Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Sneezing – possible culprits?

Viewing 7 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • mango
      Participant
      89 posts Send Private Message

        First, please note I WILL be taking Mars to the vet. However, I want to go in with as much clarity and info as possible. I have also searched this forum and elsewhere, but thought maybe some members might have additional info or experience since the older posts about this.

        So Mars (female, spayed, 7 months old) has been sneezing a lot. Little sneezing fits of 4-6 in a row. The occasional single sneeze. At first I thought it was just because she got hay or other dust up her nose.

        But the frequency of the sneezing has seemed to increase significantly. Not a day goes by without several sneezing fits and one-offs when I’m there in the morning, evening, and it wakes me up at night. So now I’m concerned but having trouble remembering exactly when was the first time I noticed it. Many WEEKS ago, at least.

        Questions I’ve been asking myself:
        – did it start when we got the local farm hay instead of the Oxbow hay?
        – was it when we switched the litter to wood stove pellets?
        – is it worse right after cleaning the litter boxes (maybe the faint vinegar smell bothers her)?
        – does it get ­worse when we turn up the AC?
        – did it coincide with one day I saw a tiny bit of mold in the corner of one of the litter boxes (cleaned it immediately, hasn’t happened again)?

        Noteworthy symptoms & considerations:
        – ongoing for weeks, frequency of sneezing has increased
        – only ONE bunny, Mars, is affected; Reese has no symptoms
        – wet nose (is this watery clear discharge or just saliva from grooming that she does after every sneezing fit?)
        – NO thick white/yellow discharge
        – NO crusties or matting on her front paws
        – NO wheezing, snoring, nor coughing
        – NO runny eyes
        – NO change in behavior. She plays, binkies, eats as normal.
        – Unlike Reese, Mars is a digger, burying her face in the hay and carpet often (note: she tugs at the carpet but I’ve watched closely and she does not ingest any fibers). So she would more likely be affected by dust or trace amounts of baking soda and vinegar used to spot clean the carpet than Reese would.
        – Her sneezing does not happen consistently in one place or after one event. Eg, it is not just when she is in the litterbox, not just when she is laying in the sun or one particular area of the room, not just after she has been tugging at the carpet. Her sneezing has happened all places in the room, when she is relaxed, when she is active, etc.

        Given that info, I’m inclined to believe this is allergies, but it concerns me that the sneezing seems to be increasing in frequency.

        Does anyone have insight into the most likely source of the problem from your experiences and what I’ve described?


      • mango
        Participant
        89 posts Send Private Message

          New development:
          – She now makes excessive nasally grunting/snorting/honking noises while eating, which she didn’t do before.

          She’s booked at the vet next Tue.


        • Betsy
          Participant
          37 posts Send Private Message

            We went through the same thing with Vega (cow-spotted rex in my picture). Thabbit had no sneezing, but Vega was ALWAYS a snuffly girl, from even before we adopted her at age 7 or so.

            We started with a round of antibiotics for her, and that kicked the sneezes back for a few weeks, but then they came back.
            Next up was a culture – which came back showing only stuff that should have been taken care of with the antibiotics. So we did a 2nd round of another antibiotic.
            Again, kicked it back a bit, but then came back again.
            Because we were the new humans at the time and freaking her and her brother out with having to “Bunny Wrangle” twice a day, we really didn’t want to go with a 3rd round of antibiotics and/or a nebulizer. After-all, we knew there were reports of her sneezing for at least 2 years, so we didn’t think it anything critical. The vet gave us an herbal immune system booster instead… something Chinese, and I WISH I remembered the name of it. (Google makes me think it may have been Wei Qi?)

            That got rid of the sneezes for quite a long time.

            Same things you’re listing – one had it, the other didn’t. She sounded snuffly (we took to calling her Schnooffles!), but only had clear discharge and was a happy, active, funny-bunny.

            We never tried baby benadryl, but that was going to be our next step. She had been in multiple living environments through all of this, so we didn’t think allergies were an option, unless she was allergic to her brother or to hay. 

            Good luck getting this out of her system! 


          • mango
            Participant
            89 posts Send Private Message

              Thank you for sharing!

              You mentioned the culture “showing only stuff that should have been taken care of with the antibiotics.” Do you remember what it showed?

              In any case, its nice to know this situation is familiar to some of you. I anticipate antibiotics, then changing a few things in her environment like the litter, and hoping for the best! *fingers crossed*


            • Betsy
              Participant
              37 posts Send Private Message

                I don’t remember off the top of my head, but I can see if I can find the piece of paper the vet gave us.


              • cynthia
                Participant
                83 posts Send Private Message

                  Hi
                  Every case is diffrent, but mine had (and has) allergies and was prescribed benedril. We have a lot of pollen around here. The doctor took a glass flat dish thing and got some of the snot from my rabbits nose (clear watery discharge). Looked at it under a microscope and found no bad bacteria. Ask for a “scrape” (or whatever its called) and the doctor will check it out. The doc should also listen to your rabbits breathing (breaths per minute) and take the temp of your bunny. If its a respiratory issue you should get some meds if not the vet will administer the meds there.
                  How long has it been since her poo and pee were analyzed? My doc said that some respiratory issues can mean parasites and asked me to bring some fresh samples.

                  Don’t worry it will be fine. You might have to go to the vet more than once. Its a long process, but your bun will be ok. Basically if there is bad bacteria the doctors have to figure out what it is in order to kill it off. Maybe you will have a few scrape sessions I am not sure or it might be allergies. Let us know how the visit goes k


                • mango
                  Participant
                  89 posts Send Private Message

                    I realized I never followed up with this and thought I should now, for anyone who might be searching the forum for similar issues.

                    The vet started Mars with a mild antibiotic (Baytril?) for 6 weeks. When that didn’t work, she gave me a stronger antibiotic (Azithromycin) + Metacam for 6 weeks. That cleared her right up.

                    We never did figure out what caused it. We suspected the wood stove pellet litter simply because we couldn’t identify any other change in her environment. We were layering wsp with Boxo/Carefresh on top. We removed the wsp while she was sick, just in case. Since she got better, we gradually reintroduced wsp and change the litter more frequently, while watching carefully for a return of any symptoms, but all has been fine.


                  • Bam
                    Moderator
                    16836 posts Send Private Message

                      That’s great news, thank you so much for updating!

                  Viewing 7 reply threads
                  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                  Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Sneezing – possible culprits?