I originally posted this thread here: https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/emergency-vet-wont-take-bunny-she-has-a-cold.106959/ regarding my rabbit sneezing.
She was treated with antibiotics and once she was finished, she seemed almost completely back to normal, other than the fact that she never really stopped sneezing. Everything else has been normal...appetite, play, affection, pets, treats, cuddling with her bondmate, grooming, etc. We have called the vet multiple times since then, but she seems to want to stay as hands off as possible. At one point, my husband asked if it was okay to give her benadryl, and they said yes. The benadryl seems to help her symptoms, but I've only given her a very small number of doses over the past couple of weeks because I really don't know if it's safe to give super often. It makes her a little drowsy at first too. Like still definitely able to be roused, but wants to take a nap.
Her bondmate hasn't sneezed at all during his lifetime that I've ever seen, so does that mean what she has might be allergies and not infectious? I've completely stopped wearing perfume and scented body lotions and gotten rid of the febreeze plug-in things that we had, and I keep a cool mist humidifier running. I've also tried to vacuum up the hay dust in their feeder as much as I can.
One interesting thing I've tried that seems to work well but she doesn't like it is I'm using Vick's saline easy mist for kids. It comes with a mask, but she won't let me put that over her lol. I leave it on though in case it helps to direct the mist. But it's a super slow, very gentle saline mist that seems to help loosen up some of the snot. She usually doesn't notice it at first since I pet her at the same time, but after I hold it below her mouth/nose for maybe 20-30 sec, I usually hear a sort of bubbly, snuffly inhale from her. She'll realize that I'm doing something and kind of hop away, but she ends up sneezing a few times and getting a bunch of (wet) snot out. I then have to catch her so I can hold her still for a few seconds and try to gently wipe her nose/face off with a warm washcloth.
Most of the time, she seems more or less fine. Sometimes I think she's getting better because I don't notice anything for a while. But then I get lax on all the above treatments and she'll suddenly have a sneezing fit to the point of gagging, and when she gags I can see her mouth working away. It's very gross....she chews and swallows all of the snot and then poops it out. But aside from that, she really is perfectly fine. In fact, she'll sometimes be sneezing and sneezing and yet inhaling a bunch of hay like it's nothing. I've tried to get her to slow down a bit so she can stop sneezing first, but she doesn't really listen to me. There aren't symptoms in her eyes or anywhere else other than her nose. Her energy levels and desire to eat and play are normal. Her snot is a pale yellow-green color.
Anyways, just looking for suggestions on other things I could do to help and also whether you think I should try the vet again. And what I should say to her. We've tried asking for things like a second course of antibiotics, allergy meds, nebulizer treatment, or nasal rinse. She apparently doesn't want to clean out the rabbit's nostrils if they don't have to, because she's a bit undersized. I think she was the runt of the litter or something. They almost weren't going to spay her because of how tiny she was, but we got her to gain enough weight for them to agree to do it.
She was treated with antibiotics and once she was finished, she seemed almost completely back to normal, other than the fact that she never really stopped sneezing. Everything else has been normal...appetite, play, affection, pets, treats, cuddling with her bondmate, grooming, etc. We have called the vet multiple times since then, but she seems to want to stay as hands off as possible. At one point, my husband asked if it was okay to give her benadryl, and they said yes. The benadryl seems to help her symptoms, but I've only given her a very small number of doses over the past couple of weeks because I really don't know if it's safe to give super often. It makes her a little drowsy at first too. Like still definitely able to be roused, but wants to take a nap.
Her bondmate hasn't sneezed at all during his lifetime that I've ever seen, so does that mean what she has might be allergies and not infectious? I've completely stopped wearing perfume and scented body lotions and gotten rid of the febreeze plug-in things that we had, and I keep a cool mist humidifier running. I've also tried to vacuum up the hay dust in their feeder as much as I can.
One interesting thing I've tried that seems to work well but she doesn't like it is I'm using Vick's saline easy mist for kids. It comes with a mask, but she won't let me put that over her lol. I leave it on though in case it helps to direct the mist. But it's a super slow, very gentle saline mist that seems to help loosen up some of the snot. She usually doesn't notice it at first since I pet her at the same time, but after I hold it below her mouth/nose for maybe 20-30 sec, I usually hear a sort of bubbly, snuffly inhale from her. She'll realize that I'm doing something and kind of hop away, but she ends up sneezing a few times and getting a bunch of (wet) snot out. I then have to catch her so I can hold her still for a few seconds and try to gently wipe her nose/face off with a warm washcloth.
Most of the time, she seems more or less fine. Sometimes I think she's getting better because I don't notice anything for a while. But then I get lax on all the above treatments and she'll suddenly have a sneezing fit to the point of gagging, and when she gags I can see her mouth working away. It's very gross....she chews and swallows all of the snot and then poops it out. But aside from that, she really is perfectly fine. In fact, she'll sometimes be sneezing and sneezing and yet inhaling a bunch of hay like it's nothing. I've tried to get her to slow down a bit so she can stop sneezing first, but she doesn't really listen to me. There aren't symptoms in her eyes or anywhere else other than her nose. Her energy levels and desire to eat and play are normal. Her snot is a pale yellow-green color.
Anyways, just looking for suggestions on other things I could do to help and also whether you think I should try the vet again. And what I should say to her. We've tried asking for things like a second course of antibiotics, allergy meds, nebulizer treatment, or nasal rinse. She apparently doesn't want to clean out the rabbit's nostrils if they don't have to, because she's a bit undersized. I think she was the runt of the litter or something. They almost weren't going to spay her because of how tiny she was, but we got her to gain enough weight for them to agree to do it.
.
