Help please my rabbit has hay fever I am worried about medication side effects

Hi everyone this is my first message to the forum with a request for some help concerning my rabbit Sooty.

My rabbit has a an allergy of some sort, the vet says it’s hay fever. The vet has suggested that I give her 1/2 mil of Piriton twice each day. However after reading the horrendous side effects , the most scary side effects are swelling of the face and difficulty breathing, I am not at all happy to give her this medication though the vet says the only side effect she will suffer is drowsiness. I would be grateful for some advice please. Has anyone else a rabbit with this problem? Would it be okay to just let the hay fever run its course without medication as she seems not to be troubled by the symptoms? Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated I am not happy to give her this medication if it is not necessary to do so.

Thanks

Christine

Hello. That side effect would be very very rare so I would try the piriton and see if it helps. If you are really worried it might be help you to try on a weekday when the vets is at least open if you have any concerns.
Has your vet ruled out a possible upper respiratory tract infection or have they suggested it's an allergy first? My first concern would be an upper resp infection as that would be a condition that could significantly worsen if not treated. What are your bunny's symptoms? If there is mucous present in the nose (check your rabbits paws as they will wipe their nose with their paws) and infection hasn't been ruled out I would see your vet again or see a different vet.

Hi
Hay fever in rabbits is very rare but not unheard of.
One of my friends rabbits suffered from it and she gave him grape flavored benadryl for children.
My dog has hay fever and I give her one piriton a day.It does make her quite sleepy and she is 16 stone.

Hay fever and allergies like that are uncommon in rabbits. Has your vet considered snuffles ? That would be much more likely.
some basic info on snuffles: http://www.vetstream.com/ownerinformation/rabbit/lapis_snuffles.htm?www.beaminstervets.co.uk<br />

Is your vet a qualified exotic vet? Rabbits are classed as exotics, so most vets dont have to learn much about them, so its important to find a vet that knows their stuff on rabbits, preferably one that is qualified in exotic or rabbit medicine.

Becca said:

Hi
Hay fever in rabbits is very rare but not unheard of.
One of my friends rabbits suffered from it and she gave him grape flavored benadryl for children.
My dog has hay fever and I give her one piriton a day.It does make her quite sleepy and she is 16 stone.

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It's the syrup this vet has given so 0.5 ml would be 0.2 mg of the active ingredient. The tablets are 4 mg each so the vet has prescribed a much lower dose. That type of drug can always cause drowsiness though.

I have used piriton syrup on bunnies before with no problems with side effects. they can actually have quite large doses but we always started small and worked up if there was no effect

I too have used Piriton syrup with good effect, I would think those potential side effects are very rare just like the ones you can read about on a packet of paracetamol! Sadly, most human medications have been tested on rabbits at some point in their development so there is a lot of data out there which suggests that Piriton is safe for bunnies even at enormous overdoses (it wasn't being tested for effectiveness, just for safety,but even so!)

Piriton had a very good effect on santa's snuffles, she used to get very bad when the fields were being harvested and it kicked up a lot of dust. The Piriton really helped to calm down her airways and she got a much better 'pink' colour.

Personally I wouldn't have a problem giving it as your vet has prescribed, but I would also want to be certain that an infection has been ruled out, as sneezing etc in a bunny is much more commonly due to infections up the nose. If there is no change or she gets worse, or if you see any white or green discharge, or bunny has crusty front paws where she has been wiping her nose, I would go straight back to the vet, as that would suggest an infection rather than an allergy. Good luck x

I don't know how bad things are sneezy wise with your bun, but 18 months ago we had a little girl bun who sneezed badly whenever we put fresh hay in with her no matter the type or supplier. She was thoroughly checked by our very experienced rabbit vet and he ruled out infection but thought that the spores on the hay were causing her to sneeze. He suggested limiting her exposure to hay and soaking her eating hay for 20 - 30 minutes before drying it as much as possible and feeding her. We did this and as instructed gradually re introduced hay that wasn't soaked and she was fine.

May be something you could discuss with the vet too?

Good luck :wave:

Not sure how to send replies to each individual message so I hope this is okay. I am very grateful to you all for taking the time to respond


Red Fraggle

Thank you for your advice, if she is not improved or has got worse by Monday I will take her to the vets. She has had this before but this is the first time Piriton has been advised usually she is prescribed some eye drops Although she is an old rabbit, we have only had her for eighteen months and each year she has had this happened twice. Will check paws and nose though.

Again many thanks for your reply

Christine



Becca

Thank you for replying. I had not heard that rabbits had hay fever before as it does seem a little odd and would imagine that yes it is very rare. But she has been seen by two vets. Will look into the benadryl

Thank you

Christine



Nessar
Thank you for the snuffles information, will keep this in mind and see what happens by Monday. The odd thing is that right now only one eye is affected. There is no running nose or sneezing.

Thanks for replying

Christine



Hugo’s There

Thank you for this reassuring information. I guess I am a little anxious as it is not rabbit specific medicine and the side effects are worrying. I am new to rabbits never having had to look after one before.

Thank you

Christine



Santa

Thanks for the information which has helped to relieve my anxiety. The vet did say that the only side effect would be drowsiness. So far it is only one eye which is affected, no running nose or sneezes and she has had this before twice but she is usually prescribed eye drops. Hopeful soon hay fever problems will settle down as autumn approaches.

Thank you for your reply

Christine



One of the family

Thank you for your response. Great idea about the hay will give this a try, sounds better than medication. Our rabbits have dust extracted hay however we live in the country with fields just at the bottom of the street so it is likely that spores will affect her.

Thank you

Christine

Hiya again! Please don't give Benadryl, it is not safe for bunnies and may well be why Becca's friend's bunny got drowsy with it. The confusion often arises because Benadryl in the USA contains a bunny safe antihistamine whereas Benadryl in the uk is an entirely different product which is not bunny safe, so the suggestion to use Benadryl in bunnies comes from the USA but is not applicable here.

I asked an exotics expert vet about whether the Piriton should make my bunny drowsy and he said no, it's not usually clinically significant and as long as she wasn't planning on driving or operating dangerous machinery it would be fine :lol: I certainly never noticed any drowsiness with Santa - if anything she perked up because her breathing was easier.

I have to say though, what you describe does not sound like hay fever to me, it sounds more like a tooth root overgrowth and infection. It would be much more normal for hay fever to affect both eyes; in one eye it sounds more likely to be a blocked/infected tear duct, most commonly due to overgrowing tooth roots - especially as your bunny is older - is she a lop or dwarf breed, it is also much more common in those. Has your bunny had a head x-ray to see what is going on in there? Where abouts are you based, someone might be able to recommend a really good bunny vet in your area to get yet another opinion!

Good luck x

Santa said:

Hiya again! Please don't give Benadryl, it is not safe for bunnies and may well be why Becca's friend's bunny got drowsy with it. The confusion often arises because Benadryl in the USA contains a bunny safe antihistamine whereas Benadryl in the uk is an entirely different product which is not bunny safe, so the suggestion to use Benadryl in bunnies comes from the USA but is not applicable here.

I asked an exotics expert vet about whether the Piriton should make my bunny drowsy and he said no, it's not usually clinically significant and as long as she wasn't planning on driving or operating dangerous machinery it would be fine :lol: I certainly never noticed any drowsiness with Santa - if anything she perked up because her breathing was easier.

I have to say though, what you describe does not sound like hay fever to me, it sounds more like a tooth root overgrowth and infection. It would be much more normal for hay fever to affect both eyes; in one eye it sounds more likely to be a blocked/infected tear duct, most commonly due to overgrowing tooth roots - especially as your bunny is older - is she a lop or dwarf breed, it is also much more common in those. Has your bunny had a head x-ray to see what is going on in there? Where abouts are you based, someone might be able to recommend a really good bunny vet in your area to get yet another opinion!

Good luck x

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Hi Santa

Thank you for letting me know about Benadryl. As it turns out I decided to leave well alone for a couple of days. The wetness seemed to dry than she developed an eye infection and returned Tuesday to the vets for some eye drops. So now I am not sure about the hay fever diagnosis as I agree with you that if this was the case both eyes would be affected and I am glad I decided not to try Piriton, at least not this time. She is a dwarf breed and is quite an old bunny, maybe about seven or eight. This time it is not due to dental problems but her teeth may need some attention in a year or so says the vet when she examined her on Tuesday. She has conjunctivitis which is apparently rare in rabbits. She has had this before and the eye drops usually work but if they do not will get another vet to have alook at her

Thank you and everyone else for taking the time to help me.

Christine