The ear does drain into the nose, so yes it could cause the sneezing.

Ear infections can take a while to treat, even 4-6 weeks so hang in there. I suppose it’s possible the drops themselves are filtering down and triggering some sneezing. It depends on how much they manage to shake out!

Seeing some goop come out isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s good he’s able to expel it and it could indicate that the drops and antibiotic are loosening things up.

I personally would take the approach you currently are;  treating with antibiotics typically known to help. I’d consider a culture if a few of the regular antibiotics don’t resolve the infection. I wouldn’t do one while he is on an antibiotic because those could affect the results.

The meds can cause some poop changes so the extra cecal could be result of those. It might even be because of the sugary syrup the active ingredient in carried in.

It could also be his balance is started to become affected but only when he moves his head in certain ways. You can imagine when the tuck their head right down to eat the cecal direct, that may cause some temporary loss of balance or discomfit that interrupted him.

Some rabbits are fussy about any cecals once they’ve hit the ground and they won’t touch them then. 😄 While others are not fussed or even come back to eat them later.

“Could this spread to my other bunnies from his sneezes? (They live together but were a super tough bond so I don’t want to separate them. I have been cleaning excessively and so far my other buns aren’t showing any similar symptoms)”

If they’ve been together all this time, they’re already exposed to anything the other had. I wouldn’t separate them. It would only cause stress and that itself can cause or exacerbate illness.

If it is bacteria causing the infection, it’s even possible Louie picked it up from one of the healthy rabbits a long time ago but they’re asymptomatic or their immune system has taken care of it. Or it’s typical bacteria that lives in the rabbit normally causing some inflammation due to other factors.

Should I just go ahead and start him on the Oral trimeth/sulfamethox that Louie is on before I can get a vet appointment?

Im sorry for my late reply to you!  I advise you dont give Oliver any of Louie’s meds until you’ve had a chance to speak to the vet. If you havent yet arranged an appointment, could you ring to seek advice on this? Has Oliver continued to sneeze?

Regarding the length of time Louie is on the current antibiotic, your vet might want to reassess after the 2 weeks and switch to another if they are not seeing any improvement. Since she was able to see some fluid in the ear, this will still be an indicator as to whether the meds is helping or not. Has there been any significant changes in his symptoms since you last posted here?

Could there be anything in their enviroment causing some sneezing with them?  New litter, wood product, new batch of hay, air fresheners or scented candles near them?   Are they in a different area to where they had been previously?

How long have your buns been living together? I agree with Jersey, there is no point in separating them. My boys lived together for many years. One had chronic sinus and ear infections. The vast majority of the time, these things are not contagious. They are the result of an underlying problem. One rabbit may be susceptible because they have a crappy immune system, for example. Or they are a dwarf breed and internal facial anatomy is smooshed and doesn’t allow things to drain properly. It could literally be any number of things.

Here’s the problem with cultures… they are going to find all kinds of bacteria. That doesn’t mean whatever bacteria they manage to grow is what is causing the problem. Heck, the culture might even grow pasteurella… that doesn’t mean the rabbit is suffering from pasteurellosis. Tons of rabbits have it residing in their sinuses and they never become ill from it. Before doing a culture, I would try a broad spectrum antibiotic. If one doesn’t work, then try another one. If he fails to get better after a few tries, then a culture may be warranted.

How is your other rabbit doing? If they have been living together a long time, I highly doubt Louie gave something to Oliver just now. They would all have shared bacteria with each other a long time ago. This mean they have all been exposed to whatever it is… but it may just be Louie that has a problem.