Will a bunny cough if they are around another bunny?

[Maybelline's Mommy]

So I took my 7 month old bunny to a spay/neuter clinic today so she can be house trained. Well I dropped her off 7am and then get a call at 1:30 from their vet tech at the clinic saying that she has been coughing all morning. I asked them if they were sure she wasn’t sneezing and they said they were sure it was a cough. I later asked when I picked her up whether there were other animals in the room or something she might be allergic to or if they had given her any medication. They said they didn’t give her any medication. They said though there was another rabbit near her in the room she was staying in. Could it be possible she was warding off the other rabbit? The vet techs said she was very friendly towards the staff and not aggressive. She is a sweet bunny. When I picked her up she was all excited to see me and go home. Out of the 5 months I’ve had her I’ve only heard her cough once that I recall. Today the only thing I’ve heard her do was sneeze once. They wouldn’t spay her because of this cough.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome!! I’ve never heard a bunny cough and I’ve never heard of any animal using a cough to deter other animals so I really don’t think that could be the case here.

I would make an appointment with a good rabbit vet and get her checked out-she really shouldn’t be coughing or sneezing at all You’ll want to find the reason and treat that first. I think they were right not to do the surgery because if an animal is sick it’s risky to put them under, so kudos to them though that does mean you now have to find a vet and find out what’s going on.

Good luck-keep us posted!

[Stickerbunny]

Never heard my buns cough. My vet did say sometimes other rabbits can be carriers of certain bacteria without having symptoms themselves, which can bring on URIs … so maybe she got exposed to something? That or allergic to something at the clinic. They are right not to spay her if she was coughing, since it would make it risky. I’d have a checkup done and see if anything can be found, if not, you could try again at the clinic and if she is coughing again there and nowhere else, it has to be something in their clinic causing it.

[LBJ10]

This is a stretch, but if she was “warding off” another rabbit it would have been a grunt. I have never heard of a cough being used as a vocalization. I have only heard Leopold cough and that is because he was choking on some water. Whether it was sneezing or coughing, your bun should be checked out. Even having the vet listen to her lungs would tell you if her lungs are congested. Otherwise, I don’t know why she would cough.

[Maybelline's Mommy]

Yea all of you are right. I definitely will take her to a vet. Maybe it was a grunt. I don’t know. It’s just weird that she was doing it all morning in the vets office and yet I didn’t hear her do it once for that whole day. I’ll keep you guys posted to what I find out from the vet.

[Maybelline's Mommy]

Thank you for the feedback

[Elrohwen]

Yes, I also find this very weird. I’ve never heard of a rabbit coughing, and I’m not sure they even can. They definitely wouldn’t cough to make another rabbit go away.

Definitely go to a good rabbit vet and have them do a check up and the neuter procedure.

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