Emmavictoria
New Kit
Hi, this is the first time I’ve ever posted to a forum website and it’s a bit of a long description so apologies in advance but I’m really hoping I can’t be the only person with a bunny in this situation...
We had a pair of bunnies for about 4 years, they live outdoors in a bunny shed with a grassed run attached. One lion head male we bought as a baby and one albino female who was a rescue bunny. On January 29th this year we found our male bunny Wilf had passed in the night, no idea why. Vaccinations up to date, no signs of stasis before bed, not snuffly. Completely well, hopping, pooing and eating on the night and passed away when I went to open the hatch to the run at 7am. Vet thinks it was a heart attack or brain aneurysm but because of covid I couldn’t get an autopsy done.
The next day our albino female Winter had runny eyes, took her straight to the vet and they thought it could be the start of snuffles due to shock, although the discharge was clear and watery and her nose was dry, no sneezing. Vet gave her a week course of baytril, still runny so we moved her inside to keep her warm and got another course, over the next seven weeks she was on baytril then Sulfatrim with no luck. Some days her eyes would be pretty dry, some days pouring down her face, far worse when she was outside in the run even when it was warm. One eye is almost constant, sometimes slightly damp on a good day, really bad on others, the other eye can be dry for days and wet on a bad day. All this time still no sneezing or nasal discharge. She also had antibiotic eye drops for a month of that time. Along with the antibiotics she was on emeprid and fibreplex.
Took her back to vets who said it can’t be snuffles anymore and to flush her tear ducts incase she’s got anything blocking them from being snuffly although the initial snuffles diagnosis was a bit weak, vet flushed her tear ducts and said they were perfect, no blockages and put the whole thing down to allergies even though she’s had the same mix of hay, straw etc for years and never had an issue.
I can’t understand how it could be an allergy, it’s not constant and is a million times worse when she’s outside but this started in January literally the day after we lost our other bun and not during pollen season. I booked an appointment with a vet who specialises in exotics and rabbits and he suggested a dental, dental done she had one almost spur and the rest were perfect, she always has apple branches to chew as we’ve got apple trees and a constant fresh supply of hay for her teeth and neither bun ever had overgrown teeth. The specialist now is also stumped and has suggested that she’s always had runny eyes but our other bun kept them groomed dry and that’s why it became noticeable the day after we lost him. She’s a rescue bun who we got from the RSPCA and a volunteer there did the bonding so I’ve never seen her not with our male Wilf until now.
Please can anyone help with any other suggestion as to what’s causing this, she can’t live inside permanently as we’ve got a dog and I wouldn’t want her stuck in a cage, but it’s so much worse when she’s outside which makes no sense to me. I can’t be the only person who’s dealt with something this weird and I don’t want to bond her with another male until I know what’s happening. Thank you so much to anyone who made it to the end of the story! And for anyone who can possibly give me any pointers x
We had a pair of bunnies for about 4 years, they live outdoors in a bunny shed with a grassed run attached. One lion head male we bought as a baby and one albino female who was a rescue bunny. On January 29th this year we found our male bunny Wilf had passed in the night, no idea why. Vaccinations up to date, no signs of stasis before bed, not snuffly. Completely well, hopping, pooing and eating on the night and passed away when I went to open the hatch to the run at 7am. Vet thinks it was a heart attack or brain aneurysm but because of covid I couldn’t get an autopsy done.
The next day our albino female Winter had runny eyes, took her straight to the vet and they thought it could be the start of snuffles due to shock, although the discharge was clear and watery and her nose was dry, no sneezing. Vet gave her a week course of baytril, still runny so we moved her inside to keep her warm and got another course, over the next seven weeks she was on baytril then Sulfatrim with no luck. Some days her eyes would be pretty dry, some days pouring down her face, far worse when she was outside in the run even when it was warm. One eye is almost constant, sometimes slightly damp on a good day, really bad on others, the other eye can be dry for days and wet on a bad day. All this time still no sneezing or nasal discharge. She also had antibiotic eye drops for a month of that time. Along with the antibiotics she was on emeprid and fibreplex.
Took her back to vets who said it can’t be snuffles anymore and to flush her tear ducts incase she’s got anything blocking them from being snuffly although the initial snuffles diagnosis was a bit weak, vet flushed her tear ducts and said they were perfect, no blockages and put the whole thing down to allergies even though she’s had the same mix of hay, straw etc for years and never had an issue.
I can’t understand how it could be an allergy, it’s not constant and is a million times worse when she’s outside but this started in January literally the day after we lost our other bun and not during pollen season. I booked an appointment with a vet who specialises in exotics and rabbits and he suggested a dental, dental done she had one almost spur and the rest were perfect, she always has apple branches to chew as we’ve got apple trees and a constant fresh supply of hay for her teeth and neither bun ever had overgrown teeth. The specialist now is also stumped and has suggested that she’s always had runny eyes but our other bun kept them groomed dry and that’s why it became noticeable the day after we lost him. She’s a rescue bun who we got from the RSPCA and a volunteer there did the bonding so I’ve never seen her not with our male Wilf until now.
Please can anyone help with any other suggestion as to what’s causing this, she can’t live inside permanently as we’ve got a dog and I wouldn’t want her stuck in a cage, but it’s so much worse when she’s outside which makes no sense to me. I can’t be the only person who’s dealt with something this weird and I don’t want to bond her with another male until I know what’s happening. Thank you so much to anyone who made it to the end of the story! And for anyone who can possibly give me any pointers x
