bunny sneezing

[Coco0457]

we had an appointment with a new vet and she has asked me to get childrens benadryl liquid for my bunny. the dosage is 0.1 - 0.2 ml twice a day. bunny weighs 5.3 pounds.

she thinks my bunny might have allergies.

when I got home from the vet I looked around for some childrens benadryl and could only find the childrens benadryl liquid bubble gum flavor. I thought that was ok. but I called the vet the next day [she wasn't in that day but I got a message from the receptionist]. she said any flavor of childrens benadryl liquid would be ok except it can not contain aspertame, sucrolose or xylitol.the bubble gum flavorhas saccharin sodium and sorbitol in it.

I told the vet I was concerned about pasteurella. she said she is not showing any signs of it. she is sneezing once in while and she makes kind of snoring noises mostly at night time. she did not make those noises when we were at the vet. she thinks she might have some congestion.

she also has an irritated left eye. she got gentamicin eye drops for that one drop twice a day.

the vet also felt her teeth from feeling outside and she looked in her mouth also. she said her teeth looked great. I had taken bunny off her pellets because she scared me when she ate some pellets and she kind of spitted some of them back out. but then she picked up those pulverized pellets and ate them.

I'm just not sure if this is the right treatment for bunny or if benadryl is safe.

bunny shakes her head a lot and was also tested for mites.bunny was pretty uncomfortable with the right ear. the vet said there were no mites but she gave her a dose of ivermectin 0.1 ml orally anyway.

I'm really confused right now and don't want to give my bunny the wrong thing or start any wrong treatments!!

 

[Maureen Las]

You know I hate to say this but I would have wanted that vet to look furtherinto possible dental issues and ? respiratory issues or both. I think that everything else should be ruled out before a diagnosis of allergies is given,

I'm not sure about the bubble gum benadryl but I think that unflavored pedialyte has artificial sweeteners and everyone uses that. My gut feeling says it's OK but don't go on that


did you feel that the vet did a good dental exam?
did you tell the vet about night congestion?
Is there anything in you rabbit's environment that would have changed to create an allergy for ex...a new batch of hay etc.

 

[Maureen Las]

just wanted to add that the vet prescribed an antibiotic eyedrop for the eye yet the vet feels it's an allergy ???
lots of qutions unanswered although I know that you have done your best

 

[Coco0457]

angieluv wrote:

just wanted to add that the vet prescribed an antibiotic eyedrop for the eye yet the vet feels it's an allergy ???
lots of qutions unanswered although I know that you have done your best

this is exactly how I feel. I just think there is a lot of questions unanswered.

her noisy breathing sounds bad. like congestion, yeah. when I told the vet she thought that would be allergies. there has nothing changed in the environment.

she checked her teeth with feeling around the lower jar and she had a look into her mouth. but she barely opened her mouth. she had an instrument [I think an otoscope] with a light on top. she said to be 100 % sure we would need to do x rays with sedation.

I would have thought they may have wanted to do a tear duct flush. since her left eye is irritated.

we have a re check in fourteen days. although I'm not sure if I want to go back there or see another vet for another opinion.

you make a good point about the eye drops!!

I just don't want to start her on benadryl when in fact she might have a bacterial infection. benadryl also dries out the mucous.

Itold her that I am concerned about snuffles or pasteurella and she said she showed no signs of upper respiratory infection and to be sure they would have to do a nasal swab which would be a bit uncomfortable.

but if it is a bacterial infection couldn't they just prescribe an antibiotic and see if that helps?

I hate to go to a vet that has a wait and see approach.

 

[tonyshuman]

I dunno if that's a good vet, but I've never heard of a vet prescribing children's benadryl. has anyone else? seems strange to me. I know that it should work, but there's a lot of species differences between humans and rabbits.

ETA: I did notice that you were concerned that they didn't just prescribe an antibiotic because they think it might be bacterial. With bunnies (and humans too) these days, they're not prescribing antibiotics as readily as they used to. This is because of antibiotic resistant bacteria, to which rabbits are especially prone. They'll want to do a culture of the bacteria and test on a petri dish what antibiotics it is vulnerable to, because giving the wrong antibiotic could mean that all the good bacteria in the rabbit get wiped out and the bad bacteria stay, and get stronger. I took Tony in with sneezes and sniffles, and lots of snot the day before (but not the day of the vet visit). They wouldn't give him antibiotics b/c there wasn't enough mucus for them to swab and culture.

 

[dquesnel]

Coco0457 wrote:

she checked her teeth with feeling around the lower jar and she had a look into her mouth. but she barely opened her mouth. she had an instrument [I think an otoscope] with a light on top. she said to be 100 % sure we would need to do x rays with sedation.

I would have thought they may have wanted to do a tear duct flush. since her left eye is irritated.

we have a re check in fourteen days. although I'm not sure if I want to go back there or see another vet for another opinion.

I hate to go to a vet that has a wait and see approach.

Hi, I agree with you. I think I would be very tempted to go see a different vet. The eye and nasal issues are likely related- and a test to see if the duct is blocked is easy. Drops of soluble dye are placed into the rabbits affected eye, if the duct and nasal passage is clear the dye will flow out through the nose (accompanied by some sneezing by the bunny). If the dye runs out the corners of the eye, it shows the duct is blocked by mucus, scar tissue, or debris like dust/hay. Has your bunny sneezed mucus?

Here is a little known fact for both rabbits and humans: cough/cold medicines like Benadryl have had ZERO studies showing that they are actually effective in clearing mucus and suppressing coughs. Essentially, in the past couple years the FDA and medical associations have revealed that they do not work at all. To help relieve nasal congestion, use the old-fashioned saline nasal spray. The salt breaks down thick mucus, and allows the nasal passage to clear. This is safe for rabbits- just plain saline spray, not the other kinds.

If this were my bunny, I would first try the blocked duct test with vet, and whether it is clear or not I would also ask for a swab to see if there may be a bacterial infection. Tonyshuman makes a very good point about antibiotics in the above post. You could also do some face xrays to see if this is a tooth root issue in bunny, some vets do not need to sedate the rabbit but it seems the best xrays and angles come from a sedated bunny. You are really knowledgeable, go with your gut feelings!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

dquesnel wrote:

Coco0457 wrote:

she checked her teeth with feeling around the lower jar and she had a look into her mouth. but she barely opened her mouth. she had an instrument [I think an otoscope] with a light on top. she said to be 100 % sure we would need to do x rays with sedation.

I would have thought they may have wanted to do a tear duct flush. since her left eye is irritated.

we have a re check in fourteen days. although I'm not sure if I want to go back there or see another vet for another opinion.

I hate to go to a vet that has a wait and see approach.

Hi, I agree with you. I think I would be very tempted to go see a different vet. The eye and nasal issues are likely related- and a test to see if the duct is blocked is easy. Drops of soluble dye are placed into the rabbits affected eye, if the duct and nasal passage is clear the dye will flow out through the nose (accompanied by some sneezing by the bunny). If the dye runs out the corners of the eye, it shows the duct is blocked by mucus, scar tissue, or debris like dust/hay. Has your bunny sneezed mucus?

Here is a little known fact for both rabbits and humans: cough/cold medicines like Benadryl have had ZERO studies showing that they are actually effective in clearing mucus and suppressing coughs. Essentially, in the past couple years the FDA and medical associations have revealed that they do not work at all. To help relieve nasal congestion, use the old-fashioned saline nasal spray. The salt breaks down thick mucus, and allows the nasal passage to clear. This is safe for rabbits- just plain saline spray, not the other kinds.

If this were my bunny, I would first try the blocked duct test with vet, and whether it is clear or not I would also ask for a swab to see if there may be a bacterial infection. Tonyshuman makes a very good point about antibiotics in the above post. You could also do some face xrays to see if this is a tooth root issue in bunny, some vets do not need to sedate the rabbit but it seems the best xrays and angles come from a sedated bunny. You are really knowledgeable, go with your gut feelings!

This sounds like great advice and I would also monitor whether it could be a respitory infection, which would require good anitibiotics.

However, is the bun having a colored discharge from the nose? That would indicate possible "infection" now. Even any "dischaarge" even clear or white is a concern for the bacteria.

Keep us posted. If you need a list of recommended Antibiotics, they are in our Library, but, I can scoop them up for you here, if needed.

Also: This could be an allergy or could be related.


Just going to post something one of our Veteran Mods (Randy) has said is this:

"Ask your vet to look into using Zithromax (Azithromycin). This drug is much more effective at controllingpasteurella than Baytril. Now this is all assuming that it is a bacterial infection...without that culture....there is no comfirmation, only guesses. If the condition doesn't clear up....just looking at the teeth is not sufficient. The problem would most likely be a root problem which would require radiology to see. Dental problems often present themselves as a possible upper respiratory issue or even an ocular (eye) infection. Buns with flat faces...particularly Holland Lops and Netherland Dwarfs....seem to be more prone to this but we have seen it in all breeds.

As far as allergies...some vets have used antihistimines...and I have used steroids from time to time. There is significantrisk involved in these types of drugs and I would generally not consider them unless absolutely necessary. I would really like to see a nasal culture here to prove or disprove an infection."

I would recommend getting a swab test done, a culture (for possible infection), to see what needs to be done. Thevet will know at that point, what is best.

Keeps us posted!