Bunny's body acting weird. Need help figuring it what it is

[daelithal]

Hello. This is actually my first post and I decided to register because I couldn't find anything (perhaps I didn't think about the right keywords) about my problem.
I'm a new bunny owner and I'm pretty much stressed out by literally everything I suspect is wrong with them. I also, sadly, live in a country where finding a vet that actually knows anything about bunnies is incredibly hard.
Anyway, I have two dwarf bunnies and what bothers me is that they both have damp noses and sneeze pretty often, especially one (sometimes it's loud too, I can hear it.. not only see the movement). I took them to the vet.. but he doesn't have things needed for a culture, so we're stuck. I'm thinking of asking for an X-ray and blood tests, at least.
What brings me here is something else though. A few days ago I noticed some weird butt movement, like an involuntary jump. Today I saw it three times already and it worries me. He eats and drinks normally and produces decent poop, but I can't shake the feeling something's wrong.
I'll attach a link with a video I took today, maybe one of you could help me and tell me what it is. I'll take him to the vet tomorrow anyway, but I don't really trust him anymore. Everytime we went he barely checked them and strictly looked at the things I complained about, like their ears. He doesn't have medicine for pineworms either and sent me to the pharmacy, but I'm afraid to give them random stuff. And I can't vaccinate them since we're not sure they're healthy. I'm constantly agitated because I'm afraid I'll lose them suddenly without knowing the cause.
I should mention I had them for about 2 months now and I estimate they are about 6 months old.
Anway, here's the link: http://imgur.com/gallery/faDrh8A

Thank you very much!

 

[JBun]

To me it looks like he's straining to urinate or maybe has gas discomfort. The straining to urinate would likely be from calcium build up in the bladder. Have you noticed any thick pasty or creamy discharge in his urine? Or any signs of blood in the urine? Have you noticed any lack of appetite, belly pressing(not the usual relaxed bunny flop), sitting hunched and lethargic for long periods of time, or grinding teeth, particularly if any of this is occurring not long after eating?
http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bladder_sludge_and_stones

With the damp noses, do they have a dusty environment, dusty hay, shavings or other dusty litter, or strong scents in their environment? Are you seeing clear discharge, or is it white or colored at all? Is there any noisy breathing? Did the vet try and treat them with antibiotics at all, and if so which one?

 

[daelithal]

Thanks a lot for replying.
I actually do see some pasty white stuff that's dried when I clean his litter box (I do it daily). No blood or anything of that sort, thankfully. The other's pee leaves stains like that too, but there's no such movement. Perhaps I'll get them both checked. And he does press his belly to the floor, but I'm checking it quite often and don't feel like it's bloated/hard. I'm considering giving him something for this, just to be sure. I've read about simethicone often. He usually flops or extends his back legs, but lately it looks like he's pressing the belly and keeping the feet tucked for a while, then extends them (I don't really know how to explain this, sorry).
His appetite seems fine, super excited when hearing any bag noise and running after me. Also, he's eating hay with no problems. I'm checking on them often to make sure they eat and drink water. They haven't binkied that much lately, but they still run around and explore, it may be the heat (I have the AC on and also monitor the temperature. I'm pretty paranoid).
They tend to grind their teeth before falling asleep, but it's never noisy or last long. I read that it's pretty loud if they're in pain... So I hope that's not the case.
There is some dust around because we live in an apartment that wasn't greatly designed and it's on the last floor. No matter how much you clean, it's back quickly. The discharge is clear and I can only feel it if they press their noses to me and sometimes it seems to go away for short periods of time. Their breathing seems fine, no noises and they don't seem to struggle. What bothers me is the noise that accompanies some sneezes. And yes, they were given enrofloxacin for 5 days, but nothing changed. Then he said to give them vitamins and enrofloxacin for 2-3 days again, but no change whatsoever. The one in the video sneezes daily. There are no longer sneezing fits, at some point that happened too, but back then it wasn't daily. When the heat came, he started sneezing only once at a time, but more often and daily.

 

[John Wick]

For the sneezing, I would try a different antibiotics if what you're using isn't working. It's pretty common for rabbits to have upper respiratory infections (URIs), and many vets do either a culture or just trial and error various antibiotics bro figure out which works for the particular infection type the rabbit has. Different bacteria react to different antibiotics, so if your rabbit has a URI, it could be that Baytril (brand name of what you're currently using) doesn't affect whatever bacteria is causing the sneezing. For my rabbit, we tried bactrim first, then Baytril. Bactrim did nothing, and Baytril did a little bit, but stopped improving things long term. In reaction, we added injected penicillin with the oral Baytril, and that combo did the trick for my rabbit's URI.

All that said, signs of a URI would be sneezing getting worse over time and colored nasal discharge as it develops. Not all vets do cultures -- my vet did not have access to cultures, but trial and error with rabbit-safe medications isn't a bad route. Also, cultures can be very easily contaminated and wrong.

... As for the butt movement, is the rabbit in the video neutered? It reminds me of a tail movement my rabbit started dojng after his testicles descended and I suspect he was getting excited... But unsure what motion he wanted to do.

 

[daelithal]

Oh, thank you. I'm going to talk to him tomorrow about what you said and try a different treatment. I'll ask him to look closely at their noses, he never did, even though I mentioned it a lot. He kept saying to be careful with dusty hay, which I do. It's a struggle sometimes to check their noses because they never sit still for long, so I do it often and follow them around, haha. At least at the vet they're slightly more timid.
They aren't neutered yet. The vet is hesitant because of the anesthesia it requires and the risks (I might go to some exotic specialists in another city for this, after I make sure it's worth the car ride). Last time he couldn't find the testicles while looking, but was pretty sure they're both male. I'm going to ask him to look again. Tbh, if it's actually that.. I'd be relieved.

 

[John Wick]

Based on the information you're giving, I would recommend strongly to find a new exotic vet.

A vet who says a neuter is risky due to anesthesia for a rabbit and weighs that enough to dissuade people from neutering their rabbits is more likely to be inexperienced with rabbits. Rabbit neuters are very common now and are such a routine procedure. There are unfortunate cases of death by anesthesia, but remember that people are more likely to post publicly when things go wrong than when things go right, so it may seem like a lot.

Also, if this vet is somewhat inexperienced, they may not be the best one to try trial and error medication with. He/she may not know how long to try the medication for, what doses work, what can be used, etc.. It looks like the vet gave you Baytril for about a week, but the minimum course for URI antibiotics is 2 weeks, because they are notoriously difficult to treat. There's always the chance your vet was just trying to see if it would help first before giving you the full course, but just keep that in mind. On the extreme end, it took 5 months total to cure my rabbit's URI (2 weeks on bactrim; no improvement, 2 weeks on Baytril; minor improvement but it plateau'd, and the rest of the time was penicillin injections and Baytril orally). That's much longer than usual though. But in either case, having a vet you're comfortable with and who is informed is really important.

 

[John Wick]

As for a nose examination, there's not much that can be seen, except with the discharge is colored or if there's an obvious piece of hay in there. Like in humans, if you're sick, your nose is just gonna be irritated and stuffed, which is not super significant to visually confirm in a tiny rabbit nose. I'd be more attentive to the symptoms presented.

 

[John Wick]

And lastly, are the rabbits separated? I'm wondering if you were informed about rabbit bonding (not breeding; bonding) when you received them.

 

[daelithal]

I'm considering searching for a new one, yes. It's so hard in my country and city to find one. I managed to find two people in another city about 2h away that supposedly are specialized in exotics, so I'm thinking of contacting them. The current vet mentioned one because he wanted to ask her what can I give them in order to deworm them, but she wasn't in the country at that moment. I thought he'd be better since he had treated rabbits previously, but I fear it was like.. one-two rabbits and didn't expect me to be so... Involved. Even my boyfriend is getting tired of me stressing out and wanting to get them checked and treated. We went to the vet A LOT and most of the time left just as confused (not the first time tho. One of them had a closed eye due to discharge that built up when we weren't around for 3 days and the treatment he gave us got rid of it in less than 3 days, so we were pleased...) But he never did a full body check-up even when I insisted and I'm starting to think he doesn't really know what to look for. If I said I suspected mites, he checked their ears and that's all, despite me also talking about the sneezing. I discovered that the discharge in one's case is slightly yellowish, without being thick, so now I'm even more worried. Last time I saw that the vet has a small book with a list of medications and what are they used for, first being enrofloxacin. I did some research online and found other antibiotics that could work with low risks, but I don't remember him mentioning them. And since he couldn't do a culture, he gave me.. nothing for them. I know he helped a bunny with kidney stones, so I guess I could trust him with that, but I often feel he doesn't take me seriously. He refused payment for the moment, until we're supposed to vaccinate them, but shows no interest in figuring out their health problems in order to be able to vaccinate.
Also, on the medication (baytril) it said that for rabbits the treatment is 5 days, idk why. But it certainly didn't do much over that period.
Regarding their noses, that's true. But I want someone else to look at the discharge colour and confirm, since you can't really tell just with your eyes due to the colour of the fur. I used a q-tip and touched the area around one's nose (Pikachu, not the one in the video) and I discovered the colour. I also tried it with the other one and it was clear, despite him being the one that sneezes often. I suspect he has some allergies too, he was on the bed and randomly started sneezing after I cleaned something around.
They're separated now. Sadly, I wan't informed and read too late about it. I hoped that since they seemed to like each other and slept together and even started grooming one another, there would be no problems. I was wrong though. A few days ago they fought and since then, the one in the video (Luna, haha. We hoped it's a girl and now we both got used to the name) is in the bedroom with us. They can still see each other and there are no signs of agression, but I'm taking no risks. He became territorial and he may have been the one that started it, despite being the one that also got hurt. He started chinning everything that has the other's smell on it, which he didn't before. It's also obvious he's marking stuff. And sadly, that includes the bed, which annoys my boyfriend. It's one problem after the other, but I don't want to get rid of any of them and I want to try to bond them after neutering them.

 

[daelithal]

Something just happened and it really made me worry.
One rabbit's eye suddenly rolled all the way back and I saw the whole white thing, then returned to normal. I've been following him around to see if it happens again and it didn't, but I'm going to keep an eye on him. I feel like I did something wrong and every little dormant bacteria or who knows what else is showing. The idea of possibly losing them so soon and without any proper information on what's wrong terrifies me.