Allergies?

[user 17782]

My buck has a runny nose and he sneezes. The stuff coming from his nose is NOT clear. It's sort of an off white color. His dropping are normal. He eats and drinks daily. His behavior seems normal. When I first got him all I had were pine shavings, and he had no symptoms until I change the bedding to hay. The two does have no runny noses or sneezing at all. Is it possible that he's just allergic to the hay? I took him to the vet and they have him antibiotics and they didn't do much. His sneezing and runny nose only cleared up a little bit. If I need to change his bedding, what should I try?

 

[JBun]

Clear discharge can be an indication of allergies, but with colored discharge, it means there is an infection. Did your vet do a culture and sensitivity test? It's possible the antibiotic you are using for your bun, isn't effective against whatever bacteria is affecting your rabbit.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm

 

[missyscove]

How long was he on antibiotics for, was a culture and sensitivity done?

I'l copy some of what I just posted in this thread about URIs in rabbits http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/upper-respiratory-infection-78330/


"Respiratory infections in rabbits can definitely be trying. My rabbit Cricket started sneezing ~ 4 weeks after I adopted her. She was on a course of baytril, had radiographs, then we did a culture and sensitivity and then she was on doxycycline for 6 months before we decided to stop the antibiotics and just see if she got worse. It's been about 5 months since then and I feel like her respiratory sounds are slightly increased again and may take her in again. We've also tried nebulization and a humidifier. Her bond mate, Watson, started sneezing about a month into her illness. We did a culture and sensitivity and started him on doxycycline right away and he improved pretty quickly.
Luckily I'm a vet student so I can get good follow up care whenever I want to by just talking with my faculty members.

I definitely recommend a culture and sensitivity. Baytril is a good broad spectrum antibiotic to start with, but some bacteria are resistant to it (one of Cricket's was!) and if you're lucky you may find a cheaper option that will work for you (Baytril was costing me ~$80/week and the Doxycycline was ~$50/month and they liked the taste of it)

They're really good at keeping themselves clean. It's important to check on the inside of their wrist area for signs of discharge as they'll wipe their noses before you can see anything.

We were able to do both radiographs and the culture swab without anesthetizing Cricket although we were willing to sedate or anesthetize if need be. Ask your vet if they feel comfortable doing the swab without anesthesia, but recognize that if they're not, anesthesia is much less risky than trying to restrain an uncooperative rabbit that might break their back.

Respiratory signs can also be associated with a thymoma which is a tumor in the chest. One other sign of this is that the pressure will make it so you often see their third eyelids, so that's something to consider (but Cricket's third eyelids are often visible and her radiographs were clear).

In summary, you do have to be prepared for a long route of treatment when dealing with a respiratory issue, but, in my opinion, there are also times when it's okay to let some symptoms slide in an otherwise healthy happy rabbit."