Bunny makes weird noises when eating hay?

[whitefluffbuns]

My 3 year old bun Penelope makes some concerning noises when she eats hay and I don’t know if I should be worried or not. It sounds like a wheeze but sometimes it’s more of a snorting type sound. It is only when she eats hay so I thought it might just be dusty, it is every day and every time she eats it. I just recently adopted her a few months ago, and got her spayed and she had a check up cause she seemed to have the sniffles and she was sneezing when I first got her. They put her on a course of antibiotics and nothing changed but she is completely normal otherwise! It’s an awful sound and I wanna know if I’m the only ones bun who does this!

[Deleted User]

Can you characterize the sound more? From what you describe, it kind of sounds like she is grunting. Do you notice it while you are far away or is it only when you go near her? My Ophelia is a little pig and sometimes she grunts at me if I bother her while she’s eating.

Did she complete antibiotic treatment and get cleared by the vet for any upper respiratory infection? If not, then I would revisit the vet. Does she have any discharge coming from her nose? Be sure to grab hay by the handful and give it a good shake before you give it to her, so you can get the dust and other particles off of it.

[Bam]

If you could film her with sound, it’d be really great! That’s a good thing to do too if you’re going to take a pet to the vet: Film the pet when it’s doing the worrisome thing, because in a vet clinic the bun might not display the concerning behavior. The easiest way to publish a video so we can see it and listen to it here is via Instagram or YouTube.

You could perhaps pour out some hay onto a bedsheet or smallish tarp or sth, give it a little ruffle, then put the hay back in a bag. A lot of the dust and chaff will be left on the bed sheet/tarp and can be discarded.

It’s quite common for a respiratory infection to not be completely eradicated by a single course of antibiotics. Some bacteria might evade the antibiotic and after a while, those bacteria start to multiply and the problem returns. A longer course of antibiotics, or repeated courses can be needed.

[whitefluffbuns]

I’m at work but I could probably film the sound later, it’s pretty loud! I have three bunnies, this isn’t my first go so I know it’s not grunting cause my boy is a pig! And I always shake out her hay before I stick it in her feeder. She did finish her antibiotics and was cleared when she went in for her spay, she also had blood work done that came back clear. No distarge from her nose, and she’s still her happy crazy self, eating and binkying around. It’s only when she eats and she is shedding badly but I groom her to help get some of it out. But I thought maybe she could be eating too fast and inhaling while she’s chewing or something.

[Bam]

It is interesting, because just recently we’ve had stories about two completely unrelated cases of rabbits choking when they’re eating hay, plus one of the forum leaders has been bunsitting a bun that has choked on hay. So we’d be very grateful if you could film it! It’s weird though, this issue hasn’t been a common one (buns choking on pellets is a lot more common) and not suddenly 4 unrelated cases in a matter of weeks.

[jerseygirl]

Hi lifewithbuns, I’m the forum leader that is bunsitting. Although his episodes involved pellets, not hay. Im grateful for that at least because it would be really hard to monitor them everytime they go to eat hay!

Some additional questions, was this also happening when you first got her?
Is it timothy hay she gets?
Does it come in a bag or box? Has it been more dusty lately?
Have you tried a different type of hay if she’s only had timothy so far?

Something to try is misting the hay with some water or even dipping in a bucket of water and shaking of the excess. This has been something some owners have done to help their buns that are particularly sensitive to dust. In doing this, you only want to offer smaller portions at a time and remove uneaten wet hay at end of day.

Recording some video of her is a good idea. It would be useful for the vet to see also.

Perhaps she need a scan to see if there is something obstructing her nasal passages?

[Author]

Messages