Is this an infection ?

[user 25471]

My 7 month old Holland Lop has sneezed a few times over the past week , not frequently - but twice ( 3 days apart ) he sneezed out a little white milky liquid - the size of a dress shirt button ... a thin mucous consistency . I am wondering if this is the sign of an infection ...or can this be a result of a buildup of hay dust . His nose is otherwise dry , he acts fine and does not seem lethargic . I have not spoken to his vet yet ...Grandma is watching him for a few days and cannot drive to take h to the vet or pickup any meds. i will def have him seen when get back -but wondering what I might be dealing with.

 

[Lionheadloady]

Sounds to me like snuffles. It can be a couse of stress, or low immune system. This is a crionic illness and needs to be treated on antibiotics but still may return. My boy got it at 8 weeks old and we had to treat him on meds twice before it went away. He now has a powder supplement that we give him to help his immune system and critical care on occasion. It is a big deal but when I was looking for help on it people made it sound like my bunn was going to die or something and here he is at 8 months old lol. If you treat it fast you have a better chance of treating it!

 

[Bunny_Mommy]

I agree with @Lionheadloady; it seems very much like snuffles, or at least the beginning of them, and that is considered an emergency. The biggest red flag is the discharge in my opinion, because rabbits can sneeze a fair amount without really producing any discharge. My bunny, Storm was taken to the vet for constant sneezing due to the stress of her first pregnancy, but because everything else was normal (no discharge, normal breathing, clear eyes, etc.) it was said to be stress, but antibiotics are always recommended.

 

[JBun]

Yes, white snot definitely means there is a bacterial infection that needs to be treated with the appropriate antibiotic. You just want to make sure that a long enough course of antibiotics is used. Usually a minimum of 3 weeks, though sometimes longer is needed. Vets less experienced with rabbits will often only want to do 7-10 days, which is rarely long enough to clear a URI in rabbits.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm
https://rabbit.org/runny-eyes-runny-nose-what-do-they-mean/

 

[John Wick]

You're doing a good job, being observant of behavior changes. Nasal discharge that is colored is indicative of an infection, as @JBun mentions. Nasal discharge changes color in reaction to bacteria, so it wouldn't be colored if it was irritation from hay or something generally.

A rabbit experienced vet, who is familiar with upper respiratory infections (URIs) will be your best tool for helping your rabbit. While some URI cases can be chronic, as @Lionheadloady and @Bunny_Mommy mention, a lot of cases are actually curable -- the medication was simply stopped too early. A rabbit experienced vet will be able to better read symptoms and have knowledge about this.

My rabbit was medicated for 5 months straight (trial and error'd 3 medications to get it right over that time) until his URI went away. That is much more on the extreme, long side, but it gives you an idea that something that may seem chronic may actually be a URI that hasn't been treated effectively yet.