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Heavy/laboured breathing

Deejha

New Kit
Hi everyone!
I'm very new to this forum (I joined today).
I came out of desperation to get some advice for my rabbit Mango.

She was given to us by a woman who was going to university and couldn't rely on family to care for her 4 chickens and 4 rabbits - which were housed together.
When we brought her home we noticed she was wheezing and had a slight head tilt, which the vet treated with Panacur and antibiotics.
Since then, we've been back and forth to the vets over a span of 3 years as her nose still "whistles" a little when she breathes and grunts when grooming herself and I am paranoid that her breathing is still quite heavy. We have 3 other rabbits and we can actually see and hear her breathe, which doesn't happen with the others.
We've been to two vets and they've both checked her lungs and heart and said that everything is fine, but I don't understand why she's breathing so heavily?

We've also had her neutered and she has become quite aggressive towards the rabbit she was housed with:(

Does anyone have any advice on what could be happening? I'm a student and I really want to see her healthy and happy before going back to university in September.
 
Has she been tested for allergies? One of mine was breathing fast, making noises and and sneezing and he was diagnosed with a form of rabbit asthma brought on by allergies. He's just treated as and when needed now with over the counter Piriton :)
 
Has she been tested for allergies? One of mine was breathing fast, making noises and and sneezing and he was diagnosed with a form of rabbit asthma brought on by allergies. He's just treated as and when needed now with over the counter Piriton :)

Thanks so much for your reply, I will try to take her to the vet again tomorrow and suggest that, they've never mentioned allergies, they keep giving her antibiotics and i'm scared that she'll become resistant
 
It's not a common thing, I don't think, but it does happen! Some rabbits are sensitive to some hays too, so might be worth trying out a different one to see if that makes a difference, possibly a dust extracted one if you can.
 
Hi everyone!
I'm very new to this forum (I joined today).
I came out of desperation to get some advice for my rabbit Mango.

She was given to us by a woman who was going to university and couldn't rely on family to care for her 4 chickens and 4 rabbits - which were housed together.
When we brought her home we noticed she was wheezing and had a slight head tilt, which the vet treated with Panacur and antibiotics.
Since then, we've been back and forth to the vets over a span of 3 years as her nose still "whistles" a little when she breathes and grunts when grooming herself and I am paranoid that her breathing is still quite heavy. We have 3 other rabbits and we can actually see and hear her breathe, which doesn't happen with the others.
We've been to two vets and they've both checked her lungs and heart and said that everything is fine, but I don't understand why she's breathing so heavily?

We've also had her neutered and she has become quite aggressive towards the rabbit she was housed with:(

Does anyone have any advice on what could be happening? I'm a student and I really want to see her healthy and happy before going back to university in September.

Hello

The laboured breathing may be due to her having some scaring to her lungs as a result of previous respiratory tract infections. Ear infections (which can cause head tilt) and respiratory tract problems are often connected. This link provides useful information

http://www.veterinarywebinars.com/m...oads/2016/03/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

Whilst there may not now be any active bacterial infection if the lungs are scared then laboured breathing is likely to be a chronic symptom. A chest Xray would be needed to assess any damage to her lungs and to check for any other abnormalities in her chest cavity such as an enlarged heart or an abnormal mass.

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00Man/LagomorphOverviews/Imaging_Rabbits.htm

This Xray image shows the lungs of a Rabbit who has pasteurella causing LRT symptoms, the arrows point out small abscesses

ctsGTxV.jpg


When was she neutered ? How old was she when the op' was done ? Did the Vet comment on the appearance of her uterus and ovaries ? Is your Rabbit maintaining her weight ?

I would take her back to the Vet for another thorough examination and to discuss possible underlying causes for her laboured breathing and also her recent episodes of aggression. Sometimes a Rabbit will display signs of aggression if they are not feeling 100% well.

Allergies are certainly a possibility, but I would want further diagnostics run to rule out any other potential problems

There is some more information on these links :

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Bacterial/Pasteurellosis_lagomorphs.htm

https://lafeber.com/vet/presenting-problem-dyspnea-in-rabbits/

Good luck and all the best for your studies at Uni :)
 
Hello

The laboured breathing may be due to her having some scaring to her lungs as a result of previous respiratory tract infections. Ear infections (which can cause head tilt) and respiratory tract problems are often connected. This link provides useful information

http://www.veterinarywebinars.com/m...oads/2016/03/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

Whilst there may not now be any active bacterial infection if the lungs are scared then laboured breathing is likely to be a chronic symptom. A chest Xray would be needed to assess any damage to her lungs and to check for any other abnormalities in her chest cavity such as an enlarged heart or an abnormal mass.

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00Man/LagomorphOverviews/Imaging_Rabbits.htm

This Xray image shows the lungs of a Rabbit who has pasteurella causing LRT symptoms, the arrows point out small abscesses

ctsGTxV.jpg


When was she neutered ? How old was she when the op' was done ? Did the Vet comment on the appearance of her uterus and ovaries ? Is your Rabbit maintaining her weight ?

I would take her back to the Vet for another thorough examination and to discuss possible underlying causes for her laboured breathing and also her recent episodes of aggression. Sometimes a Rabbit will display signs of aggression if they are not feeling 100% well.

Allergies are certainly a possibility, but I would want further diagnostics run to rule out any other potential problems

There is some more information on these links :

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Bacterial/Pasteurellosis_lagomorphs.htm

https://lafeber.com/vet/presenting-problem-dyspnea-in-rabbits/

Good luck and all the best for your studies at Uni :)



Hi everyone,

I'm very sorry to reply so late but life kinda got in the way.

She still has (in my mind) grunty breathing sounds sometimes but the vet says that she's fine and no signs of infection every time.
Other than that she seems fine in herself except the aggression. It has been 9-10 months since she was spayed and she is still aggressive to other rabbits male or female.

The vet didn't mention any problems with her uterus or ovaries.

Sadly my two male rabbits passed away aged 11 and 10 this week and we have a 9 year old female who loves company and we are sad to see alone. Unfortunately because of Mango's aggression they can't be housed together, We have tried bonding them slowly and nothing works. We are kind of starting to regret getting Mango spayed because she wa such a mild mannered sweet rabbit (even though we still love her, as grumpy as she is) before this and it seems to have done more harm than good.
 
Hi everyone,

I'm very sorry to reply so late but life kinda got in the way.

She still has (in my mind) grunty breathing sounds sometimes but the vet says that she's fine and no signs of infection every time.
Other than that she seems fine in herself except the aggression. It has been 9-10 months since she was spayed and she is still aggressive to other rabbits male or female.

The vet didn't mention any problems with her uterus or ovaries.

Sadly my two male rabbits passed away aged 11 and 10 this week and we have a 9 year old female who loves company and we are sad to see alone. Unfortunately because of Mango's aggression they can't be housed together, We have tried bonding them slowly and nothing works. We are kind of starting to regret getting Mango spayed because she wa such a mild mannered sweet rabbit (even though we still love her, as grumpy as she is) before this and it seems to have done more harm than good.

I am very sorry to hear of your recent losses :cry: RIP Bunnies :cry:

Could you post a video of her to show her respiratory rate/effort ? Or is it that her breathing just sounds snuffly as opposed to there being an abnormal respiratory rate/effort ?

Has the Vet thoroughly examined her to exclude any possible source of pain from an arthritic condition ? Chronic pain can cause behavioural problems such as aggression. Arthritic Rabbits may not always show obvious mobility problems in the early stages.

What about her eyesight ? Has the Vet tried to determine how well Mango can see and if there are any signs of cataracts. Sight loss can cause aggression.

With regards to what the Vet did or did not say about the condition of Mango's Uterus/Ovaries - did you specifically ask if all was OK ? If not I would do so, full details of the ovariohysterectomy should be recorded in Mango's clinical records.

Personally I would not totally rule out lung problems without radiographic evidence. Also, given her history of head tilt ear pain from a chronic infection may be involved. A full assessment of what is going on in the middle/inner ear reguires skull radiographs/CT scans. Ear pain, even low grade, can certainly make a Rabbit aggressive. Maybe another chat with your Vet is a good idea ? Or a referral to a Specialist (Exotics) Vet if your Vet is unable to help. Good luck x
 
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I’m so sorry you lost your two boys :cry: binky free at the bridge little ones xx

Sending lots of vibes for Mango xx
 
Hi everyone,

I'm very sorry to reply so late but life kinda got in the way.

She still has (in my mind) grunty breathing sounds sometimes but the vet says that she's fine and no signs of infection every time.
Other than that she seems fine in herself except the aggression. It has been 9-10 months since she was spayed and she is still aggressive to other rabbits male or female.

The vet didn't mention any problems with her uterus or ovaries.

Sadly my two male rabbits passed away aged 11 and 10 this week and we have a 9 year old female who loves company and we are sad to see alone. Unfortunately because of Mango's aggression they can't be housed together, We have tried bonding them slowly and nothing works. We are kind of starting to regret getting Mango spayed because she wa such a mild mannered sweet rabbit (even though we still love her, as grumpy as she is) before this and it seems to have done more harm than good.


I am so sorry for your losses. Your male rabbits certainly lived to a good old age.

A rabbit can have breathing difficulties and then seem perfectly fine at the vet. The adrenalin when they are stressed usually makes this happen and then it's confusing. If you can take a video of her breathing, you could take that to show the vet exactly what you mean?

It could be allergies as these are often present to some degree throughout life but a vet can sound her lungs and see whether there's any issue there.

Regards aggression, it's often the case that a female will still be aggressive even though spayed and it's through learned behaviour which continues throughout their life to some extent. A rabbit in pain can also exhibit aggressive behaviour, so perhaps you could discuss with your vet putting her on a course of Metacam to see whether that alleviates the problem?

Loads of vibes for Mango and hugs for you xx
 
Thanks everyone for the replies!

I know we were lucky to have the boys for so long and I'm happy that they got to live to old age in a happy home with us.
My family is from the caribbean and small pets aren't really common there so my parents are really grateful for your suggestions which I'm passing on to them as I'm away from home.

I'll ask my mum to take a video that I can post and show to the vet next time we visit, she has had an x-ray in the past year and they said everything looks fine. When she had her spay they somehow pierced her eye during the surgery or recovery and she had an ulcer that we noticed when we got home :? . We took her back for treatment and shes's recovered but they said her eyesight was fine during the checks so it's not that.

She has a bit of a weird leg from whatever infection caused the head tilt but she uses it fine and they said that she didn't seem to be in pain or have any arthritis.

We didn't ask about the condition of her ovaries but will call to get the information. It's disappointing because I feel like although the vet forced us to spay her (refused treatment until we got her spayed) she was so sweet before the surgery and although her hormones have settled down she's still so mean to other rabbits and even bites after my stepdad and our cat, which she never did before. It's sad that because of her aggression we can't house her with our other female (who loves company) and this is a problem that probably won't go away.

I'll take her back to the vet to see about another x-ray and the metacam or if there is some kind of HRT option for rabbits lol. If this doesn't work i'll try to find an exotics vet.
As grumpy as Mango is we love our little dumpling and hope to get her sorted asap x

Thanks everyone!
 
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