Snuffles....????

I have just been reading up on Snuffles and I am concerned... We thought our rabbit was just sneezing randomly(our dogs and cats do sometimes too) and her face has been pretty clear, she keeps herself very clean, her paws are not matted at all, but now her sneezes(starting a few days ago) have seemed to have gotten a whole lot worse... It seems to be more in her lungs vs nose... It is getting pretty bad and loud. (almost sounds like reverse sneezing in dogs)

I am scared it is Snuffles but don't know how to treat it... We are not in a position to take her to a vet right now, and since she did have contact with my other rabbits, I am assuming I need to pre treat them...

I read one site that said she can be treated with Terramycin Powder but it didn't say how much... But if there is a better way I can treat her/them without taking them to a vet, that would be great...

Can anyone help?<br /><br />__________ Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:01 am __________<br /><br />Oh, and they are house rabbits, I clean their cages completely every 3-4 days, they get a bowl of fresh timothy hay that is kept full all the time(shaken out outside to minimize dust), We have had her a while and feed her a good food...

The person I bought her from said she was never sick before, but they traveled a long way, she was stuck in a crate with another rabbit... since then, she has been periodically sneezing... but she wasn't very well taken care of prior and we just assumed with better care that she would get better... but it just hasn't and it has just recently gotten worse... but I am kind of scared... I want her to be okay... and my other rabbits too

I am scared it is Snuffles but don't know how to treat it..

There is NO treatment for Snuffles/Pasteurella.
Your best bet is to cut off the tail at just behind the Head.
Do not fool around with snuffles, you could case the death of your
whole herd and also that of your Rabbit friends.
gthe illness/germ can be carried on your person and your clothes.
If you plan on trying to treat such an rabbit, be sure to do
all of the other rabbits in possession before handling the sick rabbit.
Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

Well, culling is not an option as this is my daughters pet rabbit... She is 9 and it would devastate her... Out of all our rabbits, this is her favorite...
So from what I can tell... I am looking at Terramycin powder in their water... or contacting the vet and seeing if I can get Baytril for relatively cheap... or get a prescription so I can order it online cheap.... I have also read echanachea(sp?) drops in the water can help.... Penicillin has a good review when it doesn't kill them... which is about 50% of the time... so that is kind of out...

If anyone else has any other ideas.... I would love to hear them... I just want her better(I know there is no cure, but even if I could get it to go dormant again)... I can keep her seperated, that is not an issue, I do have to treat the rest as they have all had contact together but no one else is showing signs at all....

Man, when it rains it pours huh? My oldest broke her tooth yesterday, my husband has bronchitis/pneumonia, my youngest has a cold(I got only 3 hours of sleep because of this and my husband), I hit a pothole and got a flat tire, and now the damn rabbit is sick! I either need a vacation, or a drink... or both....

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time, Katz.

First step is to isolate the bunny and practice good protocols to keep from carrying the infection to the other rabbits. Sometimes snuffles will appear in times of stress and go dormant again. The rabbit will remain a carrier. I have no personal experience to draw on, but here are some links that I hope will be helpful. Somebody recently mentioned using Vet RX. I don't know anything about it, but you might want to look into it. Bordatello is another rabbit respiratory disease. It is more easily treated than snuffles. It could be that.

http://www.welshrabbitry.com/health.html#snuffles

http://www.radil.missouri.edu/info/dora ... /resp.html

http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/crescentva ... ments.html

what kind of bedding are you using?

Sometimes bedding and sometimes how you are cleaning can affect a rabbit's health.

AKA... bleach residue can cause breathing issues with bunnies. Carefresh bedding does NOTHING for ammonia and can be quite dusty. some rabbits don't react well to cedar bedding...and so on.

Is the room they are in well ventilated?

often what people will do if they suspect a case of snuffles and don't want to cull is they completely isolate the rabbit away from everyone (as in all other bunnies) and wait until the rabbit gets their immune system in better control. This does not CURE it, but can put it back into remission so to speak.

We do use carefresh... What kind of flooring would be better?
Here is her cage....(the blue house is no longer in there and we now use the non dyed care fresh)

I also use 'Critter Litter' for their litter boxes... Not sure if that would make a difference or not...





I never use bleach... I use a natural cleaner from Melaleuca called Tough & Tender and a sanitizer called Sol-u-guard also from Melaleuca.. I am certain the cleaners are not the cause of the problem at all...

They are in a very well ventilated room, and are actually right next to a sliding glass door that we open when the weather is nice out... and once in a while we put their cages out on the back deck so they can get some fresh air... If it ever turns to Spring, we would like to build them a more permanent outdoor area on the deck for the daytime...

Okay, so, what would work better for a main flooring than carefresh(I don't like them just on the plastic) they don't usually urinate on the floor, but they do poop once in a while...

And what about the litter? I am okay changing if something else will work as well on the smell... This stuff works great for keeping the smell down...

Just a word or two about Vet-RX.
I would not put too much faith in it's use.
It will only mask any symptoms and will not effect a cure.
In the 1950's The stuff now known as Vet-RX was known as "Save the Baby"
It was used as an aid when baby's had breathing problems due to colds.
It did not work then and I am of the opinion that it does not work now.
Of course that is only my opinion, all are welcome to do whatever and
believe whatever they wish. Please leave any rabbit showing any sign
of any disease home in you rabbitry. Thank you!
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

I haven't taken any out and don't really plan to until I get this taken care of... I am going to clean their cages again tonight... Is there any other suggestions for flooring or litterbox(because they are in the house, I need something to control the smell? What about newspaper for the flooring?

I have just started adding ACV to their water to see if that will help... Should I do that or the Vanilla? Does it really matter which one?

I am sorry for asking so many questions, but these are the first rabbits I have gotten since I was just a little kid and I want them to be healthy, and my kids to not lose their rabbits...<br /><br />__________ Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:48 pm __________<br /><br />One thing that makes me question if it is Snuffles is that there is no actual colored discharge... and she is still eating like a little pig! From what I have read, she should have lost her appetite and would most likely have some discharge, or 'snotty paws' - she doesn't have any of that... Just sneezy and it sounds kind of hoarse sometimes...

It may be just allergies. Look for anything that is different... perfume, air fresheners, cleansers etc. The litter may be the problem. Something unscented and odour-free would be best under the circumstances. Either vanilla or ACV will help with the urine odours.

melaluca uses tea tree oil in alot of their products...not healthy for small animals.

you can use a towel over the plastic.

Not familiar at all with the kind of litter that you are using. is it a plastic ball type litter?

This is the critter litter: http://www.amazon.com/Super-Pet-Critter ... 851&sr=8-1

I did not know that about the tea tree oil... The melaleuca products work SO good at cleaning... I don't even own bleach or anything like that... What is the best 'rabbit safe' cleaner?

My basic cleaning schedule is this: After about 3-4 days I take the rabbit out, take the top part of the cage off, take the litter box out, dump it and soak it in tough and tender(melaleuca cleaner)... wipe it out... Soak in sol-u-mel(melaleuca product that really gets the smell out), wipe it out, spray Sol-u-guard(melaleuca sanitizer), wipe it out... put in new litter...Take the water bottle and food dish out, dump the bedding and any left over hay in the garbage, clean up any urine/wet spots with tough and tender, spray the whole thing with sol-u-guard, wipe it out, put in new bedding, replace the litterbox and put in new hay, food, fill up the water bottle... spray down the wire top with sol-u-guard and wipe it off(they like to chew on it and they also stand up and get their dirty little paws on it)... put it back on, put the bunny back in....

tea tree oil can be irritating--how about just using hot water and vinegar for a week?

rinse it really really really well.

Alright... I will try not using anything... Any thoughts on the litter? It is like little white balls..They don't seem to eat them but it says it is okay if they do... I just use them because they keep the smell to a minimum... If there is something that works better, I would love it because this stuff is expensive! I pay about $10-15 a week right now, but here very soon the rabbits will be seperated which will mean two more litter boxes... and my expense will be about $30 a week just in litter.... ugh!

How long until I notice a difference with her sneezing if it is the cleaner?

Not sure what kind of weather you are getting but if it's anything like us it could just be the mold or pollen. Right now pollen and mold counts are really high. I've heard my doe sneeze a couple times but we were cleaning out the barn and there was dust flying everywhere.

http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/rabbi ... rgies.aspx
http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/sneezing.htm

It is not horrible here.... pretty wet but not obnoxious... We have had a few dry days recently and they are in the house, so they don't have alot of dust around...

I am going to start with the cleaner and hopefully be able to find a cheaper litter.... and with that, hopefully my bunny feels better..

I second using hot water and white vinegar for cleaning and deodorizing. And rinsing well. I would not be astounded if that solved the problem. Tea tree oil is very strong stuff.