I am interested in others experience with this. I’d be grateful for any anecdotes or experience.
I have a female mini lop who has been dealing with some kind of respiratory problem for the last few months. She now has near constant (though light) crackly sounds when breathing and breathing seems ever so slightly more labored than her bun friend, but no discharge or other symptoms.
I first noticed some crackly breathing and honks and felt like she was breathing a little harder too. We have another female rabbit in the house (separate room) who had been sneezing as well.
Both buns went to the vet for several courses of baytril. Our mini lop girl had an x ray as well that showed a small spot on her lung but nothing else. I also tried a humidifier, air filter, regular cleaning, shaking dust off hay, and a plethora of herbs. Herbs added in moderate amounts: marjoram, oregano, echinacea root, rose petals, and dandelion root. They eat greens twice a day (cilantro, romaine, and dandelion) and have constant access to hay, of course.
Finally we tried nebulization with saline and gentamicin. That did the trick! Both buns got better. But, symptoms recently started coming back. My lop girl makes light crackly noises on a near constant basis. Her sides seem like they are heaving a little stronger than the other rabbits too. She is absolutely normal in all other respects.
I took her to the vet again this week and the vet said her lungs sound clear so the issue is in her nasal area. She said she thinks she is just inflamed in her nasal cavity and put her on meloxicam for a week. It’s been several days, and I am not seeing significant improvement. But once again, she is active, eating, etc. I am going to start plain saline nebulization twice a day and see if they helps.
by cow_belle
6 Comments
I would get a CT scan if the X-ray didn’t show anything.
My past lop had chronic respiratory issues without discharge until she suddenly collapsed. It turns out her entire sinus was destroyed with infection and full of pus.
Use nebulizer, worked best for my bun
We had to do a nasal culture on our girl (she had to be sedated to do a deep nasal swab) and turned out she had kennel cough and needed a long dose of a stronger antibiotic although i cannot remember which. She was originally on a couple of other ones for a couple weeks at a time with no improvement. Once she got the swab and switched medications she got better. Best of luck with your babies.
How old? I just brought my 6yo Flemish giant for junky breathing, turns out he’s in heart failure…😞
Hi. I’m having problems with my girl too. She is 7 months old now, but has been sneezing since we got her. Similar to yourself, she has had several courses of baytril, she ha also had a month long course of doxycycline, she’s had swabs, she’s had her ears flushed, the vets say nothing is wrong with her now, initially diagnosed her with a respiratory infection and now say she may just get flare ups throughout her life. She seems fine in herself, breathing is always fine, no idea where to go from here. The sneezing did get better for a bit recently, but the last couple of weeks she’s been sneezing a lot more again.
Agree with the other comments about imaging!