Rapid breathing in senior rabbit

Okay, I know I've asked this before, but I really am getting concerned about Mimzy's respiratory rate.

His little sides puff in and out at a speed that would, to me, speak volumes about him being stressed. Like he was at the vet or in the car on the way to.... This is even when he appears to be "at rest." His vets have examined him and found nothing that worries them, but I never see this breathing rate slow down anymore. I fear he may either be in pain or something else is wrong...maybe just that he is getting old and may be running out of steam. If my vets aren't finding anything in particular that seems to be wrong with him, are we just looking in the wrong places? If Mimzy were your bunny and you saw him constantly breathing very fast, what would you ask the vet to do?

He has had head tilt and still bends towards his "down" side four years later. He has early onset/advanced arthritis with hip spurs and a crooked spine. His rear feet stick out a ways to help him stay balanced. I think he may be ripe for a dental but it will now have to wait until later in the month as his vet is away. He has stopped reaching up for his greens and gets very cranky if I won't drop them for him. He's not eating as much hay (it is not very nice hay though) and is drinking a lot of water. He doesn't do much during his day or night but sleep. He still likes eating his supplement biscuits but his appetite has waned a bit. As I promised him, I will not hesitate if we need to free him from his failing body, but I don't want to be premature. His current vet isn't keen on giving him more or different pain relief, but I don't want his day to day life to be painful.

Just not quite sure what to do for him and I know I have to speak to my vet about it, but I need to know what I'm looking for. Rapid breathing as really the only symptom that seems to be worsening is not much to go on.
Thanks for reading! xx

Increased respiratory rate can be due to a few things. These may include a chronic lower respiratory tract problem/infection, heart problems, stress, pain, a mass in the chest cavity/upper abdominal cavity. What diagnostics did the Vet run when investigating the problem ?

Thank you for responding Jane
Mostly the vets just listen to his chest with a stethoscope. He hasn't had xrays in forever...probably not since he had that lump removed from his shoulder, if then. That was at least a few years ago because his lady vet was still there.

He has weepy eyes and I do hear him sneezing occasionally, but not as much as he did years ago when he had regularly recurring URI's. I know his vet will want to xray his head to check his tooth roots, (that's a lot of money I don't have currently), but I do know that the hay dust itself will cause this. He has chronic dry eye so he gets artificial tears in them once a day. I do think he's losing more of his sight as well, so couple that with his bad balance, his curving spine and his lack of hearing, I just wonder sometimes if we are pushing his comfort envelope.
I noticed tonight he's got a variety of poo sizes, most of them decent but quite a few tiny ones. He is just not eating the hay volume that he used to and I'm sure it's because the quality of his usual timothy is very poor these last few years. I gave him some orchard grass tonight that has nicer blades and stalks and he seems to prefer it. Hopefully it will help bulk his gut up a bit. If he won't eat that I'm looking at maybe supplementing him with Critical Care, if he'll tolerate it and not stress too much, until I can get him in.

MimzMum said:

Okay, I know I've asked this before, but I really am getting concerned about Mimzy's respiratory rate.

His little sides puff in and out at a speed that would, to me, speak volumes about him being stressed. Like he was at the vet or in the car on the way to.... This is even when he appears to be "at rest." His vets have examined him and found nothing that worries them, but I never see this breathing rate slow down anymore. I fear he may either be in pain or something else is wrong...maybe just that he is getting old and may be running out of steam. If my vets aren't finding anything in particular that seems to be wrong with him, are we just looking in the wrong places? If Mimzy were your bunny and you saw him constantly breathing very fast, what would you ask the vet to do?

He has had head tilt and still bends towards his "down" side four years later. He has early onset/advanced arthritis with hip spurs and a crooked spine. His rear feet stick out a ways to help him stay balanced. I think he may be ripe for a dental but it will now have to wait until later in the month as his vet is away. He has stopped reaching up for his greens and gets very cranky if I won't drop them for him. He's not eating as much hay (it is not very nice hay though) and is drinking a lot of water. He doesn't do much during his day or night but sleep. He still likes eating his supplement biscuits but his appetite has waned a bit. As I promised him, I will not hesitate if we need to free him from his failing body, but I don't want to be premature. His current vet isn't keen on giving him more or different pain relief, but I don't want his day to day life to be painful.

Just not quite sure what to do for him and I know I have to speak to my vet about it, but I need to know what I'm looking for. Rapid breathing as really the only symptom that seems to be worsening is not much to go on.
Thanks for reading! xx

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I've been thinking whether I can help you or not, and the answer is probably not, but I'll try anyway

So I'm not sure how old Mimzy is, or whether on balance he's a stressy bun, but I have found - in sensitive rabbits - that as they get older they breathe a little faster. Despite numerous health checks there's been no diagnosed reason for it. Perhaps a little like an older human would get breathless sooner than a younger one.

I have also noticed that faster breathing can lead to the rabbit almost 'rocking' with the breath. Older (and possibly skinnier) rabbits seem to display this more. Giving extra oxygen doesn't seem to alleviate the issue.

The other possible reasons, not related to old age, could be pain or an enlarged heart (which wouldn't necessarily be very visible from a chest X-ray).

I realise that probably goes nowhere towards reassuring you, but just to say that I have noticed it in rabbits too

MimzMum said:

Thank you for responding Jane
Mostly the vets just listen to his chest with a stethoscope. He hasn't had xrays in forever...probably not since he had that lump removed from his shoulder, if then. That was at least a few years ago because his lady vet was still there.

He has weepy eyes and I do hear him sneezing occasionally, but not as much as he did years ago when he had regularly recurring URI's. I know his vet will want to xray his head to check his tooth roots, (that's a lot of money I don't have currently), but I do know that the hay dust itself will cause this. He has chronic dry eye so he gets artificial tears in them once a day. I do think he's losing more of his sight as well, so couple that with his bad balance, his curving spine and his lack of hearing, I just wonder sometimes if we are pushing his comfort envelope.
I noticed tonight he's got a variety of poo sizes, most of them decent but quite a few tiny ones. He is just not eating the hay volume that he used to and I'm sure it's because the quality of his usual timothy is very poor these last few years. I gave him some orchard grass tonight that has nicer blades and stalks and he seems to prefer it. Hopefully it will help bulk his gut up a bit. If he won't eat that I'm looking at maybe supplementing him with Critical Care, if he'll tolerate it and not stress too much, until I can get him in.

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Given that he has a long history of previous RTIs it may be that he has scaring on his lungs which impacts on their functioning. He may have no 'active' infection now but the scaring would be a permanent fixture. If he has to have a GA and skull Xrays when he has his Dental it would be a good idea to get the Vet to take chest Xrays too. An enlarged heart is usually obvious as are areas of consolidation on the lungs.

Are you noticing his nose is more damp with the rapid breathing?

If he's coming up for a dental soon, maybe talk to vet about doing some X-rays while he's under.

Rumball (similar age & a loppy) seems to do this a bit these days... It's like it's shallow breaths so he requires more of them.

{{{Mimzy}}}

ETA: I just noticed your latest avatar pic. <3 She's adorable!

Thank you everyone I do feel a bit better after reading these replies. I will ask if he can have a chest xray the next time he has a dental, just to be sure there's nothing untoward going on with his heart...I do think his is fairly strong because he has to be lifted from his enclosure each night to have it cleaned out and he gets wiggly and agitated and then will thump in his waiting box. I feel if he had a bad heart I might see some other form of distress. He mostly just gets cross. He does have nasal scarring or malformation of the bone in there which was what his vet diagnosed him with instead of snuffles when he was a young bun, so we did our best to keep those airways clear and he had regular rounds of baytril and other abx. After getting his head tilt, however, he stopped having as many URI's which I found odd. He also has terrible ear wax that is almost impossible to shift unless he's under GA. Even the vet can't get it all at a well check.

He can be a stressy bun, but it is usually a provoked response. Since his tilt and starting to lose his sight/hearing he is a bit more wary and doesn't appreciate a lot of fuss anymore. His attitude is understandable and I do my best not to upset him but when it does happen he is still pretty chill compared to how the other two react to handling. We did worry some years ago about thymoma, but he has no other symptoms and xrays revealed no masses. I think he's just getting to be an OAP...or would that be OAB? He looks thin to me too, so it could be that is over exaggerating his respirations. Sometimes his nose is moist, other times not, it seems fairly random. I do believe he could use a bit more space to bung about in because many times he seems bored to me and I'm working on that. I sure wish I could've rebonded him with Pip or Fiver, but he's just too aggressive with either of them now.

Since I have several senior animals here, all in various states of failing health, I guess I am over-vigilant that no one suffers while I am so busy tending one or another in their assorted therapies.

Jerz, thanks so much for the compliment. I took that picture outdoors during a light snow. It's so hard to get a good facial shot of Jenna because she always thinks the flash is going to go off, so she turns away or squints. She was still squinting against the snowflakes, but at least I got some of her face! :lol:

MimzMum said:

Thank you everyone I do feel a bit better after reading these replies. I will ask if he can have a chest xray the next time he has a dental, just to be sure there's nothing untoward going on with his heart...I do think his is fairly strong because he has to be lifted from his enclosure each night to have it cleaned out and he gets wiggly and agitated and then will thump in his waiting box. I feel if he had a bad heart I might see some other form of distress. He mostly just gets cross. He does have nasal scarring or malformation of the bone in there which was what his vet diagnosed him with instead of snuffles when he was a young bun, so we did our best to keep those airways clear and he had regular rounds of baytril and other abx. After getting his head tilt, however, he stopped having as many URI's which I found odd. He also has terrible ear wax that is almost impossible to shift unless he's under GA. Even the vet can't get it all at a well check.

He can be a stressy bun, but it is usually a provoked response. Since his tilt and starting to lose his sight/hearing he is a bit more wary and doesn't appreciate a lot of fuss anymore. His attitude is understandable and I do my best not to upset him but when it does happen he is still pretty chill compared to how the other two react to handling. We did worry some years ago about thymoma, but he has no other symptoms and xrays revealed no masses. I think he's just getting to be an OAP...or would that be OAB? He looks thin to me too, so it could be that is over exaggerating his respirations. Sometimes his nose is moist, other times not, it seems fairly random. I do believe he could use a bit more space to bung about in because many times he seems bored to me and I'm working on that. I sure wish I could've rebonded him with Pip or Fiver, but he's just too aggressive with either of them now.

Since I have several senior animals here, all in various states of failing health, I guess I am over-vigilant that no one suffers while I am so busy tending one or another in their assorted therapies.

Jerz, thanks so much for the compliment. I took that picture outdoors during a light snow. It's so hard to get a good facial shot of Jenna because she always thinks the flash is going to go off, so she turns away or squints. She was still squinting against the snowflakes, but at least I got some of her face! :lol:

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I mentioned about chest X-rays not always showing an enlarged heart because we had two bunnies at Rescue with it and the only way to diagnose was by (expensive) ultrasound. The never showed up on the X-ray. I hope you manage to get some clarity though, so you know what you're dealing with.

It can be quite wearing looking after senior animals. I hope the vigilance and associated stress isn't wearing you out too much