Does anyone know of any type of antibiotics I could buy at maybe a co-op or something and suggestions for dosage amounts. I have an automatic watering system (gravity fed)And have a 5 gal. bucket for the reservoir. So I could treat that amount of water at a time. I have had a couple problems with new rabbits and would like to treat the whole lot just in case.One doe has sneezes and another lost some hair,not sure what it is but she killed her last litter(had ear mites not long before kindling)Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again!

-- Jimmy Holiday (jholiday@charter.net), May 16, 2001

Answers

Response to antibiotics (types and dosage).

I'm not an expert at this, but it sounds like Terramycin might be what you need. It comes as a powder in foil packets at the Cenex here. I believe that this is what we added to the water for new chicks from the hatchery. I also use it to treat my bees for foulbrood, mixing it with shortening and powdered suger into patties. Might be okay to use for rabbits, but I would check with the vet for dosage.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), May 17, 2001.

Response to antibiotics (types and dosage).

Check out LambriarVet.com for antibiotics. They are nice people and might even suggest an appropriate antibiotic for rabbits.

-- Eric (nazflash@northlink.com), May 20, 2001.

Response to antibiotics (types and dosage).

Yikes, Jimmy!

It's generally not a good idea to blast antibiotics at any illness until you have a clear diagnosis -- that's what has lead to the problem of high antibiotic residues in meat (and antibiotic resistant bacteria) that we all have heard so much about.

Your rabbit could be sneezing, for example, because there is excess dust in her feed -- antibiotics won't help that. The doe losing hair could be protein deficient (especially considering that she ate her last litter) -- and antibiotics won't help that, either.

Furthermore, specific antibiotics target specific diseases -- no broad spectrum antibiotic will "get" everything.

Get ahold of a Merck's Veterinary Manual if you'd like detailed diagnostic descriptions plus the type of medication each animal will need (some livestock can't tolerate certain medicines). The dosage rates are on the medication labels. These should be followed precisely for the best results.

Better yet, find someone local who knows about rabbit raising, and have them look at your bunnies. That way, you'll have an expert's advice and you'll know what to look for next time.

-- Anita Evangelista (evangel@atlascomm.net), May 21, 2001.