Morchall
Well-Known Member
My giant papillon Gus has some problems!
(I put an * next to questions I have.)
Every few months or so, he starts getting wet eyes, and starts scratching them a lot.
Sometimes it even leads to him getting sores around his eyes because he won't leave them alone.
He also starts getting sneezing fits, where he just sneezes over and over for a solid 30-45 seconds at a time.
We've taken him to the vet several times for this over the past 2 years. They have checked his teeth and haven't found any dental problems.
At this point, they are familiar with him, so they usually just prescribe him an antibiotic for upper respiratory infection.
We figured maybe it was his hay, so while ago we switched from using hay from a local farm, to hay we got from the rabbit rescue, to store-bought Oxbow timothy hay. We've been using the oxbow for over 6 months now.
It's a LOT more expensive for two giant rabbits who eat a lot of hay, but we've made room in our budget for it.
We shake/filter the hay as well as we can before giving it to him to try and get dust out of it.
But he just keeps getting these problems.
*The timing (every few months, but hasn't happened in winter, usually sneezing happens midday) makes me wonder if it's possible for a rabbit to have seasonal allergies?
He is indoors, but we use window AC units, so I wonder if something from outside is getting in and bothering his sensitive little nose.
*If not that, then I was wondering if anyone knows a way to get dust out of hay other than trying to just shake it out well?
*Also, should I try bugging the vet more to see if they can investigate the problem further?
The only problem is that vet bills are a bit out of our budget right now unless it's an emergency.
This is why they usually prescribe the medicine without an office visit now.
I'm a little concerned about continuing to give him antibiotics every time though, and would like to prevent this from happening in the future.
They are giving us another bottle of the antibiotic but I haven't gotten it yet. I can't remember if it's difloxacin or doxycycline, but it's one of those.
(I put an * next to questions I have.)
Every few months or so, he starts getting wet eyes, and starts scratching them a lot.
Sometimes it even leads to him getting sores around his eyes because he won't leave them alone.
He also starts getting sneezing fits, where he just sneezes over and over for a solid 30-45 seconds at a time.
We've taken him to the vet several times for this over the past 2 years. They have checked his teeth and haven't found any dental problems.
At this point, they are familiar with him, so they usually just prescribe him an antibiotic for upper respiratory infection.
We figured maybe it was his hay, so while ago we switched from using hay from a local farm, to hay we got from the rabbit rescue, to store-bought Oxbow timothy hay. We've been using the oxbow for over 6 months now.
It's a LOT more expensive for two giant rabbits who eat a lot of hay, but we've made room in our budget for it.
We shake/filter the hay as well as we can before giving it to him to try and get dust out of it.
But he just keeps getting these problems.
*The timing (every few months, but hasn't happened in winter, usually sneezing happens midday) makes me wonder if it's possible for a rabbit to have seasonal allergies?
He is indoors, but we use window AC units, so I wonder if something from outside is getting in and bothering his sensitive little nose.
*If not that, then I was wondering if anyone knows a way to get dust out of hay other than trying to just shake it out well?
*Also, should I try bugging the vet more to see if they can investigate the problem further?
The only problem is that vet bills are a bit out of our budget right now unless it's an emergency.
This is why they usually prescribe the medicine without an office visit now.
I'm a little concerned about continuing to give him antibiotics every time though, and would like to prevent this from happening in the future.
They are giving us another bottle of the antibiotic but I haven't gotten it yet. I can't remember if it's difloxacin or doxycycline, but it's one of those.
