Slightly Wet Underneath Nose?

[Waffle65]

Hello. I came home this evening and noticed that my 9 year old Dutch rabbit has some slightly damp fur directly underneath his nose. The wetness is very mild and directly underneath his nostrils and it seems to be worse on the left side. I’ve tried listening to his breathing, and I don’t hear any stuffiness, it sounds pretty normal to me, although I’ve never tried listening this closely before. Behavior wise he seems to be pretty normal. Fortunately he seems to be eating and going to the bathroom normally. He is grooming his face a good amount, but also his body some, so I can’t tell if I’m just being paranoid or this is just his usual grooming. Now he may have gotten a little water on his face from his water bottle and I could be totally paranoid, but should I schedule a vet visit anyways? I have no idea if this could be something serious or me just panicking. Has anyone ever experienced this before? I was thinking maybe if it’s still wet tomorrow morning I should try getting him an appointment for tomorrow or Saturday? The vet is closed on Sundays, and I would hate for this to be something serious and make him suffer until next week. Any advice would be much appreciated!

[LBJ10]

If there is no obvious discharge (i.e. snot) and no obvious stuffiness/sneezing, then it may just be condensation. Is the air cooler in the house now? I know it is in my house now that fall is here.

[Waffle65]

Thank you LBJ! The weather has definitely been getting cooler, but the last two days have been crazy hot and humid. Looking closer tonight, it appears that only his right nostril is leaking. It’s been fairly wet on that side all night, but the left side is looking almost completely dry. I checked the inside of his right paw, and there’s a little spot of fur that dried hard from him cleaning his face. I did go and completely clean out his crate and vacuum my carpet in case dust, hay, or fur from his molting got up there and irritated his nose. Hopefully it’s just something simple like that, but otherwise if it still looks wet tomorrow morning I will definitely call the vet.

[LBJ10]

Yes, I think it’s good to keep an eye out. Crusty fur on a paw is a sign of bunny snot is present, so a trip to the vet is probably a good idea then. Especially if it continues over the next day or so. If he has a URI, you don’t want to wait too long since he’s an older bunny.

[Waffle65]

Thanks again. Went to the vet today and they said he’s in the beginning stages of an upper respiratory infection, so he’s on antibiotics and an anti inflammatory. He’s going back in two weeks for a checkup, so hopefully he will be good as new by then.

[LBJ10]

That’s good. At least you caught it early.

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