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Worried about my bunny. Please help!

J

jdaisy14

New Kit
My dwarf rabbit is around 5 years old and recently i have noticed that whenever she is grooming herself or sometimes when she stretches out her neck she makes these strange noises almost like she is having trouble breathing. She also sometimes produces a whistle type sound when she breathes. She has sneezed once or twice and there is no discharge coming from her nose. She is eating normally and drinking normally, although she is a bit more sleepy (because she is older) she is still her usual self.

Is my bunny ill or does she just have allergies?

here is a picture of her nose!
Here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16302865@N05/7158322747/

7158322747
 
Hi there Jdaisy, and welcome to the forum :D:wave:

Realistically, your rabbit needs to see a vet, as none of us can give a physical examination and diagnosis. But we may be able to give you come ideas to go to the vet with.

Does your rabbit and her breathing look anything like the one in this thread?
 
thanks for the welcome! im going to take her to the vets this week. But no she doesn't appear to be breathing with her face stuck in the air, she seems to be able to breathe fine when she is resting or sitting on my lap. The only difference that i have seen in her behavior is that she seems more sleepy but i don't know if this is due to her age or because of an illness.
 
jdaisy14 said:
thanks for the welcome! im going to take her to the vets this week. But no she doesn't appear to be breathing with her face stuck in the air, she seems to be able to breathe fine when she is resting or sitting on my lap. The only difference that i have seen in her behavior is that she seems more sleepy but i don't know if this is due to her age or because of an illness.
Click to expand...

Well, that's reassuring :D I would be looking at other things then, have you changed anything at all around her recently? So, bedding, food, air freshener, anything with a scent, any new pets and so on. Has there been any change in the type of food she eats, or where you get your hay from? Is her poo any different, as you can tell a lot about a bunny from the state of their poops. Just any little things that may have changed as it will help the vet build up a picture. If you could manage to get a video of her breathing that would help a lot, both for advice on here and with your vet.

I can't comment on the sleepiness, bunnies do sometimes slow down as they get older, but I would definitely mention it to your vet as any change in behaviour can be important in diagnosing illness.

I'm sure there will be more people along in the morning to offer suggestions. Although we have members from all over the world on the boards, most of them are in the UK and therefore asleep! (It's 3am here.) What's your girly's name? She is a lovely colour, looks like she'd be a lovely fluffy cuddle too! :D
 
I would take her to the vets asap, and also discuss with them the possibility of snuffles, as it is so common in rabbits. Snuffles normally has some sort of running or discharge of the nose and eyes present, or sneezing, but not always.

In the meantime I would hoover to remove dust from the room, and dont use incense, scented candles, air freshener, spray deodorant etc in the same room as her, as these can irritate bunny respiratory systems.
 
Coineanach said:
Well, that's reassuring :D I would be looking at other things then, have you changed anything at all around her recently? So, bedding, food, air freshener, anything with a scent, any new pets and so on. Has there been any change in the type of food she eats, or where you get your hay from? Is her poo any different, as you can tell a lot about a bunny from the state of their poops. Just any little things that may have changed as it will help the vet build up a picture. If you could manage to get a video of her breathing that would help a lot, both for advice on here and with your vet.

I can't comment on the sleepiness, bunnies do sometimes slow down as they get older, but I would definitely mention it to your vet as any change in behaviour can be important in diagnosing illness.

I'm sure there will be more people along in the morning to offer suggestions. Although we have members from all over the world on the boards, most of them are in the UK and therefore asleep! (It's 3am here.) What's your girly's name? She is a lovely colour, looks like she'd be a lovely fluffy cuddle too! :D
Click to expand...

She's called Daisy and she is really cuddly but she has a temper on her!

Well i have recently come back from Uni and she has started to come inside with me a lot more and spending a few nights in a small cage in my room, where as when my parents take care of her she is outside. Her poo seems to be normal, although i have just noticed whilst posting this that she is scratching her ears a lot and a moment ago she was moving in a circle to scratch it.

here is a video of her breathing whilst i was picking her up. (its only an audio file) :
 
Do you use pine or cedar or just wood shavings? These can cause respiratory problems which might be whats affecting her. If you do use wood shavings I would change to recycled paper bedding or just plain with a carpet or so.
 
i mainly use wood shavings. I took her to the vets this morning and they said she had a minor respiratory infection, so she is now on some antibiotics and the vet told me to either fill a bowl with hot water and add some eucalyptus oil or put her into a steamy bathroom to help clear her nasal passage way. I did the former (which she inhaled for about 10-15 min) , however i later read that eucalyptus oil is bad for them. Now ive noticed my rabbit will occasionally shake violently for a minute then stop. This has been going on for 2 hours.

What does that mean?
 
I would say getting rid of the wood shavings is best. My rabbit also had wood shavings until he was about 7 months old but then I swapped to recycled paper and blankets because he started to sneeze a lot. Now he's fine. Hope your bunny gets better soon! Just give him lots of love and cuddles! :)
 
jdaisy14 said:
She's called Daisy and she is really cuddly but she has a temper on her!

Well i have recently come back from Uni and she has started to come inside with me a lot more and spending a few nights in a small cage in my room, where as when my parents take care of her she is outside. Her poo seems to be normal, although i have just noticed whilst posting this that she is scratching her ears a lot and a moment ago she was moving in a circle to scratch it.

here is a video of her breathing whilst i was picking her up. (its only an audio file) :
Click to expand...

You may well have hit the nail on the head with this line.

Rabbits don't cope well with temperature changes if you are constantly changing her from inside to outside, that's going to upset her system and possibly cause the respiratory infection you have mentioned above. I would stop changing her environment as much as possible for her own health.

If she is shaking violently for the past 2 hours, you need to get her to a vet NOW I'm afraid, a rabbit fitting is a VERY sick rabbit.
 
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