Sneezy rabbit and hairy water

[Taylor]

I have been trying to groom the rabbits for about a week now, they’ve just hit about 10 weeks and I tried it before now but it didn’t seem to be doing anything. I’ve been getting some hair on the brush, so I’ve felt good about it, I was like “yeah, I’m protecting my buns from sepsis” but today (I just changed their water yesterday ((we bought them a bowl which fills itself because Trippy was loudly biting the water bottle we bought for them) there were hairs floating on the top of the water and I was like “UGH NOO SEPSIS” because that’s my worst actual fear. Is there a better way I can prevent this? 

Second, more important question. Wally is sneezing. It’s barely a “pfff” but, It concerned me the first time I heard it several days ago. It only happened once, but today he’s sneezed several times. He’s very dark so we took a flashlight to his nose, which he didn’t mind because we were petting him, and noticed some watery fur around his right nostril and a possible crusty in his left one. Now, obviously this is concerning. He, remarkably, let me rub my finger on his nostrils to see if I could loose the crusty, which I couldn’t, and then I kissed him many times since he was so patient. He hasn’t exhibited any other alarming signs at all. He’s eating well, pooping even better, playing like crazy, and being very patient and affectionate as always. I scheduled them a simple checkup appointment earlier today for next saturday the 27th. It’s gonna take a while because it’s an hour drive with the only exotic specialist for 80 miles. That’s a whole week. Do I need to scratch the check up and just get him in somewhere or do you think he’ll be okay if we wait? I’m just crazy nervous when it comes to my buns, I’ve cried in recent days just thinking about something happening to them.

Thank you so much in advance for your advice and for this community that so readily supports the buns and their owners.

[Benthebunny]

i understand completely. when i feel like something is wrong with my bunnies, first i get headrush, than i worry, and then i have a mental breakdown. wally might be sneezing and have a wet nose because he could have pasturellosis, which is a little concerning right now because it sounds like you caught it early enough. dont worry honey! the vet is in a week. my ben is getting newtered in a month, i should be more worried than you, try to move the appointment earlier. honestly, its all worth it. oo

[Benthebunny]

In the meantime, keep an eye on him. Check his front paws and check if anything is there that he might have rubbed off his nose.

[Taylor]

I cannot move the appointment to earlier as she is the only exotics specialist and is quite booked up. It was either next Saturday or the Monday after. Definitely pasturellosis is my primary concern as I’ve heard it can develop into headtilt and even be deadly if left unattended, but I’m not sure if it would be worse to take them to a vet here that doesn’t know anything about bunnies. There’s nothing that could have rubbed off on his nose. I thought it might have been water, but it’s not on his mouth at all, just hist nostril so it’s def. running. Plus the crusty.

[Benthebunny]

alright, a week should not be too big of a problem. if you notice it to be yellow or white in colour you should consider calling again. and do some reaseaech on it. dont get too worked up,

[Benthebunny]

A helpful page here
http://www.budgetbunny.ca/2014/02/25/health-check-tips-healthy-bunny-nose/

[Taylor]

That link is super helpful, thank you!! Praying that your buns neutering goes as smooth as possible! <3

[Bam]

That’s a good link, BenTheBunny!

As for grooming, I use a slef-cleaning slicker + pull out the loose tufts of hair with my finger + finish it off with lint-rolling. If you have smooth-haired bunnies or rexes, lint-rolling works very well and it prevents loose hair from flying around and landing in the water-bowl. Use a generic brand lint-roller, name brands have too stiff glue. Lint-rolling a bunny requires quite a lot of gluey paper though.

I change water twice daily when my buns shed because of hair getting in the water. And oh, btw, it’s not sepsis you are worried about, its GI stasis. The words are alike but the conditions are very different. It’s GI stasis we prevent by feeding lots of hay and brushing our bunnies =)

[jerseygirl]

I use a small piece of nylon mesh and swipe it through the water to collect fur and other debris.

[Taylor]

Awesome, thank you! I’ll try the lint roller. Their hair is so fine right now, it may come off on the brush but I can hardly see it anyway! Lol, yes I did mean stasis. Silly me, they do sound alike so who knows how many times I’ve said that wrong. I appreciate everyone’s helpful comments!

[Taylor]

Just an update, that link mentioned the different types of discharge. Wally’s was clear, so we took it to mean something in his environment. We took away the dusty old fan that he loves to sleep in front of (poor Wally) and he has not sneezed in two days!!

[Author]

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