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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum DIET & CARE EMERGENCY PUKING SNEEZING (vet update!)

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    • Mikey
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        My little dutch has allergies so its not uncommon for him to has a slightly green nose. Earlier today his nose was greener than normal, but i didnt think anything of it. Now, several horus later, hes throwing up and snot is pouring from his nose. Hes having trouble breathing. HOW DO I HELP HIM PLEASE

        The vet is closed, im calling as soon as they open (4 hours). Please help my baby 


      • jerseygirl
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          He may be gagging as they can’t throw up. Was he eating beforehand?

          Try wipe away the stuff from his nose. Even use a syringe to try suck it out or a baby nose aspirator if you have one handy.

          If he’s choking on something, you can try a modified heimlich maneuver but you have to be careful to support the back. I’ll post instructions once I find them.

          {{{Vibes}}} for your little guy!  Try get him seen by an out of hours vet. 


        • jerseygirl
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            Rabbits do not have a vomit reflex, but they can choke on their food with the result you saw here. I hope he’s okay now! If his nose was pointed in the air, then his airway was blocked, and he was trying desperately to get oxygen.

            When this happens, and if the rabbit cannot clear his own airway, then the only way to save his life is with the “rabbit Heimlich maneuver” which is difficult to safely perform. I know it’s too late now, but if this ever happens again (not likely, I hope!), you must take the rabbit and firmly align him between your forearms so that his neck and spine are absolutely immobilized. Swing your arms upward (rabbit nose pointing to the sky), and then smoothly (not *too* fast) swing them down, being extremely careful not to allow the bunny to hit the floor!

            Again, it is *vital* to have the neck and back completely immobilized so that the force of the swing doesn’t break the delicate back!

            The centripetal force of the swing will push the bunny’s internal organs forward, forcing air out of the lungs, and (hopefully) clearing the rabbit’s trachea. We have had to do this only a couple of times, and it is very traumatic, sometimes requiring 2-3 swings before the bunny can breathe again.

            Once the bunny can breathe, it’s important to schedule a veterinary appointment as soon as possible, since aspiration pneumonia can result from an episode like this.
            Dana Krempels

            source:http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/pet-rabbit-gagging-Rabbit.htm


          • jerseygirl
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              Another description. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/2010/6/URGENT-Mucus-pouring-nose.htm
              Sorry they’re so lengthy!

              Basically they describe clearing mucous/saliva from mouth and nose as much as possible. Hold rabbit with head downward to dislodge anything in airway. Try modified heimlich if needed.


            • Azerane
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                I am so sorry to hear this, it’s possible that the vomit you are seeing is mucus from the lungs. Jerseygirl has given some great advice. Hopefully you can get it cleared up and there’s nothing too sinister going on like a respiratory infection.

                Best wishes.


              • Mikey
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                  Thank you for the replies! I tried both techniques you mentioned and over the course of maybe 15 minutes and now hes doing better. It was all snot and brown goop that came out of his mouth and nose. I grabbed the heating pad and threw it under him on medium while doing it for the last few minutes and that really seemed to help him out. Hes in his own cage now (previously sharing a cage with two others; everyones getting vets appointments asap) and seems to be doing fine. My laptop and i are covered in gunk, but its so worth it to know hes alright right now. Hes breathing fine, cleaning himself, and munching on some hay. The closest rabbit emergency vet is over 5 hours away and they only have one vet who specializes so we likely would be waiting for a while to see said vet. So anyway, sorry im all jumbled up and rambling. Were taking him to our normal vet either today or tomorrow (theyre going to call back in a few hours when our normal vet comes in to give us her time openings)

                  Ill be keeping this updated as we know more. Thank you so much for responding and giving me the links and descriptions. Ill be saving those to my folder should i ever need them again (hes very disabled, so who knows)


                • jerseygirl
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                    So glad he’s doing better and even eating, bless him! I kept checking for updates!.

                    So anyway, sorry im all jumbled up and rambling.

                    Don’t be sorry. That would be so scary. I’d be a mess. Thanks for taking the time to post how he is now.

                    With his normally snotty nose, it might make eating a bit tricky at times. Sometimes rabbits will scarf their food too quickly and end up choking on a bit.

                    With his disability, how is that affecting his posture?


                  • jerseygirl
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                      With that Heimlich maneuver, I’ve always thought it would be good to have something to wrap them in to perform it. Maybe like a large memory foam mat or even those baby change mats with the bumpers on each side. Or some sort of long U shape foam form. If anyone has ideas of other things that could be used, I’d love to hear them.

                      ETA: Like this shape but bigger. This is only a size that would fit over a table edge. 

                      Polyethylene Extrusions U-Channesl


                    • Mikey
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                        For the bunny Heimlich i just threw him over my arm and did it that way. Eventually added the heating pad since i thought that would help. On that topic, how do i keep him warm? Hes doing fine still, but refuses to get off the heating pad. Its one for people not animals so i dont know if its too hot or will get too hot for him. I dont want to leave it on for too long either. Right now he has that and a big towel in his cage (he lives to bury himself is those)

                        It was during feeding time when he started choking and snotting everywhere. He does normally inhail food (we try to feed him slowly, but it doesnt always work). He has swallowed partial treats whole before. Hes never choked before, though so this experience really caught me off guard

                        For his disability, it causes his spine to be a bit weird (the best i can word it is “pointed”. he will be prone to back problems as he gets older. It also makes his rib cage a bit thinner than normal bunnies [its kind of cool because im autistic and have similar physical problems too]). He has splay leg in both of his back legs (can run, jump, and walk, just very clumsily) and hes likely autistic. Since he doesnt let his legs get in the way of his favorite things (running laps around the living room), the vet doesnt want to try a brace yet as it will hinder his running abilities. He may need a braced wheelchair in the future though, which we have money set aside for should we need it. As i said too, he also has allergies that come and go with the weather. But his nose was perfectly clear today

                        Also small not so update, update:
                        The vet should call in 3 hours now and hes still doing fine. Eating, digging, and snuggling up in the cage (its his bed time about now). And hes breathing normally. Still anxious for their call


                      • Azerane
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                          I’m so glad to hear that you managed to get things cleared out and that he has improved. Will be interested to hear what the vet says. Sending you best wishes.


                        • Mikey
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                            Thank you

                            I will keep this updated as things go along in case anyone ever has the same thing happen with any of their bunnies. And, of course, to brag about my little fighter about how proud i am for him getting through this

                            So time hit for the vet to call, but they didnt. So about an hour after (10am) my boyfriend called them up and explained. The lady on the phone checked the schedules and apologized. She thought we wanted to see one of their cat/dog vets not their exotics vet. Our vet, the exotic, of course, wouldnt be in until tomorrow. We asked if we could just set up an appointment, and we have it scheduled tomorrow at 4:30pm. The down fall, my boyfriend works at that time. Hes going to try to find someone to cover the first half of his shift or get one of his coworkers to drive me. Originally my boyfriends mom was going to drive me, but she called into work and her boss wouldnt let her say no. So if we cant make it tomorrow, were going to re schedule it for as soon as possible again

                            On the plus side, hes breathing fine (first time ever that ive heard his breathing be so clear!), eating fine, drinking fine, poops look normal although a little sticky, and he even did a little binky when i gave him his second towel (he really loves towels lol) when i took the heating pad out of the cage. Hes not allowed to have unlimited hay like my other two do, instead i have to give him a handful of the long pieces only whenever i see his little pile gone. They dont want me using the shorter pieces in case thats what he was inhaling to cause the problem. Feeding him like this hasnt caused an issue so far. Oh, the lady at the vet office also said no pellets in case thats what he was choking on too. Basically, i need to avoid every possible thing for him to choke on until we can bring him to the vet to best help avoid it from happening again. No problem They said if it does happen again, do the bunny Heimlich again and call them, even if i have to leave a message

                            So now the little guy is in his cage next to me everywhere i go so that i can keep an eye on him while i go about my day like normal. If i wander too far away, he starts to get nervous and big eye stare at me so i dont think hes feeling completely up to beat yet, but i think hes getting there. The other two bunnies are very mad i took their little brother away from them. I dont want to put them together yet, and i dont think its best for them to sniff eachother. But, for a few hours atleast, they will be in the same room to see one another. Blue (the oldest) is happy to see him, and keeps tugging on his cage to come out to play. Bombur (the middle) does half binkies when he catches Badger’s (the sick baby) stare, but otherwise doesnt mind as much as Blue does


                          • Mikey
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                              Success on the vet tomorrow! My boyfriend was able to find someone to cover the first few hours of his shift so we can go tot he vet appointment. Unless Badger starts his gooping again, expect the next update to be then


                            • Mikey
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                                Success on the vet tomorrow! My boyfriend was able to find someone to cover the first few hours of his shift so we can go tot he vet appointment. Unless Badger starts his gooping again, expect the next update to be then


                              • LBJ10
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                                  I’m late to this thread, but I wanted to say I’m glad to hear he is doing better now. This sounds like a classic case of choking and Jersey was great in advising you on what to do. I would definitely have him checked out (which you are doing). Even though he is breathing better now, you want to make sure nothing was aspirated into his lungs.


                                • Mikey
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                                    Yep! I love this website because theres always someone online who can help. Its wonderful to have support in situations like this, that just pop up

                                    Thats one of the reasons we are going to the vet. I want him completely checked out to make sure hes ok now and to talk about possible changes he might need. If the hay we get is too dusty, or the litter we have is too dusty, or something like that. Whatever he needs to be healthiest and happiest, we want to do it for him


                                  • jerseygirl
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                                      Really glad you were able to get him seen. {{{Badger}}}

                                      He does normally inhail food (we try to feed him slowly, but it doesnt always work). He has swallowed partial treats whole before. Hes never choked before, though so this experience really caught me off guard

                                      Do you feed him with his bunny bros? They can be really competitive when the food comes. If so, I would try bringing him out somewhere separately for his pellets and scatter them around, to try slow him down. Or use one of those treat dispenser balls for his pellets – again, given to him separately.

                                      I hope this doesn’t happen again but since you’re wanting to be better prepared, pick yourself up a baby nose aspirator or baby ear syringe. You could probably use this daily for him if he gets congested.  
                                      Do you know why he gets congested? Had bacterial infection been ruled out. I wonder if a decongestant would help him? It’s probably too now as you’ve been to vet, but you might be able to call and ask. Using saline in a nebuliser might be something to look into also.

                                      Found this more recent info on “Bunny Heimlich” which I really think is worth a look and saving somewhere.
                                      http://www.vgr1.com/choking/


                                    • Love4Bunny
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                                        Gosh, I don’t know much about this stuff but I’m really glad he got through it, Mikey.


                                      • Mikey
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                                          Thank you Love4Bunny Hes still doing really well. He even started pulling on his cage and giving us attitude when we wouldnt let him out. Hes a good little fighter 


                                        • Mikey
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                                            @Jerseygirl

                                            They used to fight a lot when it came to hay/litterbox clean/refill times, but the fighting hasnt happened in over 2 months. They fought because we used an area in the cage to feed them the hay (next to the litter box), but once we just threw the hay scattered in their big (2ft x 1ft) litter box the fighting over it stopped. For pellets, we just scatter on the lower half of the cage. Badger doesnt care too much about pellets, but the other two [excitedly] freak out when they know its pellet time. We will try to find ways to slow him (and the other two) down before adding him back to their big cage

                                            Were doing the baby ear syringe around his nose when it starts (my mom and i used to rescue and rehab bunnies and birds, so ive got a lot of syringes of different sizes). He has days where his nose is clear, dry, and he breathes normal. But on days we see his allergies kick in, we use the little syringe to help clear the way. No idea other than allergies that kick around spring and end of fall/early winter. We have a natural wheat patch growing right outside of our apartment that a lot of people (my boyfriend included) around here are allergic to, so my boyfriend thinks Badger might be allergic as well. I dont think its impossible, because our neighbors dog has trouble breathing when outside around the patch. My buns are indoor buns, but sometimes if im cleaning with strong smelling cleaners, i open the patio. Or if its hot inside but nice outside, ill crack open a window. I dont do either of these though when i know Badgers allergies have kicked in. Until we know whats up, i wont be opening the patio or windows just in case

                                            Were heading to the vet in a few hours yet (its almost noon here), so ill definitely bring it up with her. We wanted to discuss food, possible medication, another blood test just in case, also bring some fecal samples in case she wants to test those too, possible fluid in lungs and any tests for that, and his allergies with her, so i will add the nebuliser to the list of things to discuss and ask about

                                            Thank you for the website! The visual gif is was i was hoping to find when i was first googling it up while he was going through his choking (im better at things i can see rather than read). I had him similar to the gif, but hes small and i was scared, so i had him like that but with his head facing my elbow, tilted his head/my elbow down, held him close to me, and did slow/awkward squat like movements (lol, but hey, it worked!). Snot was rushing out out of his nose every few seconds doing that, so i had a warm moist towel with me and every few squats, i would wipe his face down (he really hated that, but it helped clear way again). I think he started going in and out of consciousness for a bit there (which i want to talk to the vet about also), because his breathing would really slow down and he would have trouble keeping his eyes open. I told him repeatedly, in a soft and shaky voice, “Im not leaving you, so youre not allowed to leave me” and wed start the awkward squats again. He actually stopped breathing for a few seconds (felt like hours, but my reaction kicked in so it was no longer than 3 to 4 seconds) in the beginning of all of this. I held his head down, slightly lifted his body, then let his back legs drop onto the towel (didnt know of the heimlich yet). I think i did this twice and it caused him to hack up another gunk glob and he was breathing roughly again. It was at that point i made this thread and started googling what im supposed to do. Ugh, the whole experience was just terrifying 

                                            Small update:

                                            My boyfriend was called into work early (rude boss OK’d it yesterday but changed her mind today). Hes going to call the person who agreed to take his shift and double check that its still ok he leaves for about an hour and half. If not, or if the boss refuses it, we will have to reschedule for wednesday (vet has surgeries lined up all of tuesday). On the plus side, Badger has not had any problems, but i still want him seen as soon as possible


                                          • Mikey
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                                              Vet went well! He lost weight again so she had an xray done as well. Hes a small dutch, almost full grown at a little over 1lbs. She was a little shocked to see that all of his organs are working perfectly, and that his tummy is full (she didnt believe when we said he eats like a pig, understandably). She did a quick check of his poop and each sample was near perfect (he should drink a little more). Hes just a small, thin, mostly healthy little guy 

                                              She thinks its Pasturella brought on/made worse by allergies. He is on marofloxacin or however its spelled (my boyfriend took the paper to work with him, will update with antibiotic name if needed later) once a day for two weeks, then we call and give an update and possibly go back in for another quick test to make sure. We had a full blood test done as well and should get the results within the next two days at the latest. She said we dont need to keep him away from our other bunnies, as they wouldve gotten it too since theyve been sharing a cage and free roam time for the past almost 2 months. If they arnt sneezing or anything, then they are fine; Badger just has a weak immune system. So were keeping him in his single cage just until we get the blood results to make sure, but she doesnt think we need to worry about it

                                              So theres the update  If blood results come back saying something different, i will update this again with findings. Thank you guys for the support and healing vibes!!


                                            • Azerane
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                                                Woohoo, so glad to hear that the vet went well. Here’s hoping that the medication helps him out.

                                                I wonder if some sort of supplement might help him out long term, like one of those oxbow immune support tablets or something. I’m not really sure if they work, but surely the extra vitamins and minerals can’t hurt.


                                              • Mikey
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                                                  Thank you!

                                                  She wants to talk about stuff like that after we get the results. Because hes so small and doesnt have a dwarf face, she wants to know whats going on with his body. That, and of course to make sure that Pasteurella and allergies are the only things hes got. If possible to help him out, we want to get him on vitamins or allergy type medication. She doesnt think a nebuliser would help too much, but does recommend a humidifier if its ever dry in our apartment, as dryness would make any dust seem dustier to a bunnys nose. Were also going to switch hay brands since ours is a lot dustier than the brand my boyfriends mom gets for their guinea pig. Badger likes their hay more, but the other two boys have never tried it so the switch will be a bit slow. Its still timothy hay, just longer, thinner pieces with very little dust over shorter thicker pieces that have a ton of dust. They have a ton of wooden chew toys they all play with so im not too worried that the softer hay will have much of an impact on their teeth, but if we notice anything, the vet is only 15 minutes away

                                                  Also, just a cute update. We added Badger back in with the other two after their last big hay refill before bed (night shift/ its really 4am, but we sleep soon) and instant cuddles. Blue nipped him a few times in the butt, but not very hard. Badger didnt mind, and groomed Blue. With that, Blue welcomed him back with many, many cuddles. Same with Bombur, which was a little surprising (hes usually very jealous if Blue doesnt give him most of his attention). Bombur snuggled up super close to Badger and happy loafed with his head on Badger’s shoulder, while Badger was smushed between him and Blue

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                                              Forum DIET & CARE EMERGENCY PUKING SNEEZING (vet update!)