My bunny is sneezing but not got Snuffles!

[HayleyB]

My little girl, Luna, is 3.5 yrs old. I adopted her as a baby, she had been separated from the rest because of “respiratory issues”. So, basically she has ALWAYS had this problem.

Initially I took her to the vet and was told she had Snuffles – even though they never looked up her nose, checked her teeth or took any mucus to test etc – and they prescribed antibiotics. She never got any better. Every few months it got worse and I’d take her back and once again they just give her the Baytril, with no effect. And this went on and on. As my little boy rabbit has NEVER caught this from her I started to think the vets were just fobbing me off and making assumptions, they not once physically checked her over or asked any important questions! So I decided to try things out myself, as by now I didn’t believe she even had Snuffles. So, I’ve been through all sorts of bedding/litter, changed their hay brand and type etc all things to see if it is an allergy. No change. Then recently she’s started sneezing/coughing so violently that it sends her in to a panic. She is constantly ‘snoring’, sounding bunged up too. I try to help relieve some of the breathing struggle with a baby aspirator, but a minute after I’ve cleared her nose she’s snoring again!

So, being very concerned with this new level of sneezing/coughing, I changed vet practice and insisted I see whoever is best with buns. The woman was fantastic; checked her all over! There is nothing up her nose, her teeth are fine, her lungs are clear (all the congestion is in her head area). She told me that if you keep giving rabbits anti-biotics when they don’t need them it can make their guts poorly (so glad I left the other vets!!). Because of her history, the vet doesn’t think Luna has Snuffles at all, and that perhaps her nostrils are inflamed. So she had been on anti-inflammatory for the past 2 weeks. Unfortunately STILL no change!

She is a happy little girl in herself – eats, drinks, poops and binkys! It’s just her poor darn nose! I am about to go and try a makeshift nebuliser, but was wondering if anyone has any ideas or has been though the same thing? 

Thank you From a concerned Bun-Mum x

[Mikey]

Youll need a rabbit certified vet to run an xray to make sure her ribs are normal, and to see if anything seems off. She will also need a nose swab test. Oh, and blood work to make sure her organs are working correctly through all of this.

Shes only getting worse, so you and your vet cant write it off as nothing. Coughing along with sneezing can be very dangerous for a bunny. Watching my rabbit not be able to breathe because of his allergies was the scariest thing I have seen in my life. I had to give him the bunny heimlich to help him breathe, and the vet said if I had not done that, he very well could have died then and there (thank you again Jersey for the walkthrough on bunny heimlichs).

[HayleyB]

Thank you for your reply I am going to take her back next week and ask for a swab test and hopefully some information on a rabbit certified vet. I wish I could just make her better!

[LittlePuffyTail]

It could be something to do with her sinuses. My boy makes a lot of snoring sounds due to a thickened nasal passage caused from several bouts of sinusitis. Although, he doesn’t sneeze so it’s just an idea. Maybe ask your vet about this possibility. Vet would need to do a cranial Xray to see if there are any abnormalities there. And could also rule out a problem with molars pushing on the sinuses.

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