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New Bunny - Slightly Worried!

Pip&Milo

Pip&Milo

Warren Scout
Hi There,
I'm a first time Rabbit owner. My partner bought me my bunny Milo for my birthday on Thursday. Hes young (between 6 & 8 weeks) and adorable!
I gave him a couple of days to settle into his new outdoor hutch and yesterday brought him inside for the first time so that he could have a run around! I made sure the room was safe (no wires, nothing on the floor for him to nibble etc) and he seemed really happy. At first he was really nervous but soon he was running around like a mad man jumping in the air and having what seemed like lots of fun!
However after a little while he started sneezing! I didn't think anything of it until of course I googled!!!!! Now I'm terrified!
He does seem absolutely fine other than the sneezes! He has nothing coming from his nose or eyes. His paws aren't damp or wet. He's eating and drinking fine and playing when we get him out. He's still a little nervous around us (which i expected he is new after all!) But generally seems healthy. I've spent some time with him today and he's still sneezing. Just one sneeze at a time but enough to worry me! We have him in the vets next weekend just for a check up but do you think I need to rush him in?
The room was a little dusty - is it possible a little dust just got in his nose?
It's going to be difficult to get him to a vet before friday (I'm a teacher and just have zero time!!!!) so my thoughts were to keep an eye on him and if i notice anything else take him straight away but otherwise wait till the weekend?
I'm new to this whole bunny thing and I think i'm probably just being over protective?? I hope so anyway!
 
Hello and welcome to RU :wave:. Could I ask where the bunny came from? I only ask because he's very young and if he came from somewhere like Pets at Home, he will have been separated from his mother at a very young age and then spent time indoors at the back of the store before being placed on the shop floor for sale. Then (and forgive me if I'm wrong) but it sounds as though he lives in a hutch outside? If so, he won't be acclimatised to the cold winter weather and he won't have a thick coat so it's possible that the stress of (a) being removed from his mother; (b) being in a shop environment and then (c) moving into his new outdoor home MAY have created a respiratory infection. However, it's not unheard of for P@H to sell bunnies that are displaying signs of snuffles :(.

If he were mine, I'd take him to the vet before next weekend as bunnies, especially babies, can go downhill very quickly. I appreciate that you're a teacher and can't take time off work but vets usually see clients in the evening as well so you should be able to get a late appointment.

I really hope he gets better soon and we'd love to see some pictures of him.
 
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Hi, Thanks for responding!
I feel awful now! My Partner did buy him from Pets at Home :( I did worry about the cold but was assured by everyone that he would be okay! He does sleep in a hutch outside. I gave him loads of hay and he is out of the way of wind etc but he doesn't really burrow into the hay he just sleeps on top of it! It's really difficult knowing whats the right thing to do when I've never had a bunny before and he was a biiiig surprise :) There is a vets i've looked at open till 7 so maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow morning and see when they can get me in. The other difficulty being not currently having my own car so will have to rely on bf to drive us (and he just thinks i'm being nuts!!) I'm sure if I tell the vets on the phone what the problem is they will advise and if they say to bring him in quickly my other half won't be able to argue ;).
I understand why he thinks i'm being daft though as I've been so over protective since bringing him home, I keep going to check on him every hour!!! I'm just so worried about doing something wrong!! haha
I'll try to figure out how to upload some pictures! He is handsome!!!
x
 
He sounds a wee cutie.... Welcome To you.

As mentioned before, young bunnies from PAH haven't been acclimatised to the cold weather and it will take a while for him/her to build up their new coat,,,

PAH give loads of advice which is often wrong IMO.. There's more info on here that you can get from anyone at PAH.

Good luck with him, we look forward to seeing loads of cute bunny piccies!
 
Thanks! I will definitely call the vets tomorrow! I've been to check on him and he's pretty chilled out so hopefully all will be well :) x
 
Aww......what a little cutie :love:. And further to your previous post, please don't feel bad about your bunny getting sick. You've done the right thing by seeking help and advice but we're not vets so our best advice would be to get him to one sooner rather than later. But stick around on RU as it's a fantastic place for bunny information and help and I can honestly say that I've learnt so, so much about the correct way to keep rabbits since joining.
 
Last edited:
Pip&Milo said:
Hi There,
I'm a first time Rabbit owner. My partner bought me my bunny Milo for my birthday on Thursday. Hes young (between 6 & 8 weeks) and adorable!
I gave him a couple of days to settle into his new outdoor hutch and yesterday brought him inside for the first time so that he could have a run around! I made sure the room was safe (no wires, nothing on the floor for him to nibble etc) and he seemed really happy. At first he was really nervous but soon he was running around like a mad man jumping in the air and having what seemed like lots of fun!
However after a little while he started sneezing! I didn't think anything of it until of course I googled!!!!! Now I'm terrified!
He does seem absolutely fine other than the sneezes! He has nothing coming from his nose or eyes. His paws aren't damp or wet. He's eating and drinking fine and playing when we get him out. He's still a little nervous around us (which i expected he is new after all!) But generally seems healthy. I've spent some time with him today and he's still sneezing. Just one sneeze at a time but enough to worry me! We have him in the vets next weekend just for a check up but do you think I need to rush him in?
The room was a little dusty - is it possible a little dust just got in his nose?
It's going to be difficult to get him to a vet before friday (I'm a teacher and just have zero time!!!!) so my thoughts were to keep an eye on him and if i notice anything else take him straight away but otherwise wait till the weekend?
I'm new to this whole bunny thing and I think i'm probably just being over protective?? I hope so anyway!
Click to expand...

Welcome to the Forum :wave:

It could be that he got some dust up his nose, or it could be the change in temperature (if there was central heating on in the house). If there was no discharge (white or clear) then I wouldn't worry too much.

Of course take him to the vets sooner than Friday if you're at all worried, otherwise I would keep an eye on him and notice when he does his sneezes again (if he does). It may be as he's a young bun that his immune system is being compromised by all the changes in his life right now. I use echinacea as an immune system booster at times like this and you can get it here:

http://www.baldwins.co.uk/baldwins-echinacea-angustifolia-herbal-fluid-extract

Good luck and keep posting here. There's lots of useful advice :thumb:
 
Pip&Milo said:
Click to expand...

What a cute little chap :love:

I agree with Mackers about trying to get your Bunny seen by a Vet before Friday. The sneezing may be the start of an upper respiratory tract infection which has been stress induced. So the sooner this is (hopefully) ruled out the better :) It may be that the sneezing is simply due to a mild allergy, but in my opinion it's always best to err on the side of caution.

There is a vast amount of information about Rabbits and their care on the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund site
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/?section=leaflets.html

And Tamsin, the owner of this site also provides a lot of very useful information here:

http://www.therabbithouse.com/index.asp

I can assure you that your new little friend will bring you so much joy, they are the most amazing little animals :love:
 
The picture you've provided looks as if he's come inside?
As its still quite cold, the temperature difference between inside and outside is still quite drastic and may cause even more problems if you let him inside and then outside alternately.

Either make his hutch super warm, cardboard box with a hole, stuffed with hay, old duvet strapped to the hutch with a tarpaulin over. Or bring him inside, keep the door open to a room to drop the temperature and bring him in, turn the heating off in the room and give it a few hours. Shut the door with heating still off and gradually the heat can increase.
 
He looks really cute :) I'm in no way an experienced bunny owner but I would strongly advise following the advice of those on this forum. As a new bunny owner myself they have been extremely supportive and have given great advice to me so far :) I would agree a trip to the vets for your little one sooner rather than later would be a good plan!
 
This happened to me with my last baby bunny i got. I had to work so my husband rushed him to the vet for Me as I was worried. He had a check up and the vet could find nothing wrong but prescribed a course of baytril to be on the safe side. From that moment there was no more sneezing lol. But at least it put my mind at ease. Good luck with your cutie. X
 
Hi everyone just thought id let everyone know i got milo in the vets last night and all is fine. She couldnt hear anything amiss but prescribed us some anti biotics anyway to be on the safe side. I checked about bringing him in an and out in our circumstance and her advise was since our heating isnt on and his hutch is nice and warm then its fine. She said that actually its far too cold and windy for him to play outside so inside is the best option. She thinks his sneezing is just dust and he played very happily for a long time yesterday afternoon so my mind is at rest :)
 
Pip&Milo said:
Hi everyone just thought id let everyone know i got milo in the vets last night and all is fine. She couldnt hear anything amiss but prescribed us some anti biotics anyway to be on the safe side. I checked about bringing him in an and out in our circumstance and her advise was since our heating isnt on and his hutch is nice and warm then its fine. She said that actually its far too cold and windy for him to play outside so inside is the best option. She thinks his sneezing is just dust and he played very happily for a long time yesterday afternoon so my mind is at rest :)
Click to expand...

I am glad the Vet found there to be nothing wrong. Bit surprised that antibiotics were prescribed if there is no evidence of a bacterial infection though,but I am not a Vet !! I hope that your Rabbit's sneezing settles down soon xx
 
Pip&Milo said:
Hi everyone just thought id let everyone know i got milo in the vets last night and all is fine. She couldnt hear anything amiss but prescribed us some anti biotics anyway to be on the safe side. I checked about bringing him in an and out in our circumstance and her advise was since our heating isnt on and his hutch is nice and warm then its fine. She said that actually its far too cold and windy for him to play outside so inside is the best option. She thinks his sneezing is just dust and he played very happily for a long time yesterday afternoon so my mind is at rest :)
Click to expand...

This is good news for you :thumb:

It's cold and windy yes, but my indoor rabbit insisted on going out to root around (he can come in anytime, the door's always open) ..:lol:

I'm glad you picked up some antibiotics - sometimes it's hard to diagnose a bacterial infection, so your vet was erring on the safe side there.

I'm so glad you feel better about the situation. Nothing worse than being worried ...
 
Hi everyone! Just a quick update on Milo!! Loves his antibiotics (they're banana flavoured ;) ) but unfortunately he seems to be getting worse rather than better. He sneezes which were originally dry started getting wetter and on Wednesday night when I got home from work the fur on his nose and front paws was matted. I rang the vets back who saw him again last night! His breathing sounds bubbly (?!) but his lungs sound okay and his temperature is fine.However when he sneezes its now white and thick :( He's still eating fine and loving life, lots of binkying and even started licking my partner and I! She's a little concerned but we're gonna persist with the anitbiotics until after the easter weekend and then if he's still sneezing we will have to move to stronger medication! :( Hopefully it won't come to that ! Fingers crossed for us!
 
Sending vibes for little Milo, hope he improves on the antibiotics. Not that experienced with snuffles so hopefully someone can offer more help than me.
 
Pip&Milo said:
Hi everyone! Just a quick update on Milo!! Loves his antibiotics (they're banana flavoured ;) ) but unfortunately he seems to be getting worse rather than better. He sneezes which were originally dry started getting wetter and on Wednesday night when I got home from work the fur on his nose and front paws was matted. I rang the vets back who saw him again last night! His breathing sounds bubbly (?!) but his lungs sound okay and his temperature is fine.However when he sneezes its now white and thick :( He's still eating fine and loving life, lots of binkying and even started licking my partner and I! She's a little concerned but we're gonna persist with the anitbiotics until after the easter weekend and then if he's still sneezing we will have to move to stronger medication! :( Hopefully it won't come to that ! Fingers crossed for us!
Click to expand...

Poor lad, at least he sounds to be feeling OK within himself. I hope that the Septrin will get on top of the infection, he has only been on it for a short time, so it's still early days .
 
He seems much less sneezy his morning but every so often there's still a little fit of them! Vet is reluctant to diagnose as snuffles, I think maybe because he's from pets at home (where the vets is) and I guess it's bad news for all the bunnies there if he has it? xx
 
Yeah it's only been 4 days since he started on the meds and I wouldn't have worried if he hadn't have gotten worse! I'm just hoping he gets better soon! It's such a shame when his cheeky behaviour is interrupted by a sneezing fit! Luckily at the moment Pets at Home are covering vet visits and anitbiotics but not sure how long that will last if it's more long term! But I keep telling myself if he's gonna be a poorly bunny for a long time at least he's here with me and happy than stuck at pets at home! x
 
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