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?