does anybody know about rabbits having a stuffy nose?

[ani-lover]

a few months ago domino had a stuffynose, we didnt know exactly what it was but i tried this cheap kind ofmedicine and it helped to get rid of his problem. I used marshalls pet: Peters rabbit Rx and it requires warming up until luke warm and thenyou have to put some into the rabbits nostrills.

 

[naturestee]

I wouldn't use that stuff again. Theonly info I've been able to find on it is that it treats the symptomsof upper respiratory problems. That means it covers up thesymptoms without doing anything to treat the problem.

Rabbits usually either get stuffy noses from bacterial infections orallergies/problems with dust. Was your hay more dusty thannormal? If you can't trace it to an obvious source of dust,then the rabbit should be brought in to a vet who will most likelyprescribe antibiotics (which actually kill the infection and don't justcover up the symptoms) and may or may not do a culture to find out whatthe exact bacteria is. Many vets simply prescribe a commonantibiotic and only do a culture if it doesn't help.

Respiratory infections, often called "snuffles" or "Pasteurella" aftera common bacterial culprit, can be highly infectious. Somerabbits only need to be treated once and then will be fine, whileothers will have reoccurences over the rest of their lives that requiretreatment. Severe cases can lead to death, especially if leftuntreated.

You can read more about it in the Rabbit Health References threadRunnyNose