Assuming my pet rabbit survives botulism poisoning, what should the recovery process look like? I have researched a lot and either am not finding, or am not understanding the details.
- Pet ingests the botulinum toxin
- In 6 - 36 hours the pet starts showing signs but can be as late as 10 - 30 days
- Symptoms in the pet are generally a descending paralysis, first the head or neck, then fore limbs, etc. Nerves are damaged by the toxin.
- Treatment involves antitoxins (problematic) and/or palliative care, as the nerves will regenerate given time.
- Recovery...
- Weeks to months later the pet has full or nearly full recover.
I am not finding anything solid about step 5, "Recovery..."
- Is the recovery descending (head gets better first), reversed, or general?
- Are there milestones in the recovery process (i.e. when 'this' happens things only get better)?
- What are common difficulties that must be overcome?
A peer-reviewed case study of multiple recoveries in humans and other animals would be great, but I cannot locate one and don't think one exists. The best answer will be from experience, preferable with more than one case.