Question about choking/aspiration pneumonia

[henry2809]

Hey everyone! I have a quick question about choking and aspiration pneumonia. Most of the things that I have read seem to suggest that pneumonia is pretty uncommon in adult rabbits and it is usually secondary to an upper respiratory infection they goes untreated or a choking event. My bunny has never choked before, but today I was feeding him some fresh parsley and cilantro and he started to throw his head back a few times and paw at his mouth. He wasn’t making any choking sounds. Sometimes when he is eating, some of the fur on his chin or the sides of his mouth gets stuck in his mouth since he is a lionhead with long fur, so I believe that’s what happened and he was trying to get the fur out of his mouth. A minute or two later, he hopped away and he seems fine. Should I be concerned that he could have aspirated and might get pneumonia?

[Bam]

Well  it’s difficult to say. I had a bun that got aspiration pneumonia after having nearly choked on a pellet. I did the bunny Heimlich and all and he was “fine” after -but he developped pneumonia later. The pneumonia was successfully treated with a 2 week course of Bactrim (antibiotic). The only symptom I noticed was that he made a sort of twittering noise when he got excited or when he was eating a particularly yummy treat. He was elderly though, elderly buns are of course more susceptible to infections than healthy adults.

I’d say keep a close eye (and ear!) on your bun. Appetite, poop, pee, litterbox habits, activity level etc. It is very uncommon for a healthy bun to choke on vegetables/herbs. It mainly occurs with pellets of a smaller size, which a greedy bun can happen to inhale. (To avoid this it’s a good idea to scatter the pellets around the bun’s area, so the bun has to search for the food).

[henry2809]

Thank you so much! He seems completely fine this afternoon. He is playing, eating, and pooping normally. I also thought that it would be very unlikely for an otherwise healthy adult bunny to choke on parsley or cilantro, but I just wanted to see what others thought. I am very worried all the time about him developing upper respiratory infections and pneumonia. I actually fill up his pellet dish with hay and scatter his pellets in the hay so that he has to forage for them. My hope is that feeding method will prevent him from eating too quickly and choking on one of his pellets. Thank you again for your reassurance!

[Bam]

It is very good to scatter food or feed pellets in a treat ball etc, because it mimics how a wild rabbit forages. Rabbits are hard-wired to have to work for their food. Our domesticated buns retain a lot of their ancestors’ wild-type behaviours (as do horses, horses and rabbits are very similar digestion-wise).

A bun owner really needs to be vigilant because rabbits hide illness very well -so I think you’ll be fine. You are very aware and will notice if sth isn’t right with your bun.

[henry2809]

Thank you so much. I assume that a bun would be more likely to choke and get aspiration pneumonia from something like pellets instead of hay or herbs? He seems fine today, he is eating and pooping like normal. He did sneeze a few times this morning, but I’m not sure if that could mean that he would have already developed aspiration pneumonia?

[LBJ10]

Perhaps he just got a piece stuck to the roof of his mouth. It sounds like he is fine to me. And yes, it seems pellets are most often the cause.

[henry2809]

Thank you so much! It seems like that is exactly what happened because he seems normal today! The only thing I noticed is that I could hear his breathing when I put my ear up to his nose, so I’m not sure if I should be worried about that. He also has been laying around more than usual, but we have also had fireworks for the last two nights so maybe that is contributing to him not being as active. Pneumonia is probably the condition that I am most worried about. Any time he breathes heavily or quickly or I can hear him breathing, I get very worried that he could have pneumonia. Is pneumonia common in adult rabbits? Is it something that I should be worried about?

[LBJ10]

Pneumonia isn’t very common. And if this just happened, it would take time for aspiration pneumonia to really develop.

What does it sound like when he breathes? Audible breathing isn’t necessarily a sign that anything is wrong.

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