Bunny having sneezing/gagging fits

[MJ1988]

Hi all, 

I have a 9 year old rabbit named Lexi who started doing this weird thing about the 15th of this month. She began making an occasional screeching-type noise and then started having sneezing/gagging fits. Other than that, Lexi has been acting fine: eating, peeing/pooping/, hopping around, interested in her surroundings. I took her to her vet and they did and they listened to her chest and looked in her mouth (without an endoscope) and did x-rays. Other than being slightly dehydrated, everything was clear. The vet suggested going ahead and giving her an antibiotic (Baytril twice a day for 10 days) for an upper respiratory infection as well as giving her diluted juice (or herbal tea) to encourage her to drink more and said she would call to see how Lexi was doing.

Well I”m on day 10 of the antibiotic and Lexi has been having more frequent sneezing/gagging fits. I keep trying to record it, but I can’t seem to catch them with the camera. I called the vet this morning since the vet never called to follow up last week and, of course, the vet is off this week. Her tech said that they’d really done all they could do in-house and said if the vet were there she would probably recommend sending Lexi to a specialist facility to get checked out as soon as I can get an appt given that the strong antibiotic hasn’t improved the situation. I said ok and they’re doing the referral paperwork and I can call this afternoon to make an appt with the specialist. I don’t even want to think about how much this ordeal might cost…

This is a tough one for me. I have a no heroic measures policy (as most seasoned rabbit owners know, they rarely work). But not having a for sure diagnosis makes it hard to know what to do. If I knew that was a life or death thing, I would know how to make the best and most humane decision for her, you know? Other than the sneezing/gagging fits and not drinking quite as much as she usually does, she’s acting just as she always does. So idk if there’s any chance it’s just some benign thing that has to do with her age. 

Has anyone had this happen with their buns or heard about something like this? Any thoughts or opinions on this would be much appreciated. 

[Sarita]

I think I would have the vet do a more thorough dental on her – maybe sedate her to look all the way back in the mouth for any possible molar spurs.

[MJ1988]

Posted By Sarita on 6/30/2014 11:32 AM

I think I would have the vet do a more thorough dental on her – maybe sedate her to look all the way back in the mouth for any possible molar spurs.

Wouldn’t she be likely to be presenting with pain and eating less/not eating if it were a dental issue? She’s definitely still her YUMYUMYUMFOOD self. Even still enjoying having her cheeks rubbed. 

[Sarita]

Not necessarily. Which is why it’s so hard to diagnose especially in senior rabbits.

Did the vet do a head x-ray? You mentioned x-ray but not if it was the head or mouth.

[BinkyBunny]

I ditto Sarita on this one. Teeth issues, like back molar spurs can sometimes cause issues. I know one of our members bunny’s had such large spurs that it would trap food up on a sort of “spur shelf” and it caused similar behaviors.  But other tooth issues can cause this too.

You might find this link very helpful — It shows a bunny going through what seems to be similar to your bunny — with info about what it may be and what to do about it. http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/excessive_en.htm

[MJ1988]

That vid was informative, thanks! But that’s not really what Lexi is doing (thank the bunny gods bc I think that would freak me out more than how she currently presents). There is zero salivation and the noise is much louder. Like could wake you up at night louder (at it’s very loudest). I will mention dental issues to the specialist tomorrow, though. 

I’m kinda wondering if she might have something stuck in her throat. 

The x-rays she had were to check her lungs, since then vet thought the upper portion of her lungs sounded  a bit quiet. That ruled out pneumonia or a tumor. Anyways, no head x-ray. 

Am really hoping this is something simple and relatively easy. *fingers crossed*

[LongEaredLions]

I would definitely see if you can get a head x-Ray or at least a very thorough dental examination. Keep us updated on how the visit with the specialist goes. (((((Vibes for Lexi)))))

[MJ1988]

Well the specialist visit went well. She did a thorough check (including a dental examination) and couldn’t find a single thing wrong. In fact she said by looking at Lexi, she would have guessed she was 5, not 9. Lexi was her usual attention whore self and the vet fell in love with her and wanted to take her home LOL. The vet was sorry she didn’t have a better answer about the noises, but suggested it was possible it was and allergen and that I could try and antihistamine. So I will go ahead and try that on Lexi starting next week. 

I’m glad that I can still go out of town for the weekend (I would have stayed home if she was sick) and that I have piece of mind that she’ll be fine with the petsitter while I’m gone. 

Thought I’d include a few pics of Miss Thang for you all. The first one is her on my bed yesterday being her cute, camera-vamping self. The other two are her at the vet’s office. Some rabbits get anxious at the vet (like Lexi’s buddy, Joey) but Lexi just wants to know when she can come out of the carrier and how many people she’ll be able to get to pay attention to her while she’s there. SMH.

  

[Sarita]

She’s beautiful!

[Author]

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