Allergies After a Year?

[snowballsmomma]

So I’ve been fostering bunnies for over a year now and always keep them in a room in the basement my dad stays in often.  I’ve fostered about 4 bunnies – the longest being for 4 months, and the shortest being 2 weeks with 2 angora rabbits.  I took about a half year break in 2021 and have now been fostering a new bun for the past 2 months.  This bun is bigger than the others (about 3.5kg instead of 1.5kg).

My dad mentioned to me a few days ago that he is starting to get symptoms of allergies.  His eyes feel watery and nose is plugged up.  He said he took an anti-histamine and it helps a bit, but finds he can’t stay in the room for longer than 2 hours or these allergies come up.  He also complains that there is a bit of a “smell” with her – I believe her poops tend to smell more sometimes.  I am using paper litter which does help but not 100%.

Has anyone ever had this before – no allergy symptoms with bunnies and then suddenly allergies?  And h0w w0uld I know if he’s allergic to the hay vs. her fur vs. her saliva?  My cleaning schedule is the same, with me dusting and vacuuming the whole room meticulously every week.  I also clean her litterbox daily, and completely wash it every second day.  I brush her everyday when she eats her greens.

I’m just not sure what to do.  I can’t have her in any other room in the house, and the room she stays in has no windows for ventilation.  I was considering getting a hooded litterbox to help at least with the smell, but when I tried to have her litterbox in her travel carrier as a “test”, she refused to poop there and just pushed all the hay and litter out of the box.  Anybody have any ideas?

 

[Bam]

Allergies can develop at any time in a person’s life. It’s not possible to say if your dad reacts to the rabbit or the hay, but you could try switching type of hay. Many people (including myself) are sensitive to timothy hay.

I use a mix of wood stove pellets and paper pellets in my bun’s litterbox. I  find wood stove pellets to be better at eliminating smell than paper pellets.

[LBJ10]

Yes, it is possible to develop new allergies. This is especially true if you are exposed to the allergen more. I developed a rabbit allergy. And no, I’m not allergic to grasses at all. As Bam suggested though, it doesn’t hurt to try switching up hays to see if that helps. When someone is allergic to hay, Timothy seems to be a common culprit.

[DanaNM]

I agree that the hay might be the culprit, and it could even be a particular batch of hay that was extra dusty. You could try refilling her hay outside, because that tends to kick up a lot of dust.

You might try putting some makeshift air filters down there (it would prob be good for the bun as well). I have a few that I’ve made from a box fan with a 20 x 20 home air filter taped to it (you can get different grades, look for the MERV 13 rated ones for allergens), and they do seem to help keep the dust down a lot. My sister in law (who is very allergic to rabbits) came over and was able to spend some time inside without having a reaction.

You also might look into a HEPA vacuum (or filters for your current vacuum), but I think just having the air filters alone will help.

Is she spayed? Unspayed buns can have really smelly poops. Buns can also be more smelly when they were on poor diet, or just due to being territorial in a new place (so that might improve over time).

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[snowballsmomma]

Hm that’s an interesting point – thank you.  I did have a new batch of hay last week.  And in terms of the makeshift air filters, do you possibly have a video showing this?  I’ve never heard of this before.

The shelter said she is spayed.  I’m maybe overthinking, but I’m wondering if she is sick?  Her pee does not smell, but I definitely smell her poop, enough so that I smell it a few feet away if she just pooped.  It’s not necessarily a really bad smell but it is a noticeable smell.  I’ve had her for 2 months or so and I feel like it wasn’t as bad before.  Her diet is unlimited timothy hay, 1 cup of veggies a day, and 2/3 cup pellets a day (the shelter instructed 3/4 cup, but I thought that was way too high – she does weigh a decent amount though, about 3.5kg).  I do hear her stomach grumbling loudly as well sometimes, but she is still eating okay.  I had a previous post talking about how she had a bad fall about maybe 2 weeks ago, and I actually asked the shelter if I could bring her in just as a check since I wanted to make sure she was 100% okay, and they said they didn’t want her to come in unless it was serious because they believe rabbits get more stressed out with the trip in general.  So I don’t know what else to do.

[DanaNM]

Is the smell an onion-y smell? That usually means territorial poops. You also might check out her scent glands, when they get clogged it can really make a bun smelly.

If it’s more of a “barnyard” smell that can indicate some other issues, especially if the poops have other issues (like ill-formed, soft, etc).

Do her poops look healthy in terms of size, shape, consistency etc? 2/3 of a cup of pellets is a lot, even for a larger bun, so you might reduce to a 1/4 cup and see how she does (assuming she eats plenty of hay). My bun Bertha was about the same size and we ended up giving her only around 1 Tablespoon of pellets per day.

Here’s a video on making an air filter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH5APw_SLUU&ab_channel=MichiganMedicine

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[snowballsmomma]

Hmm so I sniffed her poops for about 5 mins lol and my conclusion is that they are onion-y.  But why would she be territorial if she is spayed and there are no other buns around?

Her poops generally look a good size and shape (circular, hay on the inside, usually 1 double poop a day).  I notice they get smaller usually after her afternoon nap but get back to a normal size after she eats her pellets and veggies.  She does poop the most after her pellets/veggies in the morning and veggies in the evening, but will go like 10 hours not pooping frequently in the night.  I did see “wet” poops sometimes (wet/darker inside as well), but not consistently.

I really wonder why it seems the shelter always tell me to give such a large amount of pellets to my foster buns.  I’m wondering if they assume that people don’t feed enough veggies and so they think a higher amount of pellets makes sense?  They told me half a cup of veggies, and I give her fully packed 1 cup a day, but I know some sources say way more.  I don’t feel I can give her that much more though since our fridge is quite packed with 4 people in the house.

Thank you for the video on the air filter!  That’s very interesting.

[DanaNM]

Her poops sounds pretty normal to me! And LOL at the 5 minute sniffing. Next time you trim nails or handle her, I would still take a look at her scent glands. Bigger buns sometimes have more trouble keeping them clean themselves, which could def add to the oniony smell.

Not sure regarding the shelter either, that is a lot of pellets! I only give my buns about 1 cup of veggies a day as well (split into 2 feedings). I think some of the guidelines for veggies are quite a lot! I’ve actually reduced my buns veg amount a bit over the years (I prob used to give more like 2-4 cups per day) and they all seem to do really great with these smaller salads.

My newest bun Cooper smelled SUPER oniony when I first got him. It was kind of wild, he was so stinky! But I was bonding him and he had been neutered pretty recently, and things did get better over the course of a few weeks. Then recently I re-arranged his pen set up to give him more space, and the oniony poops were back! Not as bad, but it was a very strong smell and really noticeable. So I wonder if maybe something about your cleaning routine with her might be triggering her to re-mark the area?

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

Onion-smelling poop is definitely not a sign of illness. A rabbit can be spayed/neutered and still produce oniony poops. These poops are often larger than the bun’s average poops and somewhat glossy. The rabbit can produce them even though there’s no other rabbit around. Girl buns especially can be highly territorial by default. The saying “my home is my castle” was probably coined by a girl rabbit 😉

I dont know why shelters recommend a large amount of pellets. It could be because they mostly get buns that have been treated badly, fed innappropriate food, are sick or wounded or have been living feral for a while. In those instances, a generous amount of pellets is of course good. Once the bun is recovered, (if its an adult bun, very young buns need more pellets), you can taper down the pellets and up the greens a bit -although dont give so much greens that it interferes with hay consumption. A cup would not be anywhere near too much for a bun that weighs 3.5 kg.

As for allergies, it’s quite possible to have an allergic reaction to a certain individual. This is pretty common with dog allergies. (It’s a lot less common with cat allergy).

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