Trouble breathing

[maxmo]

 

Hi, my rabbit has been having some very loud breathing since I believe over 5 months ago. I told my vet about it, but he said “it’s normal” and “there’s no way to change that.” I’m worried because his breathing seems delayed and as if something is stuck. He also sneezes a lot. Any other folks went through this or know about what could be the cause?

 

I’ll try to add an example of his breathing here.

IMG_5526

 

[Bam]

He is quite vocal, but some buns are vocal. Does he make these noises in any particular situation? Like, when he’s being grumpy, or  when he’s relaxed and you pet him, or after he’s been physically active? Or does he sound like this all the time?

Rabbits only breathe through their noses, and they can get “bunny colds” that might irritate and cause swelling of the mucosal lining of the upper airways. A rabbit cold is often caused by bacteria, which can travel down into the lower airways.

Did your vet listen to his lungs with a stethoscope? To rule out lung involvement, if lung involvement is suspected, x-rays are standard.

What was the reason for the vet visit? Did you get any meds for him (antibiotics, meloxicam)? How old is he?

[maxmo]

thanks for responding. He does it pretty much constantly almost anywhere at any time, not in any particular situation.

If it’s bacteria, wouldn’t it have been gone because my vet prescribed him many antiobiotics before for other reasons (such as weepy eye).

i believe he did listen to his lungs and he said something along the lines of it being loud and unusual but no way to change it.

He went to the vet for a check up, he’s had Meloxicam before, penicillin, baytril suspension, and some other that starts with a T. He is almost 2 now.

[maxmo]

Also, I’d like to add that I’ve had him since a baby & he’s never had this noise until recently

[Bam]

Bunny colds can be very stubborn. There are many different kinds of antibiotics, not all bacteria are sensitive to the same antibiotics. Sometimes you need to give a combination of antibiotics, and you might have to treat for several weeks.

It seems a bit odd that your vet found sth unusual with his lungs but said there’s nothing to be done about it. Could he have meant that there’s nothing you can do except give antibiotics?

How does your bun seem otherwise? Like, appetite, poop, activity level, general appearance (is his fur looking good, are his eyes clear, has he lost weight).

 

 

[maxmo]

Yes, I meant that he said antiobiotics might be the only solution, but most likely will be on it lifelong.

My bun eats a LOT. His fur is good, but he is molting right now. His eyes are problematic, he has an eye cataract and occasionally has weepy eye, so I’ve been treating it with ciprofloxacin solution. Aside from that, he seems completely normal. It’s just his breathing seems extremely labored, like I can see his whole body move with his breathing if that makes sense (not all the time but often, everyday).

[DanaNM]

Extremely labored breathing with lung sounds is a very serious symptom. I would get a second opinion if your vet didn’t seem confident in treating. Respiratory infections can be very stubborn and often require a culture to identify the bacteria.

. . . 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.  

[maxmo]

Thanks for your response. He is having an appointment for nail trimming and a check-up this Wednesday. What should I tell the doctor? I’m sure he will suggest to put my bun on antiobiotics like penicillin or baytril (which he already did by the way). If he does suggest this, should I proceed with the antiobiotics treatment or is there better ways of finding out what he has and curing him? & What do you think this is labored breathing is a symptom from? And when you say culture, do you mean from the lungs? 🙁

I would also like to add that my bun was on a date with rabbits trying to choose a partner but the ground was all dirt (I don’t know why the place would ever do that) but another rabbit binkey’d in front of him and got the dirt onto his face which I’m pretty sure he inhaled. This was a few months ago. Do you think this could be a cause?

[DanaNM]

Bunnies dig in the dirt all the time so I really doubt that was the issue.

I would tell the vet his breathing seems labored, just as you told us here. There are multiple things that can cause this, so it’s really up to the vet to diagnose, but one possibility is a respiratory infection. If you don’t want to just try a general antibiotic you can request a culture of the lung bacteria. Respiratory infections often take a very long course of antibiotics to cure, so it’s possible the antibiotics before were appropriate, he just needed a longer course.

. . . 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.  

[maxmo]

I’ve told him in past visits that his breathing is labored and he himself had heard the sounds. He said that he would probably resort to antiobiotics if it’s bacterial, so we did that and after the treatmeant he was still vocal. After that, he said that he’s probably just like that and that some rabbits have breathing like that. It kind of felt like he just didn’t know what to do.

I’m just concerned because my buns breathing is increasingly getting more vocal. He does sneeze occasionally too, now with an occasional weird sound like there’s something in his throat or nose (or lungs I don’t know).

For a culture of the lung, what do they do exactly? Do they have to open him up??

 

[Bam]

Some rabbits do need to be on lifelong antibiotics esp for respiratiory infections caused by pasteurella. Some rabbits are prone to chronic pasteurella, the cause for this is believed to have a strong genetic component.

Did you see any improvement while your bun was on Baytril?

 

[maxmo]

I think I saw improvement for a while, but then it happened again slowly.

also update: I went to the vet for sore hocks (he said it’s just callus and that all rabbits have it) and mentioned the breathing and he said “yeah it’s chronic” and that’s pretty much it.

we also did blood tests for him and my other rabbit. my other rabbit showed results of low platelets. however, the vet believed it was an error??? and that they should re run the test because they want to see if it was by accident or accurate. to me, that kind of seems scammy.

I paid close to 800 including nail trim and some eye drops, and I was expecting results from the lab but I just got “errors.” I came in expecting it to be free because that’s a mistake on their part but they still wanted to charge me again. The vet said he thinks it will turn out to be that he does not have low platelets and that it was just a mistake. I don’t know if I’m well over my head or this is wrong. I
am just disappointed that I paid that amount to see results and didn’t get any.

[DanaNM]

Are you able to get a second opinion? Is your vet very rabbit experienced?

. . . 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.  

[maxmo]

There is a vet like an hour or 30 mins away from me and I went there once but I didn’t really feel that the person was rabbit savvy. However, that was long time ago so perhaps they changed. They also have a new vet I heard. Most rabbit owners in the area come to the vet I’m seeing because there’s not many choices. The vet seems to have experience with rabbits because he has many rabbit clients but with the recent experiences, I’ve been a little disappointed.

 

also please see my update above.

Another instance: Both of my rabbits had tapeworms previously and were beginning to get it again so I gave them a stool and they ran an analysis. The stools were filled with visible tapeworms and after the results, they said they weren’t able to find a single worms. It was surprising to me because all the stools had worms all over it and it was fresh stools too. My family thinks they’re scamming me, I think that’s quite an allegation but it is disappointing nevertheless. I come to see results but it feels like im wasting money sometimes.

[DanaNM]

Ugh that is so frustrating!

If you did blood work and labs for both rabbits, 800 doesn’t seem out of the range of normal, but if that was just for one rabbit that is on the high end (depends on what tests were done though, blood work can be expensive). And charging you to run the test again when they suspect an error would raise a red flag for me as well. Is your other rabbit showing symptoms? I’m curious as to why you ran blood work for him as well.

Also very surprising they didn’t detect worms when you could see them yourself. The fact that you saw some improvement while your bun was on baytril suggests that he does have an infection but may need a dif antibiotic (and a longer course).

It may be worth looking into that vet that’s a bit farther away to see if they have any change in staff and maybe some positive reviews from rabbit owners. Reviews aren’t everything, I went to a well reviewed vet recently and they really didn’t know what they were talking about (they kept severely under-dosing the pain meds for my bunny, and acted like doing any kind of labs would be an impossible chore). I now drive a bit farther away to a vet that is much better (people actually drive up to 2 hours to see them because they are so good with exotics).

. . . 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.  

[maxmo]

It was 800 including some other meds, but I’m glad that seems a normal price range. But yes they were trying to charge me again to rerun the rest and I told them how I was coming in expecting it to be free as I paid money to see results not errors so it would’ve been nice for it to be free. The doc said he thinks he doesn’t have low platelets anyway but would like to rerun the test to make sure.

My mom suggested to run a test for my other rabbit just to make sure he’s 100% fine, but yes he is completely normal. Then the assistant encouraged us to run the tests to have back up records in case anything were to happen to him, they have something to compare to.

The most thing I’m worried about is his breathing yet he keeps brushing it off as normal 😭 I’m just afraid I’m prolonging something, or maybe I’m just overthinking? Did you hear the audio recording of his breathing, if so, does it sound familiar to any illness or problems? Should I send another one? Idk what to do anymore or should I just ignore it and hope I’m over my head??

Also I don’t know if I should post this here or create a new post but he has been having these red thing on his foot and I’m not sure if it’s sore hocks or calluses. On the day I visited the vet, he checked them out and said it was calluses and it’s normal. Surprisingly, he showed that my other rabbit also has them but not as severe as my other rabbit. Apparently, he has a loss of fur. To me it is looking a bit red and I’m not sure if I should cover it or not. I bought sore hock socks in case but he’s fussy about them so I could never put them on.

Thanks for your responses and I’ll  make sure to revisit the other vet to see if it’s improved.

I’ll try adding a pic of his callus (sore hock?)

[DanaNM]

Many rabbits develop a callus on their heel. If it’s covered by a flap of fur it usually doesn’t become a problem, but falls in the “keep an eye on it” category. Adding softer flooring will help keep it from progressing to a problem. Keeping the nails trimmed also helps keep pressure off the heel.

As far as the breathing goes, we wouldn’t be able to diagnose anything based on a recording (or anything else for that matter, as we aren’t vets). Really the best I can offer is to either get a second opinion (esp since you haven’t been super happy with this vet), or suggest your vet do a culture to try to identify if/what bacteria may be present so you can treat with the appropriate antibiotic if there is an infection. Respiratory infections can be notoriously stubborn, but that doesn’t mean they should just be left alone.

I’m sorry you are in this situation, not having a vet you are 100% confident in is very stressful!

. . . 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.  

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