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Can Rabbits Get Hay Fever?

G

Gemmapookie

Wise Old Thumper
Following on from this thread about Mimi http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?386629-Mimi-Sneezing-(-Snuffles

So the past few days have been chilly and raining so I haven't been keeping the windows open. Mimi's sneezing seems to have totally stopped :?

Is it possible that she could have been having Hay Fever (or a similar reaction to pollen or something else in the air?) last week as it was warm and sunny and I had the windows open?

She has done this before, 2 Springs ago. I took her to the vet and he could find nothing wrong and again it stopped on its own :?
 
Yes they can be allergic to dust as well.
I always find that its when my haufever starts up that angel starts to sneeze :lol:
 
Gemmapookie said:
Following on from this thread about Mimi http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?386629-Mimi-Sneezing-(-Snuffles

So the past few days have been chilly and raining so I haven't been keeping the windows open. Mimi's sneezing seems to have totally stopped :?

Is it possible that she could have been having Hay Fever (or a similar reaction to pollen or something else in the air?) last week as it was warm and sunny and I had the windows open?

She has done this before, 2 Springs ago. I took her to the vet and he could find nothing wrong and again it stopped on its own :?
Click to expand...

Yes, Lolah used to get one watery eye, but doesn't anymore and both bunnies and our guinea pigs have sneezed a bit recently as the temperature is dropping and autumn plants/grasses will be seeding. So they do get allergies and the occasional sneeze would be nothing to worry about. We did get Lolah's eye checked (could have been due to spurs or an infection) but nothing. So do consider a vet visit if it seems prolonged (i.e. runny nose, watery eye) but I think they do get affected by hay allergens and seasonal temperature changes.

-Simon
 
They can but true 'hay fever' is very rare in bunnies and more often sneezing is caused an infection so I'd always have a sneezing bunny checked by a vet.
 
If you do find its hayfever and its distressing her you can ask your vet about piriton. We used it with Bluebell under the guidence of our vet and it definately helped on the allergy side of things.
 
Amy104 said:
If you do find its hayfever and its distressing her you can ask your vet about piriton. We used it with Bluebell under the guidence of our vet and it definately helped on the allergy side of things.
Click to expand...

Did Bluebell have snuffles? Thanks so much for the advice :wave:
 
they can have hayfevery symptoms but a real allergy is rare. both bunnies are piggies can show symptoms. snuffle bunnies react to changes in weather and humidity aswell so it could still be snuffles that appears to be hayfever. matt was tried on piriton when nothing was working, just incase he had a rare 'allergy'; - sadly it didn't work for him but worth a try. :wave:
 
Yeah she does.
When she first started sneezing I was worked and panicking that she had sniffles!
Went to the vet andher lungs were clear as a bell.
I always get her lungs sounded while im at the vets just on case something changes, and she's been on various courses of antibiotics for her hocks and nothings changed.
Its always at this time of year and when the hay is a bit dusty.

She shoves her face right in about the hay then sits up and starts sneezing :lol:

If you're worried pop to the vets :)
 
Yes Bluebell had repeated respitory infections and scarring. However although he coped reasonable well on his medication for most of the year he was always worse during the tree pollen season. My vet suggested the piriton and there was a marked improvement so believe that although he had respitory issues, there was definately some sort of allergy at play. At first we thought it was the humidity and whilst warm weather did effect him negatively we started keeping a log and he was always much worse if there was tree pollen about.
 
Just read this in the rabbiting on app :)

Don't know if you can see if properly on here though because I can zoom in on the iPad, if you're on a computer if you save it you could put it in word or something and zoom in from there :)

null_zpsb8f79fa6.png
 
biscandmatt1 said:
they can have hayfevery symptoms but a real allergy is rare. both bunnies are piggies can show symptoms. snuffle bunnies react to changes in weather and humidity aswell so it could still be snuffles that appears to be hayfever. matt was tried on piriton when nothing was working, just incase he had a rare 'allergy'; - sadly it didn't work for him but worth a try. :wave:
Click to expand...

:thumb:
Excellent.
There can be mechanical irritation of the respiratory tract, especially by dust, which thickens the discharge so it cannot flow properly. Try sticking your own nose in the hay like a rabbit does & inhale! A simple improvement can be obtained by putting the hay in a narrow wicker tunnel/cardboard tube so they scrabble it out in a thinner layer.

Also many humans react to changes of weather - the blood vessels in their nose dilate & block the nose. It's called vasomotor rhinitis. Rabbits get it too.

Neither is a true allergy like hay fever - simply mechanical irritation.
Yes, I agree totally. I also think that the presence of quite minor bacterial infection markedly increases the sensitivity to mechanical factors.
There's quite a good overview of the respitatory tract disorders here. http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm
 
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