Chronic Nasal Issues…the Saga Continues

[emkvet]

 Hazel has had chronic nasal discharge, sneezing, and congestion from about the time I got her in October. The discharge is sometimes white mucus, other times just a clear snot that always makes her nose wet. The sneezing is on and off, not continual, as is the congestion. Hazel is otherwise eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, and acting like a happy bun.

At first my vet believed it was just nasal irritation from the heater coming on for the first time this winter and dust blowing out of it. After her sneezing didn’t resolve we thought she might have an upper respiratory infection, so we put her on Baytril for 10 days.  The Baytril didn’t make much of a difference. Next we tried putting her in the bathroom while I showered without the fan on to humidify her, thinking that maybe the dry winter air was causing an issue; I did the humidifying once daily for a week, then stopped for a week, then humidified again daily for another week. Still no major changes. At the moment we are trying her on Benadryl (0.8 ml twice a day) to see if she’s got allergies. If Benadryl doesn’t end up helping we’re going to do a CT to see if she has damaged nasal turbinates, and also a nasal flush/culture to see if this is a recurring infection. We didn’t do the flush sooner because it’s irritating, so it would’ve been hard to tell if the medications we were giving were working.

Has anyone dealt with chronic nasal issues? What did you find out? How are you treating your bunny? I just feel bad for Hazel, listening to her snot and sneeze is definitely not fun for me, and I’m sure it’s less than ideal for her.

[jerseygirl]

At first my vet believed it was just nasal irritation from the heater coming on for the first time this winter and dust blowing out of it.

I’ve heard of something similar somewhere… A bun that would sneeze when near the heater. Another bun parent with a nasally bun said they kept windows open in the rabbit room as the cooler air kept the nasal passages open.

What kind of litter and hay do you use? Also, could there be something in the house that irritates her respiratory system perhaps?

[emkvet]

Hazel isn’t always near the heater since she’s free range, although my apartment is so small that it’s not like it wouldn’t affect her. Keeping windows open isn’t an option at the moment, since it’s freezing out, and I’m not sure if it would help that much.

I use Good Mews litter, which is a compressed paper pellet litter, so it’s minimally dusty and unscented. She’s on orchard grass hay, which doesn’t have too many particles.

I don’t use many scents in the house, only the occasional candle and/or spray, but that’s very minimal.

The sneezing is somewhat frequent, but the congestion and constant snot are what bother me more. It’s so annoying that we can’t figure this out!

[jerseygirl]

Mmm… doesn’t sound like it would be environmental then. Unless it’s hay in general. You could try hay cubes and see if that helps.

Maybe it’s more to do with her face shape? She’s got those little dwarfy features. What about her teeth and tooth roots? Has to vet looked for any issues there?

[emkvet]

She was at the vet for her spay in October and the vet checked her teeth and said they were fine. She hasn’t had any eating issues or facial swellings either, so I doubt her teeth have changed in such a short amount of time anyway.

[Sarita]

I’ve read a few answers from Dana Krempels where she seems to suggest this problem can be related to a blocked maxillary sinus – this is just one but she’s mentioned this on a few of her answers:

en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/201…m-safe.htm

[emkvet]

Hmm, that’s an interesting idea. I’ll bring it up to my vet the next time we talk, although Dana Krempels also says it’s usually seen in older rabbits with teeth problems. Since she had her teeth checked recently and she’s 2 it seems less likely. However, weirder things have happened, so it’s better to check. Thanks for the suggestion, Sarita!

Thanks for all the responses, JG, I really appreciate it.

[Malp_15]

Just curious, have you done a culture and sensitivity on the nasal discharge? What you’re describing sounds like what I’m going through with Nate. His culture said he has pasteurella and Bordetella infection and the sensitivity said that Baytril wasn’t the best antibiotic choice for him. We’ve managed to get the infection almost non-symptomatic, but he has had some period of white goopy discharge. We’re probably going to try chloramphenicol drops directly into the nairs, vet just wants to do some more research, she hasnt used it in a few years.

Rabbits who have had chronic nasal problems/URI’s can sometimes just have clear discharge for life just because of the damage done to the nasal passages. If I remember correctly your rabbit was formerly a 4h or breeding rabbit? If I’m totally out of my mind ignore me haha. if she was then she may have a health history you weren’t informed of?

[emkvet]

Malp_15: I haven’t done a C&S yet, since we were trying some less invasive things before. I dont know why my vet didn’t want to do it earlier, perhaps because it would only irritate her nose more and she wanted to try different medications to see if it was just something small she picked up. That’s definitely the next step, and will most likely be soon, since the Benadryl has only dried up her nose a little and she is still sneezing and congested. Yes, Hazel was a breeding/show rabbit before, and I don’t know her medical history. It could be very likely that she had previous infections or picked up a disease from being around so many different animals.

[emkvet]

Looks like we’re going to do a CT scan and a C&S test this Thursday if her nose doesn’t clear up asap. I’ll keep you all updated.

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