breathing funny?

[rabbitgirl]

Well, it's hot and muggy today, thekindof day that's a harbinger of tornados to come. Not abreath of wind, and already hot at 9 am.

So my problem is:

Went out to feed today, and everyone's kind of lethargic and breathingfast, nothing abnormal for a warm day. Except Pandemonium's breathingpretty noisily, mostly when she gets excited. Keep in mind, hernormal respiration is much faster than any of the others, and Idon't know why. Always has been. And Izzy and Pandemonium tend tosqueak/wheeze (odd whistly noises) when they get excited.

I put my head on her side (she bit my hat), and her breathing, whilemore rapid, sounded much like Izzy's, not congested or anything. She'sbouncing around begging, but she is making a lot of noise.Especially when washing.

So I'm not sure if I'm just being over-paranoid, or if this is aHolland thing, or the heat, or something else altogether. Any ideas?Pam, you raise Hols....what do you think?

Thanks!

Rose

 

[naturestee]

husband here. Loki our dutch bunnymakes a faint squeeking when he breathes normally and his whole headbobs back and forth. We thought it was just his being overweight, but he is losing weight and not improving so we are taking himto the vet for a checkup this week. there is another postabout this whole thing. Will let you know what the vet saysabout ours.

 

Rose canyou bring her in ,mayeb the air conditioneror fans will slow down thebreathing and hopefully calmdown the wheezingwatch her closelywith her age and allergies Iwould watch her for heartstress . Same as NaturesTeesrabbit andmaybe get her tothe vets for a check up. keep me posted please !!!!!nothing can happen to myPandi!!!!!!!!!!!! My prayers arewith you and Pandi.

 

[sfritzp]

Nick, my Holland, has always had rapid breathing, too.
When I first go him, I was very concerned, because I knew when Checkersbreathed like that, it meant she was in pain or some distress.
So I called his foster mom and asked. She said he always breathes like that.
And - she was right. He always does.
Perhaps it does go with the breed?

 

[rabbitgirl]

gypsy wrote:

Rose canyou bring her in ,mayeb the air conditioneror fans will slow down thebreathing and hopefully calmdown the wheezingwatch her closelywith her age and allergies Iwould watch her for heartstress . Same as NaturesTeesrabbit andmaybe get her tothe vets for a check up. keep me posted please !!!!!nothing can happen to myPandi!!!!!!!!!!!! My prayers arewith you and Pandi.

It's been done. She's eating and wants to come out, but she gets real noisy when she gets excited and smells me.

darn local vets....can't even call them....don't want to lose another one to a stupid mistake!

Rose

 

awwwwHon, I feel sobad Poor Pandi ,Poor You , I hear ya about notwanting to go to anunexperienced vet ,As long as she is init will be alrighttill she can see herClever Vet tomorrow , I wish Icould advise letting her out fora little timebut I would be afraidshe would over do it andmake her self very Sick ..Mybe aftershe hascalmed a little from beinginside you could let her out toplay for a little bit . Iwouldnt let her over do it,but a little exercisemight actually do some good.

 

[rabbitgirl]

I hate this. I have no one to take her to, soI'm on my own. It's so frustrating. All I can do is my best guess. Andthere's not much I can do.

She's wheezing quite a bit, but is very active. No rattle in herchest....wonder if there's something stuck in her nose....she wants toexplore, and doesn't seem to have slowed down.

Can they get asthma, I wonder? That's what it sounds like, except shedoesn't seem distressed by it. A bit hyperactive, but that's normal.She's not sick, still eating and drinking and pooping. Smokey and Fennywheeze in the winter, then it goes away when the weather warmsup....Pandemonium never showed signs of allergies like Fen but they canpop up anytime, I guess.

I have the awful helpless feeling I'm going to lose her. With hergenetic mix-up, who knows what's wrong internally....wonder if it couldbe her heart, but why is she so bouncy? She just had a falsepregnancy....

hang on! maybe that's it....she's acting like Tank!

Is there such a thing as false labor? She's jumpy and touchy, pullingfur, breathing loudly through her mouth, keeps doing something to herbelly, and she was just fine yesterday.

oh man, I'm just trying to sort the thoughts in my head....

Rose

 

[rabbitgirl]

Well, I have no idea what's wrong with her. It's frustrating.

But....

Iput her back outside. She was begging, whimpering, to getoutof the carrier downstairs. She was sitting with her frontfeet propped on the water dish, as close to the door as possible, andnearly shoved me out of the way when I opened the door. When I closedit again she started whimpering and pushing her forehead against thedoor and my hand. I couldn't stand it. It's not too bad outside anymore.

There's a gesture that is peculiarly Pandmonium. She bounces up on herfront feet and shakes her head until her skin ripples all the way downto her tail. It means all's right in her world.

I let her out into her own cage, and sure enough, she gives that littleshudder and shoots all around the cage. It's weird how that's the onlyplace she doesn't look blind. She wasn't happy out of it.

Her breathing is nearly normal until excited. Then it escalates to asnorting whistleuntil shecalms down again. She'sgot diarrhea, or the soft cecotrope problem, can't tell which, butthat's a recent thing. Fed oatmeal and raspberry leaves, which she atequite happily. Left her snuggling an ice bottle and looking actuallyquite content.

No, something's still not quite right, but I've seen buns in pain andshe isn't. She's sitting straight and proud, eating, running, begging,chinning me, biting me, wanting scratchies. If it weren't for thatstrange noise.....Izzy's snorting too but that's normal....

Wish I had someone who could look at her and say, that's what's wrong.My head's running round with could be's, and the sad thing is,I'm the local expert, so who do Igotowhen baffled?:?

Anyway, I hate it when they're sick. It's such a helpless feeling. But I've done the best I know how, and am praying.

Rose

 

Rose Hon Calm down Im here for you .

What it is beginingto sound like is exceriseinduced Asthma believe it or not, Does it only get worse whenshe is excited orheat stressed ? Does it happenwhen she is just relaxing? Haveyou switched Hay ,is itDustier than normal , Feed ? samequestion , Introduced any new foods ?Is anything other than theWeather changed at all ? Are youoverly Stressed ? I knowI am grasping at straws here butthere has to be an explinationhere somewhere , I am going toPm you my Im screennames hopefully you will haveone I have ,.....

 

[rabbitgirl]

gypsy wrote:

Rose Hon Calmdown Im here for you .

What it is beginingto sound like is exceriseinduced Asthma believe it or not, Does it only get worse whenshe is excited orheat stressed ? Does it happenwhen she is just relaxing? Haveyou switched Hay ,is itDustier than normal , Feed ? samequestion , Introduced any new foods ?Is anything other than theWeather changed at all ? Are youoverly Stressed ? I knowI am grasping at straws here butthere has to be an explinationhere somewhere , I am going toPm you my Im screennames hopefully you will haveone I have ,.....

thanks gypsy....I don't have an IM account, too slow with typing.

Yes! That does sound right. I didn't know if they could get it. Momheard her and thought the same. It does get worse when excited and heatstressed. When she's relaxing today, her breathing is rapid andslightly audible, but not muchmore than the others. I havenoticed that her normal breathing pattern is more rapid over the years.Her mum makes the same sounds when excited, but breathes slowly andirregularly (I am careful to monitor breathing patterns--that's hernormal one, she has slight apnea). Today both Izzy and Pandemonium madethe same snorting whistles but Pandemonium was much louder.

There's something in the air, Fen is sneezing and my nose is stuffy and I'm sneezing like mad too.

No new food, but it can be dusty towards the bottom of the bag. Theweather is heavy and the air is thick, hard to breathe. This morningwhen she was worse, there was no wind at all. Yes, I've been stressed,and we had a killer storm yesterday. The town looks like it exploded.Fires, trees down, flooding, no power in some places, the big storesare shut down. Lightning hit the TV tower. The street signs are bentfrom the wind.

thank God this is sounding familiar to someone.Tell me moreaboutasthma, and have you ever seen it in a rabbit?

you're a lifesaver!

Rose

 

I havehav'nt seen actual Asthma in arabbit but , I have seen it incats and dogs , I doknow having stress/ exercise inducedAsthma myself what can triggerit and the tighttsounding in the chest . After allwhat you described witht hestorms it may have blown in allsorts of allergins and triggeredit , as well asstress and She may have gottento running around, Bad stormslike that do weird things toanimals andthey litterally can runthemselves to death , Even in asmall enclosed area .

If your going to callthe Vet tomorrow askhim what he thinksabout her having Asthma , hemay be able to prescribe atreatment for her thatsinexpensive , OH I know trythis If possible , Do you havea cool mist humidifier ? ifso set it out with her blowingover her cage notinto it and see ifthe airways open ip . what your listeningfor is a relaxed breathing , nowheezing no squeely noise , If thattakes care of the problem itis an asthma. a warmmist humidifier willmake the problem worse , IE:Humid weather , but coolshould relax her brochial tubes enoughto help her breathe normally .

 

[rabbitgirl]

She's doing ok out there. The cooler humidweather....much better. I think you're right. The humidifier is a greatidea but won't work because I can't get electricity out that far. Idon't have one but might be able to borrow one and bring her in if itgets bad again. But I think tomorrow should be better weather.

She's actually quite alert, the others are pretty groggy. I thinkshe'll make it. Asthma, we can handle. Whew. Scary, it may be, but theother options were scarier. Pneumonia, it's not. She'd be a lot sicker.

am very grateful for the forum and appeal to rabbit owners to go to vet school!!

Rose

Rose

 

[Radar]

If you live in the south, it may get worse before it gets better. . .

Massive dust cloud heads to U.S.


If you live in the south, it may get worse before it gets better.

Saturday, July 23, 2005; Posted: 7:26 p.m. EDT (23:26 GMT)
MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- An enormous, hazy cloud of dust from the SaharaDesert is blowing toward the southern United States, but meteorologistsdo not expect much effect beyond colorful sunsets.

The leading edge of the cloud -- nearly the size of the continentalUnited States -- should move across Florida sometime from Mondaythrough Wednesday.

"This is not going to be a tremendous event, but it will be kind ofinteresting," said Jim Lushine, a severe weather expert with theNational Weather Service in Miami.

He said the dust could make sunrises and sunsets spectacular.

It might not have much effect on the rest of the country, said ScottKelly, a meteorologist with the weather service in Melbourne.

"Maybe south Texas or Mexico if that dust cloud keeps moving westward,but nothing north of Florida, unless a weather system can divesouthward and pull that air northward," he said.

Such dust clouds are not uncommon, especially at this time of year.They start when weather patterns called tropical waves pick up dustfrom the desert in North Africa, carry it a couple of miles into theatmosphere and drift westward.

If the dust is concentrated enough, it could create some problems forpeople with respiratory problems, said Ken Larson, a natural resourcespecialist with the Broward County Environmental Protection Department.

"If somebody is subject to a respiratory condition, if they see hazyskies, they might want to take a little more precaution, notparticipate in strenuous activity and stay indoors," Larson said.

 

[Carolyn]

Glad to hear that she's otherwise bouncy and herappetite is not effected, Rose. I'm sure she has proper ventilation andyou're careful with cooling her off and heat issues, but just as we getolder and have a hard time breathing in the humidity and in handlingthe heat, so can rabbits. She might be getting to the point where youwant to bring her in on such days. The pollen count is really high thistime of year too.

I agree completely with Gypsy that I wouldn't rule out asthma orallergies for that matter. Have them both myself and it's definitelybeen a rough week.

You haven't noticed this happening in the past, have you - in the winter and fall?

Fauna, who is a Holland Lop, breathes like that when I do her nails.She makes all kinds of wheezing sounds and quickly breathes through hernose. The minute I'm done, she is back to normal. (Can Panda-Bear turnit off and on like that?)

Yesterday, she handled me cleaning her up with such sounds. She alsohas soft cecotropes. I've been working with cutting down her pelletamounts and giving more grass hay. Also had learned that oats couldplay with their chemical balance as they age, and cut that out. Thingsgo okay, but she still gets the mushy cecotropes at times. Not like sheused to though.

-Carolyn


P.S. Very interesting notation, Radar.

 

[pamnock]

It's hard to say without actually hearing it,but to me it just sounds like a nasal noise (rhinitis) rather thanactual lung noise. It isn't unusual in Hollands orin rabbits that are overweight.

Pam

 

[dajeti2]

Pam, is it a Holland thing that some ofthem breathe so much faster than normal. Mitzy is that way, evenflopped she breathes faster than Norman. They are both healthy, shejust breathes faster.

Tina

 

[lyndsy]

Buster and Tucks are like that too. Tuckersometimes has a little squeek to his breathing after a run, but theyboth breathe REALLY fast, but are in perfect health...

:monkey::monkey:

 

[rabbitgirl]

Update....just ran out and she's doing quitewell. Carolyn, yes, she can turn it on and off like Fauna. She getspretty wound up when I'm around, well, you know what she's like! Fiveyrs. isn't old in my herd, generally speaking, so I still think of heras a young thing. But knowing she's fragile, and always has been, I'mkeeping an eye on her. My thoughts are that she'shad itbefore, but mildly, and today was just a much more severeversion.

Pam, she's definitely not overweight (one of my pet peeves!), but gladto hear it's a Holland thing. You're right, I can't hear any distressin her lungs when I put my head on her side.

Radar, I'm farther north than that dust cloud, but am guessing there is something in the air here too.

Sounds like the fast breathing in Hollands is quite common! I remember thinking Bub was slower overall--heart, breathing, etc.

Can't thank you all enough for your help, and listening! I'm fairlysure we're all on the right track, and that's comforting because I'mnot as worried about losing her.

Crisis over for now anyway. Biiig sigh of relief.

Rose

 

[Carolyn]

rabbitgirl wrote:

Carolyn, yes, she can turn it on and off like Fauna.
Rose

?

Can you say "Drama Queen"?

:foreheadsmack:

Keep us posted as to when you're hearing it the most, during emotion orweather. With her being able to turn it on and off like that, I'm quiteencouraged.

Will say a prayer for our little Panada-Girl just for safe keeping.

ray:

-Carolyn

 

[pamnock]

Smaller rabbits do have a more rabbit metabolism.

Pam