Can rabbits have antihistamine ?

Pets mum said:

The reason I ask, i posted recently about Toffee and his sneezing. A visit to the vets, confirmed that his chest is clear, there is no nasal discharge, and his eyes are clear. Toffee is a dental bun, but had his last dental just 3 weeks ago, and is eating his hay fine, apart from sneezing !
Nothing has changed in his diet, or environment. Today, I steamed cleaned and wet wiped everywhere in their room, again. I tend to keep the window shut now, just in case it's something outside.
Vet seemed to think it was hay fever, and ruled out anything up his nose, as no discharge
He is moulting like crazy, but I vac the fur up twice a day. It seems to be when he approaches his hay that he starts sneezing. I don't know what else to do. Just wondered if an antihistamine might desensitise him ?

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Santa said:

Yes I've used piriton before under vet supervision - the children's syrup is palatable. Just be careful that you don't pick piriteze as it has a different active ingredient. Similarly, be careful of Benadryl as some people say this is safe, but it's only safe in the USA where it has a different active ingredient to Benadryl in the uk. Piriton is chlorpheniramine and is listed as bunny safe.

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Santa said:

Yes I've used piriton before under vet supervision - the children's syrup is palatable. Just be careful that you don't pick piriteze as it has a different active ingredient. Similarly, be careful of Benadryl as some people say this is safe, but it's only safe in the USA where it has a different active ingredient to Benadryl in the uk. Piriton is chlorpheniramine and is listed as bunny safe.

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Jack's-Jane said:

Good advice !! I learned the above from Santa on a previous occasion

If the sneezing continues it may be worth asking the Vet about the possibility of it being due to Toffee's known dental disease ie related to elongated tooth roots. Elongated tooth roots can only be diagnosed from skull radiographs, not just from looking at the crowns of the teeth. Scroll a short way down to see Xray image on this link

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/Rabbit_dentistry.pdf

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Pets mum said:

Thanks Jane, this is my worry, and he will definitely be having X-rays at his next dental, which will be in the next few weeks. Just thought I'd rule out an allergy before going down that route.

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Pets mum said:

Thanks Jane, this is my worry, and he will definitely be having X-rays at his next dental, which will be in the next few weeks. Just thought I'd rule out an allergy before going down that route.

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MightyMax said:

In my experience, elongated tooth roots extremely rarely produce spontaneous sneezing. This weekend I've had many reports of rabbits sneezing recently. I would certainly try the antihistamine before lunging into expensive X-rays. Just my opinion

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Pets mum said:

Thanks MM, I'm just back from Boots with my bottle of Piriton. Vets are happy for me to try this on Toffee, and have suggested a 1 ml dose, which having read prior threads, seems about right.
That's interesting what you say about lots of rabbits sneezing. I live in the Scottish Highlands, and with the weather the way it's been, the pollen count is extremely high around here, we have lots of trees as you can imagine ! Going to give it a try, so fingers and paws crossed ! :thumb:

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