon. ~Donna~
 >> Stay informed about: Update on Pepper the PlagueBunny 

Wishing you both good luck and good health.

Adorable image of you cozying--her chewing magazine and you watching TV.

Nona
 >> Stay informed about: Update on Pepper the PlagueBunny 

Aww Wendy, that's too bad. I'm a bit concerned that the bacteria will
develop a resistance to the meds if they are stopped. She may need to stay
on it permanently. I think I asked this before, but did the vet do a
culture? What about azithromycin? Has the vet considered this?

--
God Bless,
Arlette, Cocoa & Brownie in heaven (See us here)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11393346@N02/
Need a vet? Click here <http://www.rabbitvet.net>
For Cocoa's body sling vids Click here
<http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=cocoa3c>

A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,
But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
Proverbs 12:10

"wendy z" wrote in message

> This morning was the recheck for Pepper.
>
> When the usual treatments for flares of her chronic pasteurella
> (nebulized amakacin) weren't doing the job, we put her on subQ PenG
> every other day for a couple of weeks. It wasn't any fun for either
> of us, but it really worked well. By the last two shots she was
> fighting me, and actually got away during the second-to-last dose.
> Even with a burrito you really need three hands for the job.
>
> But then a bit more than two weeks later her symptoms came back, and
> worse than ever. The poor thing has snot-matted whiskers and paws and
> is generally snurgly and sick. There's nothing wrong with her sense
> of smell though - she nearly mugged me for my peanut-butter-toast the
> other day.
>
> The vet pretty much confirmed my suspicions that we're looking at
> another and longer course of the PenG this time. We come back in 3
> weeks for a recheck. I had upped her pellets by half because she'd
> lost some weight when this last flare-up started, and she's put back
> about half of that. She's going into a big molt now too, so she could
> use the extra nutrition. The occasional unsalted peanut should help
> both her coat and her weight as well.
>
> We estimate she's just shy of 6 years old now, but when she's not sick
> she's still my little sassy-pants - into everything and everyone's
> business. I'm on a course of prednisone for a bad asthma flare, so
> we're two of a kind here - very independent older ladies who aren't
> going to let our health problems stop us. I'll be lying on the couch
> watching TV and she'll be lying on the rug nibbling on a magazine.
> Very cozy.
>
> Wendy
>
 >> Stay informed about: Update on Pepper the PlagueBunny 

I'm on the same page as you, Arlette - I'm thinking this is going to
be a permanent part of our routine from now on.

She's been cultured multiple times, and everything we're doing should
be working. We hit things hard and fast last time for 3 weeks of
alternating Amakacin nebulizer treatments and PenG shots, and then
tapered off in hopes that this would knock things down sub-clinical
again. But she relapsed again after 3 weeks so we're back on the
shots every other day for 3 more weeks and then we'll recheck. My gut
feeling is that we might go down a bit in dosage or timing (say every
3 days) after this next appointment but that we're otherwise on this
for good.

We're dealing with a baseline infection of Pasteurella Multocida
combined with nasal and sinus scarring and a depressed immune system.
Periodically she flares up either from the P or the P combined with a
minor secondary like bordatella or something else. Baytril is
ineffective, Chloramphenicol kept the symptoms down but she relapsed,
oral sulfa and amakacin knocked it down for about a year with
occasional amakacin boosters, and now we're on injectable PenG .65ml
every other day SubQ. We guess that she's nearly 6 years old.

We did manage to get about half of her lost weight back on her with
extra pellets, so she's on a double-ration for now. She still chows
on her hay and veggies, does the breakfast dance every morning, hops
up next to my pillow for bedtime face-pettins, and generally gets into
everything that she shouldn't. Last week she pulled a wrapped unused
tampon out of my purse, chewed it out of it's wrapping and cardboard
and was running around dragging it by the string.

Wendy



On Mar 18, 1:03 am, "Arlette + Heavenly Cocoa & Brownie"
wrote:
> Aww Wendy, that's too bad. I'm a bit concerned that the bacteria will
> develop a resistance to the meds if they are stopped. She may need to stay
> on it permanently. I think I asked this before, but did the vet do a
> culture? What about azithromycin? Has the vet considered this?
>
> --
> God Bless,
> Arlette, Cocoa & Brownie in heaven (See us here)http://www.flickr.com/photos/11393346@N02/
> Need a vet? Click here <http://www.rabbitvet.net>
> For Cocoa's body sling vids Click here
> <http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=cocoa3c>
>
> A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,
> But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
> Proverbs 12:10
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