Bunny Choking on Food

[S.geezy]

Hi all!

My Winston, who is a 7 year old holland lop has a problem. He gets papaya pieces everyday to help with hairballs. He first choking episode was with these. Granted the are large so i have been breaking them into small pieces and hes choked maybe once or twice in the past few months. Now today its even his pellets hes choking on. When this happens i can hear him coughing and when i check on him he usually has drool and maybe snot coming from his nose and mouth and i can tell hes having problems breathing. I usually just sit with him for a few minutes to make sure hes getting enough air and then leave him alone. Winston has never been very keen on attention from humans. Has anyone else had this problem especially with an older rabbit?

 

[John Wick]

What a stressful experience. You will need to monitor this closely, as even though he's been able to dislodge it on his own these past episodes, getting drool and snot means that it is getting pretty serious and caught. Unfortunately, there are instances where this happens out of the blue for owners and they see their rabbits like this, but with a different outcome. It's so fortunate Winston has been able to conquer through these episodes, and I hope he doesn't experience much more.

While I'm unsure about the implications of age, there are rabbits who are more prone to choking because they have such energy and inhalation associated with eating. If this has been something pretty regular for him (or regular as of him getting these new food shapes), it could be he characteristically eats in a way that welcomes choking. For these cases, a lot of owners find success in forcing the rabbit to eat slowly. This can be by putting pellets/treats in a treat ball of some sort, so only a little is presented at a time. Some owners also scatter the food all over the floor so again, the rabbit can only eat bits at a time and it may help slow them down.

If this is a relatively new phenomena and it has never happened before, even with food of similar size in the past, I would recommend a vet visit, just in case. While I cannot think of any conditions off-hand that may make a rabbit more prone to choking, perhaps getting an assessment of his teeth and jaw may be helpful to ensure he is well-equipped to probably chew and ingest his food.

 

[Hermelin]

You can also soften the pellets in water to make it easier for your bunny to eat. Myself have a bunny that often chokes on her food.

I mix her pellets with big and small sizes to slow her down. When she get treats I’m with her while she eats.

Make sure the bites are small and making the bunny work for the food works great.

But I would recommend to do a vet check up because this is a new behavior.

 

[JBun]

Choking on pellets poses a serious risk, even when the rabbit recovers and is breathing normally again. This is because food particles can very easily be aspirated into the lungs causing pneumonia to develop. Anytime a serious choking episode occurs, particularly if you see food particles coming back up through the nose and/or mouth, I would suggest an immediate visit with an experienced rabbit vet for a thorough check, and very close monitoring of respiratory function for several days after to ensure pneumonia isn't settling in.
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
https://www.vgr1.com/choking/ (consult with your vet with how to properly clear a potential obstruction)

If this is a frequent occurrence and food changes don't help stop it, it would be a good idea to have the vet check his mouth and throat to ensure there isn't some sort of dental problem like suggested above, causing the repeated issue, or maybe even some sort of partial throat obstruction.