Hello! I have a 5 year old male rabbit named Keke (yes, Keke is a girls name but when I got Keke I thought Keke was a girl, sine the pet store informed the individual that gifted him to me). Yesterday morning I was suddenly awoken by loud snorting noises coming from my bunny, as if he was having a lot of trouble breathing, almost like he had a stuffy nose. I freaked out and immediately checked for snot-like fluids but there were none. Still, knowing that this is a very bad sign anyway, made an appointment with my vet. She took x-rays to check for any disturbances in the lungs or heart because she didn’t see anything in his nose either. She also did a bunch of blood work.

Blood work came out perfect, she was very happy with that.

The x-rays were great in regard to his heart and lungs, as well as his sinuses, nothing looked congested. However she was shocked at what his belly looked like. (I should have made note earlier, he has a very healthy appetite still, fed him green lettuce before the trip to the vet and he ate it all no problem). This was about 3 hours after I had fed him, and he still had a very full stomach, as well as a large amount of gas in the his intestines beyond his stomach. Now my vet is thinking about GIS, and when I thought about it, his poop has been a little small, but he still has a very healthy appetite!) However this still didn’t really explain the nose/breathing difficulty. The vet sent me off with an anti-biotic, a medicine to help move his bowls, as well as a pain killer.

This morning the newest development is I found brown snot around his nostrils, and since then his breathing sounds more and more stuffed as if there is liquid present (his nose is also starting to swell it looks). His breathing is still very deep and very slow. I called my vet and she told me that he has the anti-biotics in him, and to wait and see if it gets worse. As of now, after another 12 hours of observation he seems steady. But I am very insecure about his real health status. I have been doing a lot of reading of what the issue could possibly be, if the breathing/nose issue is somehow related to his digestion. 

Anyone else ever experienced something to this? Does anyone have any suggestions? If you have had a bunny with a stuffed nose what did you do to comfort them? He seems to be so uncomfortable regarding his nose and breathing