Hi. I'm new here.
I need some advice about my bunny Jefri. He is a mini rex about 9 years old and I've had him since he was about 3 months old.
I think I am going to take him to a vet but its Friday night and I'm sure I wont be able to get an appointment sooner than Monday if we did. Would have taken him sooner but we were unable to financially this month and I haven't been able to find a cheap or free animal clinic around me. So in the meantime I was hoping for some advice..
These are his symptoms:
- wet nose..for the last 1 - 2 weeks. sometimes gets kinda crusty. can't see very good but its wet..
- wet eyes.. for the last 1 - 2 weeks. also sometimes get kind of crusty. but he is constantly grooming his face. Right now it looks worse.. like there is a big goopy booger in his eye but I don't know how to remove it, or if I should.. and he wouldn't let me anyways. Here's some pics I took earlier (post goop) (I know.. he has cataracts in both eyes)
- this is the symptom I'm most confused about and I don't know if I should worry about it more or less than everything else. occasional labored loud breathing/snorting?/snoring?.. I don't know what to call it.. but I've had other rabbits and he is definitely the loudest. Its not constant.. sometimes its quieter but still different sounding than other rabbits.. He's been like this for along time, not the entire time (that I remember) but at least a year or 2. And I just thought that's just how he sounds. But I recently saw a video on youtube and the rabbit sounded like Jefri and it had some sort of respiratory problem or nasal obstruction.. i forget and i cannot find it again. It doesn't sound normal. I guess I didn't notice because he's mostly been my only rabbit.. then I got him a wife who was a quiet breather (or normal breather?) and I started noticing but didn't think much of it.. then we had to move a lot this year so i had to leave him with my mom who has 3 rabbits. none of her rabbits breathe like Jefri.. even when you pick them up... which exasperates jefri's "honking" as I had termed it. Its for this reason he has developed the name "piggy" over the years.. I just really hope this is in fact the way he sounds and something hasn't been lodged up there for years! or worse. I've asked the vet about it before but I forget what they said so they must have said it was fine.. but I don't know how experienced this vet was with exotics. There aren't many in my area. Plus i think it has gotten worse. It doesn't seem to be hurting or bothering him though..
- I checked his ears and in one ear there is a build up of wax.. it looks like more than should be in there and more than on the other side.. its kind of hard and i would assume its impacting his hearing in that ear to some degree. To be honest I have no idea if this is normal for him because I always forget to check his ears and I hadn't been around him for the last 6 months while he's been at my moms. How much is normal? And should I get it out? I have these very dull edge tweezers I was thinking of getting it out with.. its not like INSIDE his ear.. its like at the base of the ear. Its not a large amount.. but i don't know.. i heard a build up of ear wax could mean mites and there could be pus underneath it... does it look like mites? i know you cant see them but what would the rest of his ears look like?
left ear- has some ear wax but it doesn't block the entire entrance to inner ear...
right ear - a lot more.. blocks ear entrance.. normal??
- i think its fine now but yesterday I noticed his poops were smaller and harder than usual.. it had been 2 days without hay because i couldn't get to the store but he has a bunch now.
- he licks a lot. he's always been pretty lick-y but it seems excessive now.. like he licks his litter box, his bear (that no longer has a nose because of it), himself, me, the bars on his cage, the air.. normal?? I once heard rabbits do that because of lack of salt in their diet. i tried salt licks before but he would not go near it.
- he seems thinner than usual.. maybe he's just getting old..?
Other than that he seems like his usual self. His head perks when he hears his name and gets up to be pet when i walk by him. He grinds his teeth happily when i scratch his head. He seems to be eating normally.
okay i think that's it.. based on what I said does anything stick out? Something I could treat myself? Like i said I'll most likely be going to the vet but if it is like most likely something minor I'd much rather try at home solutions first and spend the money on more hay. We're short on money right now since I had to quit my job to relocate for my husbands new job.. so we aren't making as much and i have my own health issues that i need to take into consideration. but if it sounds like something your own bunnies have had or something I'd really appreciate some advice. :? thank you
I need some advice about my bunny Jefri. He is a mini rex about 9 years old and I've had him since he was about 3 months old.
I think I am going to take him to a vet but its Friday night and I'm sure I wont be able to get an appointment sooner than Monday if we did. Would have taken him sooner but we were unable to financially this month and I haven't been able to find a cheap or free animal clinic around me. So in the meantime I was hoping for some advice..
These are his symptoms:
- wet nose..for the last 1 - 2 weeks. sometimes gets kinda crusty. can't see very good but its wet..
- wet eyes.. for the last 1 - 2 weeks. also sometimes get kind of crusty. but he is constantly grooming his face. Right now it looks worse.. like there is a big goopy booger in his eye but I don't know how to remove it, or if I should.. and he wouldn't let me anyways. Here's some pics I took earlier (post goop) (I know.. he has cataracts in both eyes)
- this is the symptom I'm most confused about and I don't know if I should worry about it more or less than everything else. occasional labored loud breathing/snorting?/snoring?.. I don't know what to call it.. but I've had other rabbits and he is definitely the loudest. Its not constant.. sometimes its quieter but still different sounding than other rabbits.. He's been like this for along time, not the entire time (that I remember) but at least a year or 2. And I just thought that's just how he sounds. But I recently saw a video on youtube and the rabbit sounded like Jefri and it had some sort of respiratory problem or nasal obstruction.. i forget and i cannot find it again. It doesn't sound normal. I guess I didn't notice because he's mostly been my only rabbit.. then I got him a wife who was a quiet breather (or normal breather?) and I started noticing but didn't think much of it.. then we had to move a lot this year so i had to leave him with my mom who has 3 rabbits. none of her rabbits breathe like Jefri.. even when you pick them up... which exasperates jefri's "honking" as I had termed it. Its for this reason he has developed the name "piggy" over the years.. I just really hope this is in fact the way he sounds and something hasn't been lodged up there for years! or worse. I've asked the vet about it before but I forget what they said so they must have said it was fine.. but I don't know how experienced this vet was with exotics. There aren't many in my area. Plus i think it has gotten worse. It doesn't seem to be hurting or bothering him though..
- I checked his ears and in one ear there is a build up of wax.. it looks like more than should be in there and more than on the other side.. its kind of hard and i would assume its impacting his hearing in that ear to some degree. To be honest I have no idea if this is normal for him because I always forget to check his ears and I hadn't been around him for the last 6 months while he's been at my moms. How much is normal? And should I get it out? I have these very dull edge tweezers I was thinking of getting it out with.. its not like INSIDE his ear.. its like at the base of the ear. Its not a large amount.. but i don't know.. i heard a build up of ear wax could mean mites and there could be pus underneath it... does it look like mites? i know you cant see them but what would the rest of his ears look like?
left ear- has some ear wax but it doesn't block the entire entrance to inner ear...
right ear - a lot more.. blocks ear entrance.. normal??
- i think its fine now but yesterday I noticed his poops were smaller and harder than usual.. it had been 2 days without hay because i couldn't get to the store but he has a bunch now.
- he licks a lot. he's always been pretty lick-y but it seems excessive now.. like he licks his litter box, his bear (that no longer has a nose because of it), himself, me, the bars on his cage, the air.. normal?? I once heard rabbits do that because of lack of salt in their diet. i tried salt licks before but he would not go near it.
- he seems thinner than usual.. maybe he's just getting old..?
Other than that he seems like his usual self. His head perks when he hears his name and gets up to be pet when i walk by him. He grinds his teeth happily when i scratch his head. He seems to be eating normally.
okay i think that's it.. based on what I said does anything stick out? Something I could treat myself? Like i said I'll most likely be going to the vet but if it is like most likely something minor I'd much rather try at home solutions first and spend the money on more hay. We're short on money right now since I had to quit my job to relocate for my husbands new job.. so we aren't making as much and i have my own health issues that i need to take into consideration. but if it sounds like something your own bunnies have had or something I'd really appreciate some advice. :? thank you