Barney - breathing loudly & 3rd eyelid showing *snuffles*

This is about two things, I don't know if they are related or not. Barney has snuffles and has had it longterm, but its always been mild.

I can hear him breathing, and breathing quite heavily, like a human does when they have a bit of a cold. I've never heard him before, I take it this is the snuffles? Should I be worried? He is on baytril (1.5ml daily) and a pinch of bisolvon daily. He has 6 days left of the 10 day course of baytril.

I've also noticed over the past week his third eyelid keeps showing. I told the vet and he had a look and said it wasnt inflamed and he didnt think it was a problem. He said it could be caused by something but I cant remember what he said, maybe he said snuffles? What can cause this? Its usually when he's lying down, especially when I'm stroking him. I know it can be from sleepiness but its never kept showing before.

It can be from pain. Is he on any painkillers? Sometimes snuffles can cause a lot of inflammation of the nasal passages etc and be a bit sore. It might be that the baytril doesn't touch it in which case other antibiotics can be tried, but vets always start with baytril just because it's safest.

No, he hasnt had painkillers. I have a small amount of metacam here but I'd have to wait till tomorrow evening to give it or I wont be around to see if it stops it showing.

B's never had anything other than baytril, we did discuss another antibiotic when baytril wasnt working before, as it doesnt tend to have much effect, but it got better with just bisolvon before we tried it. I cant remember what it was called.

Does the loud breathing just sound like snuffles to you?

Sometimes Grim does the loud breathing too so I can guess it's related.

It can be caused by a mass in the chest cavity eg a thymoma (tumour of the thymus in the chest). If a mass is present it can compress the large blood vessels returning from the head to the heart, this causes increased pressure in the veins in the head and consequently bulging of the eyes/exposure of the nictitating membranes. An Xray is the only way to confirm this. The fact that it mostly happens when Barney is lying down makes me think that it could possibly (but by no means definitely) be due to something going on in his chest. I would discuss this with your Vet.

Thank you both,

I did end up giving him a very low dose of metacam Sunday night in case the heavy breathing was caused by inflammation or the third eyelid caused by pain. I didnt want to give him much without consulting the vet, but didnt want to wake him either (the main vet does all the emergency work too) so I just gave B a 3kg cat dose, B is 3.5kg. I *think* a double cat dose is meant to be a low dose for a rabbit, so it was a very low dose. He hasnt done any heavy breathing since that I've seen, but that doesnt really tell me much :?

I was only home for an hour last night before I had to go to sleep, so didnt get to watch him much, but it didnt seem to be showing as much. I saw it once, that was when I was giving his noserubs and he was lying down and getting sleepy from it :?

Would a chest mass be dangerous? I dont want to put him under GA unecessarily, his breathing is the worst its ever been. Is it the sort of thing that can wait a month or two for him to need a dental and so do it at the same time, or is it something that needs to be investigated now?

nessar said:

Thank you both,

I did end up giving him a very low dose of metacam Sunday night in case the heavy breathing was caused by inflammation or the third eyelid caused by pain. I didnt want to give him much without consulting the vet, but didnt want to wake him either (the main vet does all the emergency work too) so I just gave B a 3kg cat dose, B is 3.5kg. I *think* a double cat dose is meant to be a low dose for a rabbit, so it was a very low dose. He hasnt done any heavy breathing since that I've seen, but that doesnt really tell me much :?

I was only home for an hour last night before I had to go to sleep, so didnt get to watch him much, but it didnt seem to be showing as much. I saw it once, that was when I was giving his noserubs and he was lying down and getting sleepy from it :?

Would a chest mass be dangerous? I dont want to put him under GA unecessarily, his breathing is the worst its ever been. Is it the sort of thing that can wait a month or two for him to need a dental and so do it at the same time, or is it something that needs to be investigated now?

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Personally I would want to address any potential issue sooner rather than later

Jack's-Jane said:

Personally I would want to address any potential issue sooner rather than later

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Okay, I think, providing he doesnt get worse, I'll pop him back to the vets when this course of baytril is done, and hopefully his breathing will be better then. I've lost track of time, my brain is mush at the moment, but I think there are about 5 days of the course left. Hopefully it is just the snuffles and it will go when the snuffles is a little better, as I imagine a tumour or a mass in his chest would be quite serious.

My thoughts are the same as Jane's as my bunny has just been diagnosed with thymoma (3rd eyelid showing/eyes bulging when putting head down) and has started on steroids.

Hopefully it won't be this but if he does not improve it would be worth mentioning your vet to check this out.

I hope he has improved.

Thanks bunny babe, sorry I forgot to update this. Thankfully he has stopped doing this. After his course of baytril his snuffles is a bit better, so I think (I hope) it was just the snuffles, but I am keeping an eye on things.

I'm glad he is better and fingers crossed this is all it was and he is fully recovered.

I've noticed it showing again, but only a little, its not coming out a lot like it was. We went to the vets today and he just thinks it is caused by a very mild infection/conjunctivitus caused by his snuffles, stress and possibly dust. I'm going to keep an eye on things.