Disclaimer: my rabbit has seen a vet, this is a non urgent and ongoing issue I need advice on!
I need some advice from some fellow rabbit owners. My mini Rex, Oliver, is around 8.5 years old now, he's still such a happy hoppy boy but over the past 8 or so months he has been struggling with a stuffy nose. Some days are better than others and I am just so worried about him every single day. I took him to vet when symptoms first started, end of last spring, they put him on medication for a week, checked in on how he was doing then had us discontinue the medication. The medication didn't completely stop the sniffles but helped, but only while he was actively taking it, once the medication ran out he was back to a stuffy and mildly runny nose. Once I finally had enough money saved up to take him to vet again in the Fall they did the same darn thing, put him on meds for a week, checked in, and then discontinued his script.
Today, his left nostril looks a tad swollen with some mucus discharge, nothing crazy but also this is not the quality of life I want for my baby.
I want to take him to the vet again but im scared I am just going to waste another $100+ for them to tell and do the same exact thing again…. should I try a different vet? I liked this clinic bc the lead vet specializes in rabbits but they aren't helping as much as I would like and I am at the point where it feels like there is nothing else I can do for him. I could put him back on the medication maybe? but he REALLY hated it, he's normally a very sweet boy and doesn't get angry easily but he would thump & hide from me everytime I went into his room because he was scared of getting his medication. Also half the time we couldn't even get him to take his full dose, he would move his head too much and get the medicine all over him.
All in all, im here to see if anyone knows of anything else that could help my baby besides medication I have to force feed him through a syringe.
I try to keep his room as dust free as possible and I have also done steam rooms with him in my bathroom which seems to help him temporarily, but it takes a while for the steam to reach him on the ground. Realistically I can not do a steam room with him everyday with my current schedule but if that is my only option I guess I have to make it work somehow?
but also, again, if anyone has recommendations or can speak from their experience i would really really appreciate it. I feel at such a loss and I am so scared I am going to wake up to the unimaginable one morning because his sniffles weren't being treated properly.
thank you to anyone who read all of this and thank you in advance to anyone who is able to share some wisdom!!
Image included r of Oliver from today, if requested I can take a better angle/close up of his nose if anyone would like to see how his nostril passages are looking
(posted this on /rabbits too…. I am desperate for advice)
by cassmski14