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Sneezing and chewing

Gus-ta-furry

Warren Scout
Gus has been sneezing a bit , quite regularly , bout 8 times a day , noze is a tiny bit damp , but eyes fine , no signs of discharge , front paws dry , he's also eating fine , but tiny bit more lethargic than normal , does that sound like snuffles ? Should we get him to the vet ? He seems to be chewing nothing a lot , but no sound of loud grinding ( always find it hard to decipher between happy grinding and pain grinding ) our otherbun has had fur loss around the eye for a while , although they're not together they share living quarters sometimes
 
You need to get them both to the vet.

Yes, the sneezing is probably snuffles, which can get so much worse and cause scarring if left. I wonder if chewing nothing could be him in some sort of dental pain - I'd get his teeth checked out as well, particularly as dental problems and snuffles are linked.

If they are not properly bonded or you are not properly bonding them then you shouldnt let them have time together, especially not in each other's territory, as this will be highly stressful for them (which can trigger/make worse snuffles) and could even result in nasty injuries. Believe me, having had a rabbit rip another ones ear off before we knew about proper bonding, the risk is serious.
 
Thanks , Nessar , sorry I should have clarified that we swap the rooms that they stay in , so they get human interaction , whilst they, re still unbonded , gave him some metacam tonight , just in case, and will try to get an appointment tomorrow. he went off food about 5 weeks back and has had a heavy moult , so the little guys strength might not be tip top
 
Yep I'd definately get him looked at. I'd stop the room switching if you can for a bit, as changing territory, particularly into one that smells like an unbonded rabbit, could cause stress. It is, of course, a method of bonding to swap accommodation and litter trays etc but I think it would be wise to stop whilst he is under the weather. Can he get human interaction if he isnt swapped room?

If you can make sure he is getting lots of fibre into him that will help his gut cope with the fur he is injesting- I hope he's feeling better soon!
 
vet checked his teeth (by feel) and could check roughly half of them by sight (most rabbits don't like letting a vet right into their mouth whilst conscious I think) and seemed fine, eyes were fine (if a tiny, tiny bit pink) , not weeping

no discharge to do a C&S, and she doesn'y think it's snuffles

he has gone off food twice this year (both showing signs of pain and un-rabbit behaviour)

she wants to do an x ray (but at £250+ I'm scared our petplan won't cover it , due to it maybe being dental in cause ??? Anyone know if the x ray would be covered, but not the possible dental treatment, does it depend on x ray diagnosis ???)

he's chewing all the time, but not showing same signs of pain or un-rabbit behaviur he has when he's stopped eating, we're scared he could be in pain, and have some leftover metacam we could give ?? Could the sneezing be causing him pain alone if it is just that is new hay is dusty ??

timing of his sneezing matches his new hay, so we're in 2 minds whether to leave it a week with a hay and litter change or whether we should get him into an expensive dental asap (which also has a slight GA risk)

hate decisions like this :cry:
 
Did the vet use a otoscope to check his teeth?

I'd discuss with your vet if you can, before giving any metacam etc

Are you sure the xray is so much? I had an xray of B's skull done and it came to about £70 plus aftercare meds. I believe it is the actual dental that pet plan dont cover, but give them a ring, but they wont be able to say for definate until you put your claim in. Of course there will likely be £50 excess.
 
Did the vet use a otoscope to check his teeth?

I'd discuss with your vet if you can, before giving any metacam etc

Are you sure the xray is so much? I had an xray of B's skull done and it came to about £70 plus aftercare meds. I believe it is the actual dental that pet plan dont cover, but give them a ring, but they wont be able to say for definate until you put your claim in. Of course there will likely be £50 excess.

no, I think the vet just opened his mouth with her hands and peered in, and then felt along the bottom of his jaw (externally)
that price included GA, so that they can fully examine his teeth and jaw , can you even do an x ray , without GA ? will speak to our vet about an x ray option without GA and speak to Petplan now, many thanks :thumb:
 
The £70 included the GA, the overall bill was £120 including consult, GA, dental, xray, xray consult, gut motility injection and metacam injection. I already had the oral metacam for after at home. My vets are quite cheap though.

Normally, yes, you need a GA. I think it can sometimes be done by trancing though, I remember seeing a webinar (sp?) on it where a rabbit savvy vet was talking about it to other vets.

If your vet uses an otoscope they will be able to see most of the teeth, its just the very back ones they cant see.

Personally, if he is eating, drinking, weeing pooping (and his poos are normal) and he is bright in himself I'd give the room a good hoover and go back to whatever hay/litter you were using before. It should only take 2 days to be able to tell if it was that causing the sneezing.
 
Lily has been sneezing alot and the outcome of our vet appt was that there is nothing that the vet could hear while checking her heart, lungs etc but when checking her teeth with the otoscope thingi it appears she has a couple of tiny spurs. She is on a 5 day course of metacam and then i will see how she is...she is underweight so we are tying to put off a dental while she is eating and there is no signs of irritation to her tounge/cheeks etc.
 
he's sneezing slightly less since we changed his hay and litter, but constantly making a chewing notion, getting spooked by the smallest things really regularly and acting slightly different to normal,
my guess is a couple of tiny spurs could be the case, he's eating fine and following us around as normal
the vet said dental problems can cause sneezing, has anyone heard of that ?
 
he's sneezing slightly less since we changed his hay and litter, but constantly making a chewing notion, getting spooked by the smallest things really regularly and acting slightly different to normal,
my guess is a couple of tiny spurs could be the case, he's eating fine and following us around as normal
the vet said dental problems can cause sneezing, has anyone heard of that ?

Yep they can. First of all the pain from needing a dental or having overgrown tooth roots can cause eyes watering etc, secondly if a bun has overgrowing tooth roots (the only way to check this is with an xray) it can press up against the respiratory system and cause snuffles-like symptoms or actual snuffles, and thirdly the pain and stress from all or any of these can cause a weakened immune system that allows the snuffles to take hold. Of course all these things can be present at the same time too.
 
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