Henry making snorting noises

Because the pc is in the rabbit room, I've been spending more time with the buns lately... been doing essays for uni and stuff... sometimes about 4 - 5 hours a day. I've noticed that Max has been sneezing a bit... like little sneezes... but Henry today has been making a kind of snorting noise like there's something up his nose.
He's never made this noise before... any ideas? It's only started today, he hardly ever sneezes, only wheezes a bit when he's been running as they all do. He did it once when I went in to feed him this morning, and we've been out all day until now, and he's done it again.
I hope to god it's not Pasturella! I don't want 7 bunnies with it, especially when 3 of them are going to homes with other bunnies there.
At the moment, it's just speculation and could be nothing, but I'm a worrying mummy... :?
Ang xx

If your rabbits have pasturella they will have a white discharge from their noses. They're usually very quick to clean it, so, check your bunnys paws to see if they're matted- if there's been discharge from their noses then they will have used their front paws to wipe it away.

Sneezing can be caused by other reasons than pasturella, it is possible to get the vet to do a culture and sensitivity test to see what bacteria are causing the sneezing, although this can be inconclusive as many (possibly most according to some research) rabbits carry the pasturella bacteria without it affecting them.

If your rabbit sounds like he has something stuck up his nose, that could mean that he does have something stuck up his nose! When I first took Jack up to the vet with sneezing, the first thing he did was to look up his nose, he said they've had rabbits in and treated them for sneezing with baytril and its turned out the problem has actually been that they had a 'foreign object' up their nose! Sneezing can also be a sign of tumours, particularly if the discharge is only from one nostril.

If not all your rabbits are sneezing, I would seperate the ones that are from the ones that aren't if possible until you've found a cause, and wash your hands etc before touching the different rabbits.

It is probably best if you keep the rabbits that have new homes with you until you are certain they are not infected, or get their new owners to quarantine them before they come into contact with other rabbits. My bunny has pasturella, controlled by antibiotics, and he is fit, happy and healthy just now but I know it can turn into a really horrible disease and you should take all the measures you can to stop the infection spreading, if that is what it turns out to be.

When rabbits are sneezing, it is better to be over cautious, I would certainly keep a eye on them and take them to your vets for advice. I'm sorry this reply is so long, I hope its of some use to you.

Fingers crossed for you and your rabbits, and I hope its not pasturella.

Kate and Jack
xx

Hi there,

If you see my other reply to the post on rabbit sneezing you will see that the rabbit does not have to have white discharge to have Pasteurella...i had what turned out to be a very poorly rabbit that with Pasteurella that had NEVER had white discharge only clear watery dishcarge from her nose. She also had rattley breathing days on & off. Just one day she couldn't get the air into her lungs (lifting her head in the air) & her face was wetter than usual. That was unfortunately when i knew enough was enough. (& the findings after showed i was right). Her friend who was also affected (but not as bad as this one) was PTS at the same time before any more rabbit were affected.

In a pet situation, you should at least isolate ANY rabbits that show these symptoms away from the 'unaffected' ones & seek veterinary attention. (preferably with a good rabbit vet)

I also had a bun with the sneezes, it turned out to be a tumour growing in his head and pressing down onto his nose which was causing the problem.

He still had to be put to sleep in the end though

They don't seem to have done it at all today, so I think I'm over reacting as usual.
I checked up Henry's nose and nothing... maybe whatever it was came out with that last sneeze. There's not discharge or matted paws, thankfully. I think maybe the hay is to blame as I've only noticed the sneezing since I got it.
I went to the unnamed major pet store who can't look after animals and bought hay from there, but it seems to be all bitty and dusty, not nice long bits that they usually have. So it could be that. I think I'll go along to a local animal food suppliers and see what kind of hay they have.
The kits haven't sneezed at all. I'm going to keep an eye on them all, but I think that it seems to be okay for now.
Can someone tell me how to tell the difference between timothy and alpha alpha hay?
Thanks for all your replies! You've been really helpful!
Ang xx

This is how it all started with Fudge, we noticed this funny noise when he was grooming and eating, then the sneezing started with discharge, off to the vets for drugs etc, cleared up for a while then it all started again, back and fourth to the vets different drugs here and there, till one day the vet just admitted she didn't know what to do, so she put us in touch with an exotic vet who did X/Rays and discovered it was his teeth, he even told us that before he did the X/RAY.
Teeth have now been taken out (front all four) and i don't like saying this to loudly but thing are looking good.
I believe the noise your rabbit is making is where the tubes for breathing through the nose become inflamed due maybe to an infection, you may notice that it only really happens when he's/she's doing two things at once ie, eating his/her food or grooming, it's got something to do with breathing at the same time.
My advice is ask your vet to do an X/Ray and check for an infection in the teeth area, as my worry with Fudge is that we went so long (5 months)with trying different drugs etc that even know they cleared it up for a week or so that it would have never gone because the real problem was his teeth, but as i said my biggest fear now is has the infections got so deep that even having his teeth out may not clear it up totally and had we acted sooner maybe it would have, i think you need to move quick with this, you might even be better going and seeing an exotis vet.