sudden wierd behaviour… pinky gave me a scare

[babybunsmum]

this morning all was usual (`cept that i slept in late) until pinky was snorfing down her pellets.  i was refreshing her water and hay while she ate and all of a sudden she backed up her front paws and started moving her head like she was sneezing except she wasn`t sneezing.  then she stumbled around and tripped over her water dish.  i was very alarmed at this point and reached in to pet her.  she was quick to respond to the head pets and sunggled in. when i stopped she still was stumbly and then she sorta sneezed but not really.  it was like a deliberate and slow sneeze.  made me sure something resperatory was going on.

then as suddenly as it came, it passed and she resumed to snorfing her pellets with her usual gusto.  what the …???

i watched her eat for a bit and then noticed the fur under her nose was all wet and slightly yellowed.  so i picked her up and wiped off her nose gently.  it was not thick at all, just wet and slightly yellow.  this was definitely not there before the episode because i had picked her up just before i fed her and she was perfectly normal. 

when i put her back down, again, she moved normally and went back to eating heartily.  she seemed back to normal.  and right now all seems normal still.

do you think that she choked on a pellet briefly because she was eating so furiously?  at her last vet checkup (about a month ago) everything looked very healthy aside from the sluggish tummy she had at the time.

[Juli]

the yellow stuff under her could have been caused if the powder formed from the pellets got up her nose. That also maybe why she was acting weird if alot of it got in her nose. If it happens again call the vet.

[RabbitPam]

I’d keep an eye on her until the holiday weekend is over. But I agree, it looks like she inhaled a snootful of pellet dust, or some pellets. I remember seeing Spockie move his head around in sort of a funny, rolling slow motion way several times, and then being normal again. I think it’s a sinus clearing movement. But do watch her.

[lashkay]

My Dustor made sneezing motions after he had just eaten from his feeder which I noticed had leavings of a pool of pellet dust in the center of the bowl. I drilled 5 holes in the bottom of the plastic bowl, large enough to let pellet dust and bits fall through but still small enough to keep the more sizable bits and full sized pellets, in.  He hasn’t had a recurrence of the sneezing behavior since. You might want to get a metal or plastic feeder that has a screened sifter bottom or perforation holes to make sure the dust and fine bits are sifted out and not inhaled by your bunny. Bunnyrabbit.com has some good ones. Then you can collect the pellet dust underneath and make bunny cookies your bunny will also snorf down! lol

[babybunsmum]

thx for the responses! miss pinky was fine the rest of the day and this morning there were no choking / snorting incidents. the wet nose must have been completely related to the episode because it’s been dry and normal since

i realize now that my usual routine is to feed her and then get ready for work and so i’m not usually in her room while she eats. i wonder if this has happened before? i’m going to keep a closer eye on her while she’s eating to see if it’s a re-occuring thing that i need to have the vet consider at her next check up.

[jerseygirl]

I’ve seen Jersey sort of gag before (from eating to quick) and this reminds me of that. She would move about a little, sit on her hocks and sort of sneeze and move her front paws up near her face.

If you suspect Pinky did choke or eats to fast, try scattering her pellets around. That way she has to find one, stop and eat, then move to the next. Glad to hear she’s ok !

[bunnytowne]

That is some good advice I never would have thought of that.

[Author]

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