Sneezing/wet nose

[bmarie]

Hi all!

I’m brand new to the site…so glad to have such a wonderful resource  

We are the happy  owners of Monkey who is about 8 months old.  He is such a sweet, affectionate guy.  We also have two ratties (CiCi and Yetta…think The Nanny!), one Russian Dwarf Hamster named Pesto (my son loves to cook), Bella and Jackson our Welsh Corgis and Mocha our mutt.  Bella and Monkey are best of buds and Bella is also great at herding him (since we have no sheep or cows) when he’s somewhere he shouldn’t be, LOL.

Monkey has been sneezing and his nose is wet.tho clear. I called the breeder and she had said to try different hay…that perhaps it was just a dusty batch, so did that. Said that if sneezing continued, to get meds at Feed Store..Duramycin, so did that.  Dosage was one tsp/32 oz water. Gave me info on what to do if Monkey wil not drink.  She also said that if poos got soft to stop meds and give yogurt.  Question..can I give Monkey meds in food…like the yogurt…instead of in water?

Thanks so much!!

[Sarita]

Welcome. I would highly recommend that you have a vet do a checkup on him. I would not recommend any over the counter medications and I’m not familiar with duramycin but I looked it up and it seems to be for chickens.

Yogurt is not recommended for rabbits either.

What types of hays have you tried?

[Monkeybun]

Sneezing should be checked out by a vet. It could be a respiratory infection, allergies, all sorts of things. Definitely see a vet! Breeders don’t always know as much as they say.. especially if she is telling you to give Monkey yogurt.

From one Monkey owner to another (lol) welcome to BB, and hope your bun gets better soon!

[KatnipCrzy]

Feed store meds are recommended for livestock- and difficult to accurately dose for a small animal. And adding meds to their water is usually not advised because if they don’t like the taste they will avoid the water- so now they are sick AND dehydrated. And I agree- yogurt is NOT recommended for bunnies. Dairy is a very un-natural part of a bunnies diet after they are weaned- they would NEVER have access to dairy as a grazing animal. And the beneficial bacteria in yogurt is not what is found in a bunnies gut anyway. Unfortunately yogurt is often recommended by people that keep bunnies as more of a livestock pet than a “house bunny”- as it is cheap. But it is unlikely to be beneficial and could actually cause diarrhea.
Your breeders advice is not uncommon- but no where near adequate or ideal. I think these recommendations come about when a whole rabbitry comes down ill- and the livestock mentatility to to treat the whole lot of bunnies as cheaply as possible without vet costs and what survives is what survives.
I would recommend taking your bunny to a vet. There are many safe antibiotics that are prescription that can be used effectively in bunnies- and you will have your vets advice and knowledge during the whole treatment process to better serve your bunny getting better. And there are definitely probiotics (good gut bacteria supplements) that are available for bunnies and are appropriate- like Bene Bac, Proviable-RB by Nutramax and I believe American Pet Diner also makes a product for bunnies.

[Author]

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