Bunny with a Chronic Sneeze

[HesaBadBunny]

Hi everyone,

I hope someone can provide some advice or maybe someone has been in a similar experience.

I have an older bunny. As you can see from last year, he had his teeth trimmed, and that was the only big health event of his life until that point. From there, we went through a cycle of him not eating, a lot of syringe feeding, GI stasis, and ultimately sneezing.

He eats like a trooper now and he is back to himself.

Last end of summer/autumn, he saw the vet when he started to sneeze. The vet gave my bun Baytril. It didn’t solve the problem. The vet as well as others that were consulted just chalked it up to being an old, elderly bunny.

After that, the vet pulled blood. Nothing really showed up except maybe a small chance of bacillus. We tried another antibiotic (doxycycline) and it didn’t do anything either. All it did was give my poor bun an upset stomach. He was miserable. The vet has exhausted what is available locally for diagnostics such as a better view of the skull.

So, it’s been 6 months since the last antibiotic. My bunny still sneezes.

He has no eye discharge. His nose is wet but it has constantly been clear. Like water. It has never been yellow or thick. Some days are wetter than others. It is in his localized in his nose. When the vet last listened, bunny still had clear lungs.

The only sign that something is “wrong” with him are his sneezing fits that he has a handful of times a day. Again, some days are worse than others. He sneezes at night too.

Other than that, he hops around, does the odd binky, likes to jump up on things, has a good appetite, still super interested in treats, and is living his normal life.

Anyone else have a mysterious sneezing bunny? If so, advice?

Thanks again!

[DanaNM]

Often times a culture is needed to determine which antibiotic will work, and often a long course of medicine is needed.  Is your vet able to do a culture?

There are cases where overgrown tooth roots can cause sinus issues, but upper respiratory infections are the more common cause.

It’s good his lungs are clear and he’s generally doing well, but I would try to get to the cause and find the right antibiotic.

. . . 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.  

[Em]

My rabbit has a history of chronic snuffles (whole of 2023 was horrible, we have only now got control over it with a 3rd rhinostomy). In my rabbits case it was due to chronic rhinitis secondary to rhinoliths forming in the nose. But this to my understanding is a lot more rare and uncommon. She was diagnosed via skull CT. Have you done any imaging of your rabbits head?

you mentioned you have tried oral antibiotics, have you tried nebulising antibiotics? I have found oral antibiotics to not help at all with my rabbits snuffles, but nebulised antibiotics have been a game changer.

further testing (culture and culture sensitivity tests) would also be advisable if you haven’t done so already, as it could be the case that the bacteria (if it is a URI) is resistant to the antibiotics you are using.

[HesaBadBunny]

Hi and thank you both for your replies.

I do not believe that a culture was done although we certainly had the conversation about tailoring antibiotics to the type. However, after the doxy, the vet did not suggest another option, because other rabbit savvy vets that were consulted (from other practices) basically chalked it up to “It’s an old bunny.” As I noted, that was their “go to” conclusion once the blood work mostly came back clear.

So, firstly, I need to push for a culture then. I’ll do that.

Nebulising antibiotics was not offered as an option so no, it has not been done. If it was offered, I would have tried!

Besides X-rays, no further imaging has been taken since last summer. Nothing really stood out. That is the extent of what can be done locally. Rhinoliths or any sort of growth is what I fear the most. One point that I forgot to mention is that it is basically like clear water (nothing sticky) out of one nostril.

It was suggested that I take my bunny to a specialist vet hospital that can do more advanced imaging, but it is 8 hours drive away.

If it wasn’t for the wetness and the sneezing, he’d come across as in “good health”, but hearing his sneezing breaks my heart. And yet, this evening, he sneezed three times individually, not in succession like a sneezing fit. Sigh.

Thanks again!

[LBJ10]

I had a bunny with chronic sinus problems due to tooth roots protruding into the sinus cavity. They caused irritation and sneezing. He was always “stuffy”. Clear discharge, but sometimes stuff would get trapped and it would lead to a secondary URI. We would treat with antibiotics, but this never fully solved the problem.

Unfortunately, overgrown tooth roots are not always easy to see on x-rays. Sometimes they are apparent and sometimes they are not. I think a CT scan shows it better. It’s definitely something worth looking into further to rule out other problems. There isn’t really much that can be done for tooth root problems though. You just have to treat the secondary symptoms as they arise.

[Em]

That’s very frustrating that they’ve seemed to almost given up on properly diagnosing your bun and instead blaming it on his age. Old rabbits don’t sneeze for no reason; while yes, the roof of the problem can be age related (age related dental disease, for example) it’s not due to age and age only but rather an underlying condition. I’m sorry you have to deal with that 🙁 My rabbit is also older (8 years old), but these guys do live a long time that even that isn’t “super” old. How old is your sweet bun?

Definitely do push for a culture and culture sensitivity to be done and then ask about the possibility of trying some antibiotics in a nebuliser. Your vet practice may have a nebuliser you can rent, or you might have to buy one. You don’t need a super expensive nebuliser – I got one for €50 from my local pharmacy.

if no imaging has been taken since last summer, depending on what your culture test comes back with I would proceed with another set of imaging if you can. Ideally a skull CT scan as it can show things that an x-ray can miss. Also, if you are not currently seeing a rabbit savvy vet, I know you mentioned the speciality hospital is 8 hours away – is it possible that your vet clinic sends on the imaging to them even for just a verbal second opinion on the imagery? A rabbit savvy vet could see something that your usual dog/cat vet would miss.

My rabbit is the same: she is in perfect health aside from the sneezing, so I totally understand your frustration with having your pet otherwise be so healthy and normal and having to deal with this problem at the same time. For my bun it has gone on so long (she presented with this problem in 2022 and was only officially diagnosed in August of ‘23) that the chronic inflammation as permanently damaged her nose, so sneezing is part of life for us now 🙁 This can also be a possibility

[DanaNM]

How old is your bun?

. . . 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.  

[HesaBadBunny]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for the insight and comments again.

My bun will be 10 in the coming months.

We do see a rabbit savvy vet, but they do not have the facilities for things like a CT scan. However, they have sent off x-rays (I know, not the best option) for other vets to have a look at and even discussed the blood work results.

I am sure that they can do a culture though so I will request that today. As well, I will inquire about assitance with a nebulizer. I don’t mind purchasing one, but I would hope that the vet office would have the proper antibiotics (if needed).

[DanaNM]

I think a culture and a nebulizer are good next steps!

10 is old but if he is otherwise in good health then I definitely wouldn’t brush things off as “just old”. I’m sorry you’ve been getting dismissed by vets, that’s happened to me as well and it’s very frustrating! Especially when it means you end up wasting time that could be spent treating the issue.

. . . 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.  

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