Looking for ideas: What is my bunny allergic to?

[Gracie]

My 4-year-old has an unknown allergy. A couple months ago,  he started sneezing. No other snuffle-like symptoms and he was shedding like crazy, so I wasn’t super worried. I just tried to keep his space super clean. But he didn’t stop sneezing. We went to my rabbit-savvy vet.  He had an examine and a nose swab. No active infection and he’s up to date on his vaccine. It’s definitely an allergy but I’m going a bit spare trying to figure out what its to.

The things I’ve done so far:

-There’s an air purifier with a hepa and a carbon filter that runs 24/7 beside the bun’s corner.

-They have pine horse bedding for litter. I switched providers.

-I switched hay providers. It’s very low dust, but I’ve been misting it anyway.

-Everything in the house is cleaned with fragrance free detergent. Their stuff is cleaned with just vinegar.

-Their area is cleaned daily. They have completely unobstructed air flow.

 

There doesn’t seem to be any consistency about where and when he gets big sneeze fits. I’d love any ideas/experiences people have with their rabbit’s allergies. I’m more than a little stumped and would really appreciate the help.

[Wick & Fable]

How often are the sneezes now and is there any discharge? If it has been a couple months, I’m curious what the progression of symptom severity has been like as well.

Admittedly, due to my first vet, I am suspect of the validity of swabs. Can a swab reach where the infection may actually be, especially in early stages, and what is the possibility of the test being contaminated or a false negative (or positive)? Just thoughts. My instinct would be, if sneezing is frequent and discharge is occurring, perhaps try a broad-spectrum antibiotic, like Baytril, to see if it can target something that maybe the nasal swab missed. If it does not seem to be disrupting quality of life, then it may not be an infection (especially if it hasn’t gotten worse) or perhaps its a mild infection that your rabbit’s immune system is fighting off to prevent it from getting worse? Random thoughts from a non-vet, but someone who has had a rabbit treated for a URI over a 5 month period where “allergies” was proposed as the reason because of how chronic it was. We ended up just needing the right combination of medication and he is now sneeze and discharge free.

If it is not an infection, could it be there’s something up there that your rabbit may be trying to sneeze out? There have been pretty crazy stories of hay pieces and such getting up there.

In terms of allergies, if it’s been going on for a couple months and you cannot perceive a change in environment that might have caused it, it might be a fruitless effort to try and identify it — it could be a broad-environmental change, such as the season’s air in your area and what has blown in, which is the cause, in which case, it’s not something you can remove or get rid of exposure. Currently, one of my rabbits takes children’s benadryl and it has noticeably cleared congestion around her eyes (I wrote about the rationale and results here: https://binkybunny.com/forums/topic/childrens-benadryl-tx/). She never sneezed, but it was clear that it has impacted her positively.

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.

[LBJ10]

I agree with Wick. I would exhaust other possibilities first before deciding it is “just an allergy”. Unfortunately, allergies are a process of elimination diagnosis in rabbits. If he hasn’t been given a broad-spectrum antibiotic yet to see if it clears up the problem, I would start there. Sometimes a URI can be way up in there and the bacteria doesn’t make it’s way down into the nostril for a swab to reach.

If it is ultimately determined that it is an allergy, rabbits can be given antihistamines. Children’s Benadryl is one option. Chlorphenamine maleate is another, but it isn’t easily obtainable in a children’s formula (i.e. a syrup) anymore. At least not in the US.

[pinkiemarie]

Two of my rabbits will occasionally go through a couple weeks of sneezing fits with either no discharge or only clear snot. I think they just have some allergies and it may be to something that is sometimes in some batches of hay but I’m not totally sure. I’ve had them at the vet for nail trims several times when they’ve been having these episodes and she’s always happy to listen to their lungs and has never heard anything she thought was concerning. The most important part, to me, is to keep checking the bunny’s nose to make sure there is no or clear discharge. If there is any discharge that is not clear then it’s an infection and it needs to be treated right away.

But it sounds like this is a new thing with your rabbit and hasn’t subsided with switching out items so I agree with some other people about continuing to look for other causes to be on the safe side. I also might suggest trying a different litter other than pine. IMO pine has a strong smell so I suppose if it is an allergy it could be pine in general. That’s just speculation on my part though!

[Gracie]

Hey all,

I appreciate the concern over not just assuming its an allergy. I promise I’m not. And the Vet in addition to doing the examine/swabbing for infections, is taking my word on his behavior. The thing about all of it, is there isn’t really a progression of symptom severity.

He started sneezing a couple months ago. He has a little clear discharge sometimes. He’s gone from sneezing once every three days to once a day (-ish). His eyes are clear. His appetite’s unaffected. His poops are normal. He never wheezes or struggles to breath. He hasn’t been lethargic at all. He’ll sneeze and then jump 3 foot in the air and do a 12 lap binky around the living room.

When he first started sneezing, he had an absolutely insane shed that I could not keep up with. Even grooming him and cleaning his cage twice a day there was fur everywhere. I figured it was just all the extra stuff in the air irritating his nose. But it didn’t stop when the shed stopped which concerned me enough to take him to the Vet. She examined his nose for obstructions as well. Nothing showed up. With only sneezing as a symptom, even prolonged sneezing, I wouldn’t feel comfortable treating him with a course of antibiotics until I’ve exhausted other options. If I can’t figure out what’s causing it or if it escalates in any way, we’ll go back to the Vet. My Vet’s really great and I trust her judgement.

It’s good to know about the children’s Benadryl. I know people who give that to their dogs, but I wouldn’t have guessed that was an option for bunnies. This is our first winter in this apartment (although we were in the same area) so, it could be something in the air and out my control to eliminate. There’s a ton of plant/bug life in the garden, so if that’s it there’s definitely no way to just get rid of it. 🙁

I do think I might try totally switching litter/food type and not just providers. I haven’t given him anything he’d never had before. I switched him from Science Selective pellets to Oxbow right around the start of the allergy (He’s had Oxbow before). I’m switching him back.

I’ll try switching him off the pine litter pellets. (My Dad also thinks they have a strong smell sometimes. I’ve been making him sniff the litter pellets and he doesn’t think the ones we’re using now have a big smell. But who knows with that stuff).

Thank y’all for all the suggestions!

[Author]

Messages