Snuffles?

[RabbitGirl321]

I have what I think could be a possible snuffles case in some of my rabbits... I noticed 3 days ago one of my rabbits ("Blue") had a bit of a runny nose and sneezed once or twice, so to be safe I moved her away from all my other rabbits, disinfected her cage and washed my hands real good with soap before handling/feeding/watering any other rabbits. But later that night, one of my baby hotots in the litter I've been trying to get since last fall, also had a runny nose and I didn't see him sneeze that day but there was a few times where he'd tilt his head slightly back. Next day, saw his mom sneeze a couple times and have a bit of nasal discharge, but haven't heard her sneeze or seen where she's had a runny nose since. NOTE: The hotots are not in the same area as Blue, and haven't ever been around her. They are in our house as that's where I bring the polish and hotots when they are bred and nursing. End note. Also had another doe, the one who was in the cage below Blue, who I noticed had a small amount of nasal discharge on Thursday, so I did the same with her as Blue just in case, separated her from the others and disinfected her cage. Just a little bit later she looked perfectly fine, and I thought maybe I was just over re-acting and stupidly, I put her back in her old cage because I had no where else to put her. Couples hours go by, I look at her, and she has nasal discharge on her legs and face, so I quickly repeated what I'd already done once with her, seeing I wasn't just crazy before when I thought she had some discharge. Oddly though, she was perfectly fine every time yesterday when I looked at her, no nasal discharge or anything what so ever, and today she had a very small amount where you could just barely tell her fur below her nose was wet for a little bit, but has mainly been perfectly normal, and I've not seen her sneeze a single time throughout all this. Blue however, looked horrid today. She didn't look as bad yesterday as she has been looking but today she's got stuff all over her face and front legs, getting me to REALLY think I could be dealing with snuffles now. The hotot mom however is perfectly fine still, and the baby is the same as he has been the whole time aside from I do think I've caught him sneezing a couple times, his sisters are both fine as well.

Any ideas, is this is a case of snuffles or not? If so, what should I do? Espeically with Blue? Is there any way of even knowing for sure it's snuffles without a vet testing them? Because I don't have a vet that deals with rabbits around here. I always thought they had a thick white discharge with snuffles, and sneezed A LOT, but nobody is sneezing much (as said, the one doe hasn't sneezed at all) and too me the discharge seems more yellow in color? At least on the baby hotot and Blue. I have no idea what's going on, any help is appreciated!

Below is a picture of "Blue". The one who looks the worst, and was the one who started all this. None of the others look half as bad as she does.

 

[majorv]

Any color but clear indicates an infection. You should get Blue to a vet and try to get him tested. It doesn't sound good that the others are showing symptoms though. What color is their discharge?

 

[RabbitGirl321]

As said in my post, we do not have a vet that deals with rabbits around us. Not sure what color it is on the one doe, it's not yellow I can tell you that much, she's white too though (mostly) so unless I ever catch them with a lot of it it's hard for me to tell if it's really clear or white... but right now I'm leaning towards clear?

 

[RabbitGirl321]

Since I can't edit guess I will make a separate reply... Honestly, I'm not even 100% sure if Blue's discharge is yellow, could just be her fur is stained and makes it appear that way. She does have a lot of pee stains on her after all, but whether it's yellow or not, pretty sure it's at least white and not clear.

 

[majorv]

Even white isn't good. I can't offer any help, sorry. Only a vet can prescribe the antibiotics they would need. I know you wouldn't like the alternative.

 

[rrrhinelander]

Looks like you have an advanced case on your hands. Antibiotics for rabbits are pretty deadly and all the research I have done on snuffles is that they only help minimally if at all. Pasturella is apparently really hard to kill.

I purchased a new bunny and she had a little bit of a runny nose, sneezing and mouth breathing. After a bunch of research, I started treating her holistically. For 30 days I did 3 drops Grapefruit seed extract in her water bowl, 1 capsule echinacea over her pellets in the morning and 10 drops organic raw apple cider vinegar in her water as well. Her water was refreshed daily.

I'd have to say within 1 week she was doing remarkably better, no runny nose and only sneezing occasionally. She is doing amazingly now and even has her spunk back. Total cost me $25, as i already had the apple cider vinegar, and for her was totally worth it. If you can't get her to a vet, I would definitely treat EVERY rabbit you have with SOMETHING. I definitely would do this for at least 30 days with any new rabbit before introducing them to your herd. Hope this helps.

 

[RabbitGirl321]

Thanks for your comments, Blue surprisingly looks a lot better tonight... almost like her old self. None of the other rabbits have really changed, they all still either look perfectly fine or the one who did have runny noses switch between look perfectly fine and just having a tiny bit of wetness under their nose. I haven't actually done anything for them though yet, as I wasn't sure what to do... only thing I've done different is I've given Blue and the others who've had runny noses off and on some English Plantain the last 2 days. So rather surprised Blue looks so much tonight, surely the EP isn't helping that much? I'll have to keep in mind what you said Rhinelander. I had never been worried about keeping new rabbits separate from the others before though as I've only ever bought from good breeders, my polish all come from the 2 top polish breeders around aside from 2 of them, and 1 was my very first show/breeder rabbit I ever got. Hotots and harlequins all come from good breeders... so never figured there was much reason to worry, and the only new rabbit I've gotten recently seems perfectly fine. It's just funny to me since Blue has never left the property since we bought her, I can't figure out where this really came from or how. Assuming it is actually Pasturella, I'm hoping I can find a nearby vet who can take a sample and have it tested to see exactly what is going on. I would think if this was Pasturella that my other rabbits would all be like Blue, and that they would only get worse if nothing was done, not better like Blue is... that's what's confusing me. But, I've never dealt with this and don't know anybody who has either, so I have no idea just how the rabbits act or anything throughout this...

 

[rrrhinelander]

I'm not so sure either as I only have 1 rabbit at a time and she's still very young. Just figured it can't hurt. From what I've read, pasturella is present in every rabbit's nasal cavities and affects them when in times of stress/illness/weakness/etc. So she wouldn't have to leave the premises to have a reaction/condition. I'm glad Blue looks better. I'd definitely keep an eye on her.

 

[RabbitGirl321]

Ahh I see, interesting. I always thought it could only really show up if you had your rabbits around a sick rabbit at a show or something...

Sooo... Blue was apparently pregnant, I really hadn't thought she was bred but I did have a nestbox in with her, mainly because it was with her when she got sick and I didn't feel like dealing with it so I just left it with her, and good I did I guess. She had 12 babies... 1 was dead, others were alive but we got rid of all but 4 as I really don't have the room for 11 more rabbits right now and they weren't showable, and plus I don't want 11 babies on Blue if she's sick... frankly I don't want her to have any babies right now, I'm worried that they'll all just get sick too. =/ I guess I should put a nestbox in with the other harlequin doe, Ladybug, real fast too just in case... she's one of the other ones sick though. But she's been acting and looking the best out of all the sick ones though, never has sneezed as far as I know, only ever had a small amount of wetness under her nose if anything at all, often just looks like any normal healthy rabbit still. So I'm hoping maybe she doesn't actually have snuffles... or it's so mild that maybe I can get rid of it somehow.

On the other hand, another one of my baby hotots is sick, and of course it's the other one I really liked... while I don't want any of them sick, I would've preferred the brood quality one was the sick one instead of the 2 I really really had wanted to keep.

As for the vet, we were going to call ours this morning to see if he could possibly test for snuffles... but we lost his number, so going to have to find his number now first. Guess I couldn't have taken Blue in now anyways though since she had babies.

 

[Buns4Life_Cinder]

I didn't have a vet around me either but there was only one choice so I took my rabbit to a cat/dog vet( sometimes he does rabbits but very rarely) and he said she had the snuffels so your best chance is to take them to a nearby vet.

 

[Buns4Life_Cinder]

SIGNS OF THE SNUFFELS:
Runny nose
Discharge on paws or under nose
Matted fur on paws or around head
Tilted head
Running eyes
Rabbit may be drooling
BTW: There are different cases of the snuffels. You should take Blue in and any of the other ones with these symptoms. There are more than just these symptoms. Trust me I went through the snuffels twice my rabbit now has been getting over them but she is still sneezing. But sometimes rabbits just sneeze.

 

[RabbitGirl321]

UPDATE
I am SO upset. I was giving all the rabbits some English Plantain everyday, because it seemed to really be helping get rid of their snuffles as well prevent the other who didn't have it yet from getting it. I waited sooo long for the English plantain behind my rabbit house to grow and was picking it from tiny plants in the meantime wherever I could find it. I finally had to grown to just where I wanted it, and was going to start picking it for the rabbits as well as pick a bunch of it to dry and store, and then I wake up this morning and mom had mowed it all down. I am so freaking p****ed at her. Like really? She mowed down the other good section I had of it in the pasture too even, then when I yelled at her she started mowing around it but by then all the good EP was gone, what was left, what she was now avoiding, was the EP that wasn't as good of quality and not even worth my time to pick. Guess it's going to HAVE to be worth my time to pick it now, since it's all I have... ugh... I freaking hate people! There was literally no reason to mow it down, it was back there where nobody whatsoever walks or sees aside from myself, and she didn't even bag what she mowed to feed to the horses. I don't know why she thought it was a good idea to do that!

On another note, the rabbits are doing pretty well. The baby hotots still don't seem much better, and still are sneezing with runny noses, but the other rabbits have all stopped sneezing and normally don't have a runny nose either, every now and then they still have a very slight runny nose but for the most part they seem very well! Aside from Blue, she still always has a runny nose but I never did hear her sneeze yesterday, which is something she normally does quite a bit. Unfortunately, she would not feed any of her babies but 1. So we lost all them but that 1. I hope my English Plantain will grow back soon so I can still give it to them...