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Twiglet and Eeyore sneezing with discharge...UPDATE

houndour

Warren Scout
Hi,

Twiglet was sneezing the moment we got her and soon after eeyore was sneezing. Twiglet has white discharge that look like white bogies. Eeyore has literally in the last day or so got the white discharge.

The people from Bobtail came and took a swab from Twiglet and the results have been back...all clear. They also sent of for other tests to see if it was anything else other than pasteurella (spelling). All clear.

They say it is pointing to an allergy. We have had them nearly 3 weeks now (I think...feels like longer, but i believe its only 3 weeks weeks this sunday). We eliminated Straw after the first week. So it can't be straw...

The only common factor I can see is the hay, but even then we've used different hays.

I would like to eliminate hay just to see if it is, but how can I eliminate hay?? Is it possible? A friend who has horses suggested soaking the hay first? Anyone else tried this?

Sam
 
OK, I've been giving this some thought, and would like to know if I should go ahead with the following plan or not...

I'm going to remove _all_ hay from the run and playhouse. I will still provide them with hay to eat in the hay rack, but this hay will be timothy hay and I will soak and dry this first to remove any dust.

I was going to just have newspaper in their litter trays, and maybe a cat bed in their bedroom? If they chew this, will they get ill? I only got the bed for indoors when I could watch them. What else could I use for bedding? I don't want to use straw either.
 
They have no sawdust no shavings. They are kept in a playhouse outside. They have access to the run (attached to playhouse) when we are home. They come indoors for a few hours most nights.
 
Are they related? It seems a little odd for two bunnies to have the same allergy. One developing it after the other sounds like something possibly contagious. Could the test have been a false negative?

Do they have this all the time or have you noticed it more inside/outside?

Tam
 
it's all the time, altho if they are rested and are chilling, they dont sneeze much. They especially sneeze the worst when they see me coming with food...so when they get excited.

My bf spoke to bobtails and they said they sent it back for a second test.

It is odd that they both have it which is why I'm not so sure it's an allergy (but I'm willing to strat trying to find out so at least this can be eliminated). I don't know if they are related. They were bought together as babies, that's all I know. I don';t have it as fact that they are brother and sister or anything.
 
Well if its outside too that rules out things just in the house. Do you use the same disinfectant for the hutch/indoors?

It is worth trying with the hay, you never know.

The other thing would be to compare the pollen count with how bad they are on a particular day and see if that tallys.

Definately a puzzeler.

Tam
 
I can't help but think it's an infection because Twiglet was sneezing while were signing the papers at bobtails. If it was an allergy the common factor would have to be the carry case, indoors and their home. The only common factor is hay.

I thought about the disinfectant. I don't use it indoors, altho the litter tray they use has it on and i bring that indoors...

I'm tempted to get another swab done, but I don't want to appear to doubt bobtails. I read somewhere swabs can cost £50. Is this right. So would it cost £100 to get both of them done? I knew rabbits cost a lot but I guess £100 for a vet bill 2 and half weeks in is a bit of a shock! Plus I need to get their jabs done too.

I don't know what to do. What are the implications if it is an infection and the results were wrong?

Sam
 
Bobtails arrange 6 weeks free insurance, atleast my bun came with that. Its worth checking as if so the insurance people will pick up the tab for it :)

Tam
 
Yes we do have the 6 weeks free insurance and we'll be continueing it too. But I'm not 100% they would cover tests like that...I have little faith in insurance companies.

I'm taking them to the vet next week anyway for their jabs, so I will speak to the vet then. In the mean time I am keeping a close eye.

We had them in for 3 hours tonight and for the first time let them have free reign of the living room and kitchen! They loved it. We've cleaned their hutch and have removed the old hay and have just put Timothy hay in the bedroom, litter tray and hayrack. The timothy hay seems a lot less dustier than the other hay.

They were sneezing tonight indoors, but I thought it wasn't as bad as when they were outside (we had them in the outside run eating grass while we cleaned the playhouse).
 
just an update...had a call from Bobtails.

I don't know if my bf got the wrong end of the stick, but they said they have asked for a culture on the sample. Hopefully hear back on Monday.
 
If they are doing different tests it can take different times for the bugs to grow so you might have to wait longer for some results than others. Perhaps thats it?

Tam
 
You could use shredded paper in their litter trays as its not dusty. I think??? Anyone know for sure? I use carefresh but a lot of people use wooden cat litter. Good luck!!!!!!!!!
 
I thought I would post an update here...

Rabbits are still sneezing. I took them for their Myxi jabs 2 weeks ago and while they were at the vet they sneezed and the vet asked about it.

She seemed quite knowledgeable about snuffles and recommended a swab and culture to confirm it. I told her we already had one done by the rabbit home. The rabbit home culture came back all clear. But apparently this doesn't mean there is nothing wrong...can just be the swab wasn't 'big' enough or there wasn't enough bacteria at the time.

I was also told Pasturella can be brought on by stress, so the vet reckons they had the snuffles the whole time, even before I got them and that the journey triggered it to show symptoms.

I went back to the vet Saturday to get another swab done, and just bloody typical the rabbits don't sneeze once _all_ morning. No snot nothing. The vet shows me their noses and they are clear!!!

Get them home...they both have sneezing fits :lol: :lol: and the snot flies out.

Overall they are not sneezing as much and they seem to be getting better every day. So the vet said to bring them in straight away when they show symptoms and get lots of snot again so we can test for pasturella.

Sam
 
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