Help: Bunny fast breathing

Hi I'm a new member as really need advice on my giant french lop, Mischief. He is 2 yrs old house rabbit, not neutered as yet and weighs 6.1kgs. He is overweight but not obese. On diet at moment to lose weight. Treated for mites last month with Avantage 80.

He has had a runny nose and eyes plus wax in ears and pink spots near ear canal. Also noticed flaky dry skin on outside of ears. Shaking his head and scratching his ears. Started fast breathing 3 weeks ago. Eating fine. Bit subdued.

So we took him to PDSA as we on low income. They checked his teeth and said fine. Ears were really sore and inflamed. Heart and lungs no problems. They gave him Baytril 1.2 mls twice a day plus Loxicom for dogs 2mls twice a day. And Isathal eye drops. Saw an improvement after 2 days with less ear shaking and seemed livelier. Eyes and nose seemed better. Nose slightly wet. But still fast breathing.

PDSA gave us same treatment for another week as ears still inflamed and breathing fast still. Lungs and heart still fine. Said if this does not help we would need to take him to exotic vets.

Still no improvement so took him to exotic vets. They said his ears were still inflamed. Teeth fine. Heart and lungs fine. Said give him a rest with the antibiotics and gave us Surolan ear drops to try 3 drops twice a day. Said we could try that for 7 days then try another antibiotic. If that didn't work would next try X-ray on head/chest and cultures done. Also treated him with different mite stuff Ox-something? Can't remember name!!

That night his breathing went up to 140 breaths a minute. Holding his head up straight and nostrils flared. We rang emergency vet and said to start painkiller again as we had stopped it (PDSA had said to give it 7 days more). Breathing went down to 100 per min so took him back to vets again.

Saw a locum who said heart and lungs fine but he is starting to get hooks on his cheek teeth. Said not to worry about his breathing being fast as could be pain or infection. just prescribed him Baytril again at 1.2 mls once a day ( half the dose of before) even though we told him he had that last 2 weeks already with no improvement. And Loxicom at 0.5mls twice a day. We explained he was previously on 2mls twice a day. He said that was too high and he had lost a rabbit to this previously. Said we could go up to 1mls twice a day if he needed it.

Since then no real improvement. Saw vet 6 days ago. His eating has reduced on and off. He eats less nuggets than usual and chooses softer green hay (timothy hay?) over grass hay but does eat some grass hay. He now eating veggies again. We giving him kale, greens, green beans and a little parsley as a treat. Small amount of carrot 2-3 times a week. And he does eat it all.

He did turn his nose up on food last 2 days so had to syringe feed him Excel but he then started eating again. But seems to chew slower now. Could his cheek teeth be causing all this?

We are out of money now until after Xmas and then will be borrowing from others. We are on benefits and vet charging us £30 just to see them. We not sure whether to try another antibiotic which would mean another £40-50 and waiting another 7 days or spend our last money we can get on an X-ray and getting teeth filed down. Then would have no money until 8th Jan for vets.

Really worried due to his fast breathing. Is that usual? I'm literally watching his breathing constantly and hardly sleeping. Have health issues myself and it's wearing me down

Sorry for long post but been lots going on lol. Thanks

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You really need him to be seen by a rabbit savvy vet as a matter of urgency. Sending lots of vibes for him.

I thought our new vet would be a rabbit savvy vet. Could you advise me how to find a vet at all please? Thank you

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twistedtiggerz69 said:

I thought our new vet would be a rabbit savvy vet. Could you advise me how to find a vet at all please? Thank you

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Sorry I misread your post and on re reading if he has seen an exotic vet I would expect them to be rabbit savvy. You could call them, they will probably have an out of hours service. You can check on the rwaf rabbit friendly vet list for rabbit savvy vets https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-...abbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/

We have seen these vets twice abd they have checked his breathing. They said it could be either infection or pain related and not to worry. He seems fine in himself except for the fast breathing. Am I maybe worrying too much?

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He needs chest radiographs and a full cardiac work-up - bloods, ECG, U/S of heart. Heart disease cannot be ruled out jut by ausculating the chest. Large breed Rabbits are prone to heart disease. Lung pathology can be missed too.

I would be requesting these diagnostics pdq. Sounds like he needs some Dental treatment too.

Fast breathing is not to be dismissed - as Jane says, you need a proper set of diagnostics urgently to find out what is causing it. The initial routine treatment doesn't seem to be having an effect, so the cause needs to be identified and managed appropriately. Rabbits are a prey species and don't show symptoms without good cause - it's not like a cat or dog showing the same symptoms - it will be causing quite a lot of distress.

Teeth spurs won't go away on their own, and if the rabbit isn't eating properly, they will continue to get worse faster. If it gets to the point of the rabbit not eating, it could result in gut stasis, which requires urgent veterinary treatment. If he's being sedated for x-rays, his teeth could be done at the same time. Spurs are also often difficult to see in a conscious rabbit.

I hope you get somewhere with your next vet visit. A regular vet may be able to offer a payment plan if you explain the situation.

I am going to ring family to see if I can lend money to get tests done as you explained. I do not see him getting any better and do not want to see him suffer at all. Thank you for your helpful replies.

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twistedtiggerz69 said:

I am going to ring family to see if I can lend money to get tests done as you explained. I do not see him getting any better and do not want to see him suffer at all. Thank you for your helpful replies.

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Good luck

Thank you. Apparently cultures and bloods need to be sent off and are really expensive

I'm thinking could get head and chest done first to see if anything wrong there and check his teeth at same time.

I've noticed his breathing slows right down when he is asleep? Wouldn't breathing rate stay fast if it was respiratory problem?


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twistedtiggerz69 said:

Thank you. Apparently cultures and bloods need to be sent off and are really expensive

I'm thinking could get head and chest done first to see if anything wrong there and check his teeth at same time.

I've noticed his breathing slows right down when he is asleep? Wouldn't breathing rate stay fast if it was respiratory problem?


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Without diagnostics it’s really impossible to say what is going on. As it sounds as though he really needs Dental treatment (as you say that he has molar Spurs and he is not eating much) then this alone needs attention promptly. Otherwise gut stasis is going to be added to the problems.

I would take your Rabbit back to a Rabbit Savvy Vet ASAP to address the Dental problems and if a Dental is needed chest X-rays could be done at the same time. Then there would be some information as to what is or is not going on in his chest.

Yes that's what I thought would be best way forward. Thanks for your advice

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I have managed to borrow enough for chest X-ray and teeth to be done plus a bit extra for possible meds.

Will have to wait until after Xmas to get cultures and bloods done though. I just hope it's not too late!!

He is now chilled out munching on hay and breathing is down to 70 per minute. Much better so hopefully can make him well again.

Will let you know outcome of X-ray and teeth soon!

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Fast breathing can be caused by different things, such as heart problems (eg not pumping enough oxygen efficiently, so faster breathing to try to compensate) or enlarged / displaced organs affecting the lungs or windpipe - it isn't 'just' a lung thing, although it could be (eg an infection requiring different antibiotics). That's why X-rays are useful. A skull x-ray will also show what the teeth are doing at the roots, although spurs in themselves may not warrant a skull x-ray - it would depend on what the vet thought - but it's a bit cheaper and a lot easier to do them together than separately if needed later. A blood screen will also tell you if other organs are functioning properly and if there is / has recently been an infection, etc.

Have some encouraging news....we put him in his cage to rest while we caught up on sleep. I've been so stressed and worried that I've hardly slept for last few weeks! When I left him he was flopped on his side and his breathing was lot less obvious.

Woke up and got him out cage. His breathing has slowed down considerably. Now around 82 breaths per minute. And can't hear him breathe unless put ear to his nose. He has a slight sound like a whistle.

Think he was picking up on my stress hence the really fast breathing. However am aware his breathing is still fast and does not sound right. So will ring vets tomorrow to sort out chest X-ray and teeth to be checked properly and filed down if needed.

If that does not help then will get cultures done and bloods sent off. Fingers crossed we will find out the problem soon and make Mr Chief well again.

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I hope you can get to the bottom of his problem and make him well again. Frenchies are lovely!

Your plan to have teeth corrected and x ray makes sense. Teeth can be quite painful and as IM said you do not want him to stop eating and go into gut stasis. Gut stasis can happen suddenly and progress quickly. Sending positive vibes.

Thank you all so much for your posts. Mischief is actually so much better tonight. His breathing is normal-ish. 60-70 breaths per minute and can't hear him breathing unless really listen now. Slight whistling sound occasionally.

He is eating hay and nuggets fine now and woofing down his greens. Being his usual cheeky self and running about and even did a binky!

I guess the antibiotics/pain killer/ear drops all together must be doing the trick. The sudden turnaround is fantastic. I'm still going to get X-ray and teeth checked to make sure though and put my mind at rest.

Am uploaded a pic of him although not a great one. He wouldn't sit still [emoji23] And has green stain on his chest but he is eating so all good! [emoji7][emoji7]

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Glad to hear that he has improved . The Vet may suggest holding off doing a GA and diagnostics given that he has now responded to antibiotic treatment and is back to eating normally again. If you can get him to eat lots of hay that could help get his molar teeth back in shape if the Spurs the Vet noticed last time are still only very small. He may need to remain on abx for longer , it is best to continue with them for a few days after all clinical symptoms have resolved.

He is eating loads of hay. Just got him out of cage to do meds and he has eating all his pellets for night aswell. Something he hasn't done in ages!

We put him on a diet as he had a bit of a tummy. He had been on a growth food since a kit and probably eating too much veg so put him on Excel plus cut veggies down and treats. And he is eating everything in sight now and eating much more hay.

Yes two vets said his teeth were fine. Last vet said hooks were just starting on his cheek teeth. So maybe can see how it goes? Don't want him having anaesthetic without good reason.

Baytril course was 10 days so we have another 5 days to go yet. So do you think it would be best to finish this first and arrange check up with vets after Xmas then to discuss if he needs an X-ray?

He is back being a pickle dashing around room and managed to knock a drink off table being nosy already this morning! Hence his name! [emoji23]

We will be sorting out vet insurance as soon as vet says he has the all clear! Not going through this stress again worrying that can't afford to get him best care!!

Thank you for your help. So happy he is looking better again.

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