Irrational fear of aspiration pneumonia?

[henry2809]

Hey everyone. I have become very anxious about the health of my 2.5 year old Lionhead, Mickey, since his most recent episode of GI stasis and some other GI issues that have since resolved. I saw a few online rabbit forums discussing aspiration pneumonia in rabbits and now I am terrified. It sounds like pneumonia is essentially not survivable for rabbits, so I am really worried about my rabbit getting it all the time. I work 4 days a week from 8 am until 7 pm, so I am not home all day and now I am so scared that he is going to choke on his pellets and aspirate and I won’t be aware of it and he will end up developing aspiration pneumonia because I will be completely unaware if I was at work. He eats Oxbow Adult Timothy pellets and I used to free feed him, but I have since limited his amount of pellets due to his GI issues. I feed him out of a little hanging bowl in his cage. I have started to place a handful of hay into the hanging bowl and mixing about 1 tablespoon of pellets throughout the hay to hopefully slow down his eating, but I am worried that won’t be enough. Does anybody have any advice or reassurance. Is this just an irrational fear that I really should not be worrying about? Thanks in advance!

[Wick & Fable]

There are things you can do to minimize chance of choking, such as scatter feed pellets and also ensure everything is fed cut very small. The actual likelihood of a rabbit choking (when they haven’t shown a tendency to do that already) is low.

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.

[GlennTheLionhead]

There are some educational videos on the internet about how to help a chocking rabbit, they are last attempt that can be likened to the heimlich maneuver.

Familiarising yourself with these techniques might give you peace of mind that you can handle a situation should it arise.

I believe the video I watched was created by a bunny vet and it is noted in the videos that they techniques could be quite damaging to a fragile bunny so really must not be attempted unless you are positive your rabbit is chocking. Nevertheless useful to know in the event of an emergency.

[DanaNM]

I agree that scatter feeding is a good way to prevent this. Choking in rabbits is really rare in any case, even rabbits that eat from bowls.

Remember that what you see on forums is not a representative sample, because people often seek out forums when something bad happens.

. . . 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.  

[henry2809]

Thank you for this! I’m always worried about his breathing. A few months ago, I could hear this faint whistling/squeaking sound when he breathed if I put my ear near his face. He was also having a little bit of thin watery nasal discharge (a very small amount). I rushed him to the vet absolutely convinced that he had some type of pneumonia from an infection, but the vet said that he was in perfect health and sometimes bunnies just do strange things and it’s not always cause for concern. She said that pneumonia is actually very uncommon in rabbits (hopefully this is true). I’m having a similar situation occur now. He’s been making the same quiet squeaking sound sometimes when he breathes. Eating and drinking great, pooping great, begging for treats, etc. and I am SO worried. I’ve convinced myself not to rush him to the vet because it creates a huge amount of stress for him and I honestly think it’s just my anxiety talking this time, but I can’t help but worry that it actually IS something to be concerned about.

[henry2809]

He seems totally normal today. He’s eating, drinking, playing, pooping, etc. if I put my ear next to his nose, I can hear a little squeaking sound when he is sniffing, but he doesn’t seem to be having any trouble breathing at all. Is this reason to take him to the vet? I assumed that if it were a URI or pneumonia he would have gotten worse in the last few days? He seems completely normal otherwise. I don’t want to rush him to the vet because it’s incredibly stressful for him, but I’m also so paranoid about him dying of pneumonia basically all the time.

[Bam]

Its difficult even for a vet to tell the difference between a partially clogged nose and a lung problem, but a partially clogged nose is a lot more common.

Two things to look out for: If your bun starts breathing through his mouth – rabbits are obligate nose breathers and should never breathe through their mouth. Or if you see him sitting for any prolonged amount of time with his nose up in the air (head tilted slightly back). Those things can indicate airway problems, and should be taken seriously. Film him if you see him do any of those things, so you can show it to your vet if you think there might be a problem.

As for aspiration pneumonia, small type pellets are a lot riskier than bigger pellets. A bun has to chew bigger pellets, but a greedy bun (most buns are greedy when it comes to yummy things) can accidentally “breathe in” a tiny pellet. For this reason I prefer extruded pellets, like science selective or similar.

I also never serve pellets in a bowl. If you scatter or even “hide” pellets around the bunny area, its actually also a form of enrichment -its a lot more natural for a bun to have to search for its food than to get it served in a bowl or on a plate. In the wild, rabbits spend a lot of their waking  time foraging.

 

[henry2809]

Thank you so much. I just went to check on him and he still seems totally fine. A little bit of whistling sound when he sniffs me, but still eating, drinking, taking treats, etc. so I assume it is probably best for me to just continue to keep an eye on him and not rush him off to the vet as that may stress him out and cause more problems than it’s worth?

[henry2809]

Hey everyone, just a little update. He seems totally normal today (I noticed the breathing sounds about 5 days ago). He’s eating, drinking, pooping, playing, etc. I can really only hear the strange noise if I put my ear right next to his face and he is sniffing. It sounds like a little whistling sound. I can’t hear it if I’m far away from him or if he’s just breathing normally. He sneezed once yesterday but hasn’t sneezed at all other than that. He doesn’t have any eye discharge and has only had some very thin, watery nasal discharge (last time I mentioned this to his vet she said that was normal). Does it sound okay for me to just continue to keep an eye on him? I want to get him veterinary care if he needs it of course, but I don’t want to stress him out with a trip to the vet if it isn’t necessary. I actually rushed him to the vet about 5 months ago with similar concerns and his vet said that he was perfectly healthy with no issues, so maybe this is just more my anxiety than anything?

[Bam]

It’s not possible to say if this is your anxiety or an actual bun health problem. It doesn’t sound like you need to rush him to the vet, but I can’t say that your worries are totally unfounded – as I’m sure you understand.

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