Sneezing and runny nose

[PeachSchnapp]

Hello everyone!

Apologies for the long post but I would really appreciate anyone’s advice on the matter!

For the last three months, my 1yo male bun Maui has been sneezing an awful lot and often has a wet nose, sometimes accompanied by a thick white snot-like mucas. His breathing sounds stranger/heavier than normal when I pick him up which has never happened before (he’s usually very cuddly and doesn’t mind being handled). One of his ears also makes a bit of a “clicking” noise but on inspection, I can’t see anything out the ordinary.

This has been happening since I moved, my buns now live free-roam in my conservatory (they are brought into a warmer room at night if it’s too cold). He has lived here once before in the Summer and he was fine then. He lives with another 3yo female bun who doesn’t seem to share any symptoms.

Suspecting it was a case of the Snuffles, I have taken him to the Vets twice. The first time he was prescribed Anti-biotics (sorry couldn’t tell you the name specifically) for one week. No change. I registered him to a different Vets and took him there. They prescribed a three week course of anti-biotics, pain medication and also a treatment for mites as one of his ears makes a “clicking” noise. Again, still no change.

He seems fine in himself, no change in his appetite, pooping or mood etc.  But nothing seems to work and it’s difficult to get him an appointment at the moment and every vet I go to generally seems a bit inexperienced with Rabbits.

Please help!

[Wick & Fable]

Unfortunately, if it is an upper respiratory infection (which it sounds like), some trial and error is sometimes needed to find the right antibiotic to do the trick. It took three tries to find the right antibiotic combo for my rabbit’s URI. It would be important to know what antibiotics have been tried vs. not. Some more experienced vets may offer doing a culture, where they collect a sample from the nose to then test what antibiotic would work against it — I’ve read both successes and failures from that.

Another note would be treatment time. Now, if no improvement was seen in during the 7-day med, it was probably right to discontinue it, but in general, you want a rabbit to be on an antibiotic course for at least 2 weeks, to ensure all the infection has died (sometimes you may even need longer!).

In terms of finding a rabbit-experienced vet, at the minimum, the vet should be an exotic vet, which is a formal specialization in veterinary medicine. Exotic vets will more likely than not be better suited and educated to work with rabbits. The ideal is an exotic vet who has rabbit experience. If you are in the US, the House Rabbit Society (HRS; rabbit.org) has a list of rabbit-experienced exotic vets. You can also find the web page for your local HRS chapter, and they will likely have a list of vets they personally use for their foster rabbits.

I am unsure what the clicking noise is….. but getting a mite treatment was a good measure.

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. Finding the right antibiotic can be tricky and many are finding that 7 days just isn’t long enough. URIs can be stubborn sometimes.

[Author]

Messages