Help – does my rabbit have a cold?

[Rabbit of da Hood]

Hi All,

I could really appreciate your help. My 4-year old neutered female mini lop has been ill a lot in the last year. She has had (sometimes with overlaps):

– Tooth problems (ulcers, infections)

– Inner ear infections

– Teary eyes

– White nasal discharge

– Sometimes noisy breathing

My vet says that she has infections and a cold. Thing is, I have heard that rabbits don’t get colds. Is that true?

In any case, all he ever does is give her antibiotics (and he did an x-ray). If she doesn’t get better soon we’ll have her incisors taken out.

So, my problem is the diagnosis. The internet makes me believe that her symptoms are those of snuffles or a respiratory disease. The vet says that this shouldn’t be the case as the symptoms do not always occur at the same time.

Does anyone have experience with snuffles and respiratory diseases?

Do you know if rabbits can get a cold?

Do you know if there are any tests or other treatments that the vet could do / have done instead of purely antibiotics?

This is really doing my head in. Would appreciate your help.

Thank you.

Sum

[Bam]

A bunny cold is not like a human cold, you are right in that. Human colds are viral infections. And there’s no use giving antibiotics for viral infections, so your vet can’t really think it’s a cold like a human cold.

What’s commonly called a bunny cold is a respiratory infection caused by bacteria. It can be localized to the upper respiratory tract or involving the lungs as well. It’s often called snuffles, and can be caused by various bacteria, most commonly pasteurella and bordetella. The usual treatment is enrofloxacine (baytril) for a prolonged time. It can take a long time for it to clear up. White nasal discharge, runny eyes and an ear-infection can be due to snuffles, because the ear is connected to the pharynx and the nasal cavities via the eustachian tube.

These things are often really stubborn. Some vets give push antibiotics (shorter courses of abx repeated with about a week of no abx in between). Some vets give injectable abx. And treatment often has to go on for a long time, these bacteria are expert at hiding from abx in the moist and warm nooks and crannies of the nasal cavities/sinuses, and as soon as you stop the treatment, these hidden bacteria start to multiply again.

[Mykl]

Bam, what you’ve posted makes sense, but what about her teeth problems? That’s the most common symptom with the female in question.

[LBJ10]

Did the vet take xrays of her tooth roots. Wooly has tooth root problems and it causes chronic stuffy nose and on and off sinus/ear infections.

[Bam]

Oh, sorry, I just skipped the tooth-issue =/

As LBJ says, dental root issues can give the symptoms you describe. It’s still about bacteria slyly hiding from the abx by going next to dormant in narrow comfy spaces. The active bacteria gets killed off, then the dormant ones wake up” and start proliferating. If the problem just appears to come from the incisors, dental x-rays to make sure there are no problems with molar roots as well would be great, so nothing goes undetected there, but perhaps that’s been done.

A bunny can live perfectly fine without her incisors, they use them primarily for pulling food into their mouths and they can learn to do that with their tongue. They do the chewing with their molars. You can support-feed her with Critical Care while she figures out how to eat without incisors.

[Mykl]

I think she has been x-rayed but it didn’t reveal anything. You’re info gives us something to work with, thank you.

I think she’d figure out how to eat quickly enough without the incisors, she loves her food!

[Author]

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