otherwise healthy (bit old) bun making funny wheezing/squeaky sounds

[Roseelizabeth]

Context: 7 yr old lionhead dwarf rabbit, free-roam in bunny proofed area (courtesy this site), male with shots but never fixed. (sry for oversharing i just want to touch all bases..)

Issue: recently, while at rest (usually splooted) he’ll make this weird kind of squeaky sound with each exhale, a bit like a wheeze possibly? this weird breaths been happening for about a month now. I have money to take my rabbit to the vet, but he’s never even left my room, and with his anxious demeanor i actually fear if i did, hed die of a heart attack. he barely lets me (and only me) pick him up for grooming; he breathes very fast and bugs his eyes, but stays still until after bc he knows he’ll get some apple/berry (then he parties). hence why he is unfixed..

Background: I bought him at 6mo from a dude off craiglist who i immediately reported after he told me it was ok to keep “her” (he couldnt tell) in a small cage forever, feed “her” whatever food (no hay), so im not even sure the shots thing is true.

diet: it’s very hard to get him to eat his veg, ive tried every single green in the produce section, multiple times, and all he’ll even sniff is cilantro and mint (the freak lol). i give him 1/2 a bundle of either once or twice a week, more than that will go to waste but i still give him the option. sometimes i give him lavender but thats a 40/60 shot. he also gets a handful of pellets a day and always has access to fresh(from the bag lol) timothy hay daily (originally he would only eat alfalfa but i slowly weened him w a mix around the time he hit rabbit puberty). he only will drink water from a bowl for some reason. he has a salt lick hes only put a small dent in since he was born.. i also give him apple slices or a blackberry/few blueberries as a special treat (mostly after grooming). ive also given him sunflower seeds in place of this if i dont have any.

the thing is: ive been monitoring his poop/pee and both are totally normal. and his behavior hasnt changed in the slightest otherwise. he still binkies, hops, flops, and zoomies just as often as always. same noises, eating the same amounts. nothings changed.

he is a VERY vocal and expressive bunny, he honks loudly whenever playing with his scarves, running around legs, or “playing” with his stuffties– purrs loudly when pet, he occasionally thumps but rly only when the garbage truck goes by or from thunder. he also makes that funny gurggling noise with his belly when he drinks water from his bowl that ive been reassured is normal.. he’s even been known to cluck a bit.

i will be sitting at my desk or on my bed and hear the wheezing/squeaking and get up to pet him in case he’s in pain (hes almost always down for pets) and then immediately after (or before) he will be flopped or scarf-chasing or eating. pic was taken like a minute after i stopped petting him.

Am i taking this too lightly? does he need to be taken in to a vet? Thanks for any advice or help.

[Bam]

This is obviously difficult to say something definite about, but the squeeky wheezy sounds does remind me of when my bun Bam had a lower airway infection (light case of pneumonia). He could have got it from choking on a pellet -the acute situation was dealt with swiftly when it happened, and the pneumonia only  manifested months later.

A lung infection is of course serious. My bun needed Bactrim for 2 weeks together with bricanyl (pills that I dissolved in water). He made a full recovery even though he was old.

That you hear these “new” sounds when he’s relaxed/resting is a bit worrisome. Do they get worse when he is excited (like for a treat)?

I once had a very vocal bun, he “talked” a lot (different type sounds for different situations). He sometimes snored rather loudly.

Do you think the sounds come from his lungs or from his nose?

 

[Roseelizabeth]

thank you for responding. my reply this morning got deleted by a site error but ill try to rewrite it the same:

the noises dont get worse when hes excited, or even happen at all unless he’s splooted/sittin in his spot. but now that you mention it, his honks have sounded a bit unusual lately. i just kinda chalked it up to getting older, as his honks have sorta sounded different at different parts of his life. I recorded it here bc i couldnt upload it, but you can hear towards the end they start to sound a bit funky, possibly even wheezy now that im really focusing on it.

I also have an attempt i tried to get of the worrisome noise, but it’s very hard to sneak a phone close enough to him when or before it happens and have it record long enough to catch anything, and the noise itself is very quiet. also my phone isnt great so i apologize for the background noise. maybe you can still hear it though? it’s subtle but there.

another couple things to note: upon further googling last night i also learned that squinting eyes as well as rocking back and forth could be determining factors of pain, and when he makes these noises, sometimes his eyes are squinted, not quite open not quite closed. and once or twice he was doing the teetering thing he does while waiting for me to finish what im doing and give him attention or finish cleaning and let him out.

if i do have to take him to the vet (whcih it’s starting to sound like) do you think he’ll be able to handle it? and do you have any tips to make it easier or what to do if things go wrong?

once again thank you for the timely and helpful response, you people are saints for doing this kind of thing.

[Roseelizabeth]

thanks for responding. they dont get worse when he wants a treat, but now that you mention all that, i have noticed his honks are a bit funky lately… theyve gotten louder or quieter at different periods of his life, so I didnt think of it being related/important.

i cant seem to get the wheezing/breathing on audio, one bc my phone sucks and two bc putting my phone by him kept alerting him and took forever for him to chill back out and even longer for it to happen, but i tried to a while back.. i had to upload it here bc the forum was being funky.

it’s almost impossible to hear but it’s there.

i also took some recording of his honking from this morning since thats always very easy to get… you do sort of notice it’s a bit squeaky? possibly even raspy towards the end? i just assumed it was a natural thing when bunnies get older, since it sorta has fluctuated in sound throughout his whole life (mainly adolescence).

Im not sure where its coming from, or what it would sound like coming from his nose vs lungs, but if i had to guess Id say it’s coming from deeper inside, like either where they make honk noises from or clucking noises or possibly gurggling noises. (im not sure how they make their honk/grunts but i would guess lungs.. i know the gurggling is their belly though. no idea about the clucking)

Once again thanks for the help.

[LBJ10]

Yes, it is hard to say. Typically though, a wheezing sound while breathing is caused by an obstruction in the airway. In rabbits, this tends to be an infection in the upper or lower airway. Dwarf rabbits are more prone to having sinus issues. All of the structures are smooshed, creating places where bacteria and mucus to accumulate, leading to an upper respiratory infection. Or, as Bam explained, some things can cause pneumonia, which is an infection in the lower portion of the respiratory system. These things just happen sometimes, despite owners doing everything right. Unfortunately, these things also do not go away on their own. Antibiotics are needed to clear the infection before it worsens.

[Bam]

The first audio sounds like my vocal bun Vilde. He used to make it while he was happily running across the floor. That sound seemed to come from deep within him, so to speak, not the nose or lungs.

The only things I can think for a vet trip of would be to get him to associate the carrier with nice things, which means food. Since treats shouldnt be given in abundance, maybe you could put some fresh herbs and maybe a few pellets in the carrier and leave it open on the floor so he goes in there and finds nice things in it? You could do this every day whether or not your vet thinks you should come in with him. It never hurts to have a bun that likes his carrier. Saves lots of time and stress in case sth happens.

Rabbits (as a general rule) don’t love transports, so it’d be best if you could sit with him in the backseat (its obviously not very safe to have a carrier in your lap in the front seat). Talk to him during the ride. My vet recommends fresh herbs in the carrier for trips, because there’s something about the fragrance that seems to calm rabbits.

If your vet is sees cats and dogs as well as rabbits, you could perhaps ask if you can wait in the car until it’s your turn -dogs tend to be barky in vet clinic waiting rooms and rabbits really don’t like barking dogs. An early appointment can help too, because then there’s less risk of a dog or cat having been in the exam room just before you.

Bring a towel for the exam table, they are as a rule slippery for reasons of hygiene.

If you get to wait in an exam room, my vet recommends putting the carrier on the floor and opening it, so the bun can explore the room. Not all buns want to explore the room, but the option to can be calming.

 

 

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