Sneezes and wet nose--please read!!

[swarning1222]

So I am losing my mind over here. My rabbits had an unexpected litter of babies almost 3 weeks ago now. Shortly after she had them she would have little sneezing fits. It was dry, only a couple times a day and it would only be like 3 quick little sneezes. Her nose has been very slightly wet around her nostrils. I started to get worried after a couple days of this but she seemed perfectly fine, no discharge, no behavior changes, everything seemed normal. And it has gone on like that since. She actually didn't seem to be sneezing as much, then I changed her litter box two days ago and she was sneezing like crazy, and since I've heard her sneeze many times before I went "omg duh it's the litter!!" (I use shredded Aspen bedding) but now it's been two days since I changed it and she isn't even in the same room as her litter box right now and she's sneezing. I noticed in the last couple days her nose seems a little wetter than usual and today I noticed her nose is whistling a little when she starts breathing fast. But it's still clear, no matting on her feed, she's eating like a pig, drinking and going to the bathroom fine. Her eyes and ears look good. No "snuffle" noises. She seems a little more stressed than normal but that started when I blocked off an area of the room for her and her babies instead of leaving her run of the whole room (they just started running around so I wanted to make sure they had a safe area!). Of course when I googled this before all you see is pasteurella and the snuffles and the horror stories that come with that. I am so scared of something happening to her and her 6 beautiful babies!! And I just keep thinking this has been going on for around 2 weeks, wouldn't it be much worse by now and the babies would be sick if it was something terrible? The babies couldn't be in more perfect health. And everytime I tell myself she's going to the vet she seems to get better. I've read when stuff like this happens you can give them Baytril, but a nursing mother? I will take her to the vet if it gets worse but the last thing I want to do is stress her out more. I would really appreciate some advice, or someone who has experienced this before!!

 

[squidpop]

And I just keep thinking this has been going on for around 2 weeks, wouldn't it be much worse by now and the babies would be sick if it was something terrible?

Basically yes, I think you are right, if it were something really horrible you would be seeing a white discharge from the mom and the babies would probably start sneezing too. So, although I would be worried, I wouldn't panic. It could be something much less harmful than Pasteurella, especially since you are not seeing a white discharge. She could have a hay particle stuck in her nose, or an allergy. It could also be a milder infection than pasteurella, a bacteria that is easily treatable might be irritating her sinuses. All you can do is take her to a vet and he can use his tools - ottoscope, stethoscope, to check for infection.

This same thing happened to one of my rabbits after she had babies- sneezing but not really that bad. it worsened over the course of a month and finally I did see a little bit of white snot after sneezing. At first my vet wouldn't even give antibiotics because he didn't see any white snot or anything up her nose when I brought her in. But after she kept doing it for another month I brought her in again and She did get given an antibiotic called Zithromax and it killed whatever bug she had in her nose and she never sneezed again. So, not all cases of sneezing wind up being as horrible and un-curable as you are led to believe when you read all the sites about snuffles- sometimes it can be treated easily.

 

[ZoeStevens]

It's probably not pasteurella, but if it is that isn't an automatic death sentence. My angora has it - well, he's not been tested, but all vets agree that's what he has. He is about four now and aside from occasional sneezes and boogers, he is fine. I know in the future he may have issues, but for now, he's a happy bunny and his companion keeps his face clean.

 

[swarning1222]

Thank you guys so much! This made me feel a lot better! It's weird, after I posted this and it seemed like it was getting worse it got a lot better, and it keeps happening like that. Zoe your other rabbit never got sick? That's the other weird part all of the babies are still fine and so is my male (not that they're aloud ANYWHERE near eachother now but I've read how contagious "snuffles" can be). I'm wondering if this somehow can be stress related. After having the babies and now that they're 3 weeks old the poor thing can't get away from them and its stressing her out!! I made a big area for all of them and put her cage in it thinking the side was high enough to keep them out but nope lol. Sometimes I go in there and she's just laying in her litter pan just about hyperventilating and won't even move for her pellets. But sometimes I go in and she's totally fine (usually if the babies are asleep and not bothering her) especially if I have veggies. I feel so bad but it's not like I can separate them. And she started grinding her teeth. I'm wondering if that can be stress related? But I've only heard her to it mostly when I pet her, I know they "purr" but I've never heard her do it and this seems very loud for that and it's just a real quick thing not like a continuous chatter. But I guess all bunnies could be different, maybe she's just happy to be getting attention from someone other than the little ones lol.
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[squidpop]

I know its been a couple days but I only just read your post. I know what you mean about your doe looking stressed an like she's hyper ventilating. My doe looked like that too, and I think part of it stems from the fact that really in nature they would not be so close to their babies. The natural thing for them to do is feed the babies and hop off into the woods somewhere so as not to attract predators to the nest and hide and eat and sneak back to feed. So really in nature they would not have their babies in such close proximity all the time. I think that is why they look so unhappy when their babies are jumping all over them and trying to feed from them when it isn't time yet. I also think sometimes when they look like they are breathing kind of hard they are probably having huge hormonal surges because they have to make so much milk and all that milk probably makes them feel hot and uncomfortable, poor things.

I actually do take my doe out of the cage for about 4-5 hours in between feedings and put her in the cage next door, I started doing this really because I needed to feed her greens and didn't want her 12 day old babies to eat the greens- so I'd put her in the cage by herself to eat the greens alone. Later I realised its a nice little break for her and she liked it being in the cage away from the babies. When I opened the cage door she could have hopped across the table over to the cage with her babies but she didn't, instead she would stay inside the spare cage and nap and nibble hay. Sometimes I also put her in the ex-pen to have a run around too.

 

[swarning1222]

Yes I think that's exactly what it is. I feel so bad sometimes I go in there and she just looks at me like please help me!! But she seems like she's getting a little more used to them hopping around, especially since they're mostly interested in eating pellets and hay now. I do take her out for part of the day and like you said she just naps most of the time like she's enjoying the peace and quiet. And I haven't heard the grinding since that one day, I think I'm just being totally paranoid now!! 🙈