Rabbit gets sneezing fits and diarrhea :(

[Chenmilkman]

I’ve been having a lot of problems with my rabbit, Dumbo, regarding his lazing around on a cold floor and a general hatred towards carpets. When we adopted him 4 years ago, he would be out for 8-9 hours without a problem, but recently, whenever he’s out for a longer time (2-3 hours), he easily gets sneezing fits or diarrhea. We excluded his diet when we made him stay in his cage for a week and his poop was perfectly fine every single day. But, as soon as we let him out, he lazed around on the floor, moving every so often when his spot would get warm, and he got diarrhea pretty quickly.

I placed him back in his cage and made sure he had both enough of hay and pellets, and in a matter of a few hours, his poop was fine again. Before anyone says it could be caecals, his poop is completely formless – it’s not soft drops, just lumps of really watery poop. 

I tried bribing him with sweets to at least sit on a carpet, but he’s really unwilling to step on it. I’m slowly getting desperate because he gets sneezing fits too, and then I add extra bedding into his cage to make it warmer and place him inside for a day or two, letting him out for 10-20 min at a time, until he get’s better. More than that could cause him another sneezing fit or diarrhea, and it always seems to help him relieve him of the problem.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t really seem to affect him or his behavior much, if at all – he eats, drink, and pees normally. Whenever someone walks around, he jumps (unless he sleepy really hard), and starts running madly after that person. It’s the fact that he gets it so often that worries me. My vet isn’t a bunny specialist (I don’t know if there are even any in Croatia), so when I ask her something regarding him, she doesn’t really know how to reply. 

Does anyone know if his diarrhea is truly caused by being too much on a cold floor, as it’s really difficult to get him to move sometimes (he’s not one to play by himself and then just sleeps all over the place), or could it be some serious medical problem?  

[Sarita]

Well, I guess I would tell you to take him to the vet for a checkup if you have not done this yet…that will help determine if it is a serious medical problem.

[jerseygirl]

With the sneezing, maybe there is something in the house that sets it off? Even the carpet itself? I’m not surprise he chooses to stay on the hard floor. Most rabbits will. They like cool surfaces.

With the loose watery poop, could he still do this in his cage but is better able to clean it up? If he has bedding it there, it’s probably easier for him. Some of my buns leave a little watery brown stuff I think it comes with the cecals but I’m not really certain. It’s only a small amount.

Even if your vet isn’t a rabbit specialist, you should still be able to get Dumbo’s poop tested.

How old is he now?

[litheandgraphic]

It’s very odd that this is a problem that seemigly occurs only when he comes out. A cold floor shouldn’t be causing these kinds of issues. For the sneezing fits, you may want to try an antibiotic such as Bactrim or Baytril (keep it to 1mg a day); it sounds like he has some kind of URI. As for the diarrhea, I’m curious as to what his diet is.

It’s unfortunate that you don’t know of a nearby rabbit vet. Perhaps you could try doing a search online if you haven’t already?

[Chenmilkman]

He’s around 7 now, so not quite the youngster anymore

His diet consists of a bought hay (we actually dry different greenery ourselves, but this summer has been so rainy that there wasn’t enough sunny days for the harvested plans to dry and we had to throw them away), and premade rabbit food. We tried giving him some grains ourselves, since the premade food is mainly consisted of pellets, and grains he doesn’t eat, but he wasn’t entirely interested. Before, he used to eat all the grains and leave the pellets and corn, but now he eats all the pellets and leaves the grains aside.

I noticed that he doesn’t quite fancy the bought hay… I know that whenever we dried dandelion and clover for him, he’d really get crazy and run after the bag with the hay. Also, I noticed him sneezing in the cage too, but only after he’s been out. Whenever he’d be out and start to sneeze, I’d immediately shoo him back into cage until his sneezing stopped, usually for a day or less.

Vet stations here are mostly centered towards cats and dogs, that’s the problem. It’s a bit difficult to get a rabbit treated if it’s something more serious, for that you’d actually have to go to the veterinarian uni and look there for help, but it’s not impossible. I’ll take him to the vet this weekend, then, and see what we can do.

Is it possible that he could have an allergy to something? I know that rabbit allergies are rare, but could something set his sneezing off?

[Sarita]

Ah, okay – I would have his teeth checked – this sounds like it could be a dental problem to me. Check the teeth.

[jerseygirl]

Maybe you’ll find some more clues in this article?
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

[jerseygirl]

Before, he used to eat all the grains and leave the pellets and corn, but now he eats all the pellets and leaves the grains aside.

It’s more balanced if he just has the pellet food, not the grain mixes.
Also, if there are seeds in a mix, too much of those can bring on loose stools. Corn should be avoided too, they don’t digest it well.
It sounds like a lot is wasted anyway if he’s eating some stuff and leaving others. Are you able a brand that is just pellets?

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