The following photos where taken over a period of about three months, the first  being taken at the beginning of September 2008 when Tilly was first diagnosed with myxomatosis.  I kept her with Fester the whole time so as not to add any stress to her situation, and he has remained in good health (he was also vaccinated).

She was kept indoors at the recommended temperature of around 22c.  This is very important as, apparently, the myxo virus finds it harder to survive in a warm environment.  As you can see her lesions got very bad (her genitals were also swollen), and what cannot be appreciated from the photos is how bad her breathing and snuffles got - she sounded awful.  It may be hard to believe, but Tilly continued to eat and drink normally through this time (which had a major influence on the vet reasoning that she had a good chance of recovery, and so continued to treat her).  She was given Fucithalmic eye drops and Metacam, and was first put on the antibiotic Baytril and, after about 4 weeks, a combination of this and Metronizadole, which seemed to speed up her recovery.  She was taken off treatment completeley at the beginning of December 2008 as the vet thought the antibiotics had done all that they would do and that she would continue to get better by herself (she still had some wheeziness and snuffles, but this was nowhere near as bad as before).  The last photo was taken mid December 2008.

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Unfortunately, since then she hasn't really got rid of the wheeziness and one of her eyes was weeping a little bit so at the beginning of this week (6th January 2009) she was put back on the combination of Baytril and Metronizadole by the vet to attempt to completely clear up the infection.  She is still being kept indoors, and is very lively and otherwise OK so we shall have to see how long it is before she has made a FULL recovery.

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I took Tilly back to the vet yesterday (13th Jan) for her follow-up appointment, and she is on just the Baytril now for a month.  The vet isn't sure whether her respiratory system has suffered permanent damage, or whether a bacterial infection is present.  If she still has a bacterial infection then the Baytril will completely clear it up within a month, but if she still has the wheeziness after this time then she has suffered permanent damage and will simply be like that all the time (which, he informed me ,may make her more susceptible to infections in the future than a normally healthy bunny).  So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will gradually improve over the next couple of weeks .........


Update as of 13th February 2009

I took Tilly back to the vets today as she had finished her further month of antibiotics.  He was very happy with her and, although she still has some snuffly symptoms and a slightly watery eye at times, he said he is 99% certain that this is due to damage to tissue within the nasal passages/eye and will probably be permanent.  He doesn't think she has suffered any long term damage to her lungs as she is very active and not breathless.  She may be more likely to have respiratory infections in the future and I should keep an eye on her (which, of course, I will anyway).  I will be keeping her indoors until the weather becomes milder and then she and Fester can go back outside in their run (I think I'll miss having them in the spare room!)  She was also given her VHD vaccination at last so I don't have to worry about that.  So ... fingers crossed all will be well from now on ... :-)

Update as of 22nd February 2009

Not related to Tilly's illness, but very sad news ... at the moment I don't think I can entertain the thought of Tilly and Fester going back outside, as all four of my outside bunnies were killed on Thursday by loose dogs - a jack russel and possibly a staffordshire bull terrier.  They had torn the fox-proof mesh from the runs in a particularly vicious attack and it was a truly terrible sight (see photos on next page) - please be vigilant if there are any irresponsible dog owners near you.  This particular dog owner had been warned before ... too late now for my lovely bunnies :-(  In a way it is a blessing that Tilly and Fester are indoors as I am sure they would also have been lost.

RIP Ronnie, Reggie, Albert & Vicky x x x x

Update from April 2009

Tilly has continued to gradually improve on her own, and now has very minimal snuffly symptoms and her weepy eye has almost cleared ....... it's been around 8 months and I've been advised by the vet that it will be ok to have her vaccinated against myxi again around June or July.

What a little fighter!

This last photo is how Tilly looks now - back to her pretty little self!