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Rabbit Allergy Help Please

CatEdwards129

Young Bun
Our suspicions have been confirmed and my partner is quite badly allergic to Dexter :( his throat is swelling and causing him to cough constantly, runny nose and general yukyness. He really is suffering

We both want to try what we can but we are running out of ideas, I am a bit confused because his allergies weren't this bad with our previous house rabbit. Same breed - Standard Rex

We have removed all hay from the lounge and living areas and moved Dexters cage into the kitchen. ( He never goes in there lol)

Maxed out on all hayfever meds and taken every type.

He's not neutered yet, do you know if this could help? I've read it can with Cat allergies.

Don't know what else we can do. Help Please
 
Just to elaborate a bit more, we weren't 100% sure if it was rabbit or hay so to test I took all the hay out of the lounge last night and hoovered everything. Waited for his allergies to die down to a manageable level and then herded Dexter into the hay free lounge within about 10 mins they had flared up again.

I did have a thought that the hay dust could be on Dexter causing the issues, and I had read that you could buy hay cubes but unsure if these are actually any good for bun or not given he has the start of dental problems.
 
It would be better to rehome Dexter otherwise he will have to be confined to the kitchen. If it is a big kitchen this might be ok, but tbh it doesn't sound too good for either Dexter or your partner.
 
Neutering may well help. I am alergic to un neutered male cats and rabbits and to a much lesser extent un neutered female rabbits as well. Bit of a pain as we have just taken in two rescues who cannot be neutered for a couple of weeks. I asked my vet about it once and she said some humans are sensutive to the pheronomes or whatever it is they give off. She obviously knew what they gave off. But it was years ago so i forget which aspect of the hormonal package it was i could be allergic to. I am fine with neutered animals.
 
Neutering may help..... All I do know for definite is that people are sometimes allergic to male rats and not to female rats. Cetainly my eczema has been worse with male rats than females. But whether that translates across to rabbits I don't know.

Must be very upsetting and frustrating.
 
Parsnipbun's post is very helpful - sounds as though there could well be hope! When is he due to be neutered?
 
Im not sure neutering your partner would help his allergies...

:lol: May make my life a little easier tho...

It would be better to rehome Dexter otherwise he will have to be confined to the kitchen. If it is a big kitchen this might be ok, but tbh it doesn't sound too good for either Dexter or your partner.

Dexter isn't confined to the kitchen, just all his living things are such as his cage (permanently open) with his bed, hay, water etc in. And some of his toys are in there. He can freely roam the rest of the house as he pleases.

Neutering may well help. I am alergic to un neutered male cats and rabbits and to a much lesser extent un neutered female rabbits as well. Bit of a pain as we have just taken in two rescues who cannot be neutered for a couple of weeks. I asked my vet about it once and she said some humans are sensutive to the pheronomes or whatever it is they give off. She obviously knew what they gave off. But it was years ago so i forget which aspect of the hormonal package it was i could be allergic to. I am fine with neutered animals.

This is fantastic news, thank you for this, I was getting quite upset about the thought of having to re-home him.

I have just bought a super air purifier that can purify pet dander will be here Monday. Will ring the vets and see if they can neuter him sooner. He is currently booked in for January as they wanted them to grow a little more first, but they are there...we have all seen them :roll:

Thank you for your advice :D

Will let you know how we get on with the air purifier when it arrives. My partner wasn't this bad with our first bun, but I had him neutered within a couple of days of rescuing him so maybe that mad a difference.
 
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I hope the neutering helps and he is able to stay in the house with you.

If it doesn't then it may be worth considering him as an outside bun (with a friend) if you have a garden.
 
I hope the neutering helps and he is able to stay in the house with you.

If it doesn't then it may be worth considering him as an outside bun (with a friend) if you have a garden.

Unfortunately, no garden, so we need to make a way for it to work in the house. Good idea though, thank you
 
Unfortunately, no garden, so we need to make a way for it to work in the house. Good idea though, thank you

If hay is also adding to possible allergies, then try dust free hay. It may help a little but it does sound like more of a bunny allergy. I really hope that neutering helps.
 
If hay is also adding to possible allergies, then try dust free hay. It may help a little but it does sound like more of a bunny allergy. I really hope that neutering helps.
I've read online that hay cubes are good for people with allergies as there is no dust at all. But I am a bit sceptical about if it does any good keeping his teeth down.

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I have read more than once that the hay cookies aren't anywhere near as good as normal hay for dental wear so that's not something I would do personally.

You could try bunny babes suggestion of dust free hay though.
 
Our suspicions have been confirmed and my partner is quite badly allergic to Dexter :( his throat is swelling and causing him to cough constantly, runny nose and general yukyness. He really is suffering

We both want to try what we can but we are running out of ideas, I am a bit confused because his allergies weren't this bad with our previous house rabbit. Same breed - Standard Rex

We have removed all hay from the lounge and living areas and moved Dexters cage into the kitchen. ( He never goes in there lol)

Maxed out on all hayfever meds and taken every type.

He's not neutered yet, do you know if this could help? I've read it can with Cat allergies.

Don't know what else we can do. Help Please


Allow me to make a suggestion based on my own experience. I am allergic to many animals, but not bunnies. However, I am allergic to the pollen in wood shavings and the hay I feed my bunnies. I am also proof you can develop allergies to drugs and other items I could previously tolerate. Now I have a bunny with allergies (perhaps Raven is allergic to me).
I cannot tell you if neutering him (your pet) will make it better.

Many years ago getting allergy shots helped me with environmental allergies.

Your partner's allergies seems serious with throat swelling; so I suggest medical help.
 
Just to elaborate a bit more, we weren't 100% sure if it was rabbit or hay so to test I took all the hay out of the lounge last night and hoovered everything. Waited for his allergies to die down to a manageable level and then herded Dexter into the hay free lounge within about 10 mins they had flared up again.

I did have a thought that the hay dust could be on Dexter causing the issues, and I had read that you could buy hay cubes but unsure if these are actually any good for bun or not given he has the start of dental problems.

Maybe Dexter had hay pollen on his fur (I know you didn't hoover Dexter).
 
Maybe Dexter had hay pollen on his fur (I know you didn't hoover Dexter).
Haha, no you are deffo right with that.

His allergies are bad, but then this is no different (well maybe a little worse) than every summer.

I have thought that maybe he has lots of pollen on him from him previous home where he lived outside.

I am really hoping that with lots of hayfever drugs, reducing my partners exposure to hay etc, neutering and this super air purifier we can have a happy home.

Do you use an air purifier with your allergies?

It's good to know there are others out there who have worked things out

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
I'm hoping Bunnybuddy or someone who uses Crab Lane Vets could confirm this (or tell me I'm talking nonsense again :lol:) :

When you have your bunny admitted at my vet there is a question asking if it's ok to treat your bunny for mites (if necessary) - I seem to recall this was cos mites make allergies worse. Might be worth asking at your vet appointment? I know its clutching at straws :) Hope you get something sorted - he sounds to have a lovely life with you
 
I'm hoping Bunnybuddy or someone who uses Crab Lane Vets could confirm this (or tell me I'm talking nonsense again [emoji38]) :

When you have your bunny admitted at my vet there is a question asking if it's ok to treat your bunny for mites (if necessary) - I seem to recall this was cos mites make allergies worse. Might be worth asking at your vet appointment? I know its clutching at straws :) Hope you get something sorted - he sounds to have a lovely life with you
He had his first vet check on Thursday and no mites, but loving all the help and ideas

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