Hey, about 5 days ago I brought home an 18 week old giant breed doe. She has a very mild runny nose, it is slightly moist with no discharge. She sometimes makes wheezy noises when she breathes and occasionally has little fits where she sounds like she’s sneezing or huffing, I noticed it twice yesterday and already once this morning. Should I treat this as snuffles or consider other possibilities? I don’t have a knowledgeable vet who sees rabbits locally, and penicillin is no longer available in my local tractor supplies. Are there any medications or at-home remedies that are effective in treating this? I’ve heard of using echinacea or apple cider vinegar diluted in their water, does anyone have experience with this? Thanks for any input!
Rabbits can present with respiratory problems for several different reasons; many people think of snuffles first, but dust or allergic reactions can also produce irritation/snot/sneezing/coughing. I had a white buck that had weepy eyes off and on for months, and I finally put it together with the timing of giving out hay. I ended up giving him human eye allergy drops, which really helped him!
Snuffles is marked by white or colored snot coming out of the nose, but since rabbits do get respiratory problems from other sources, it pretty much has to be diagnosed by a culture to be 100% certain in a live rabbit. I'm not sure why people think rabbits can't get a cold; it's just a viral respiratory illness (don't know whether it's the same coronovirus that gives us colds, but it surely behaves the same way). We've seen rabbits get what looks like colds, especially young ones when they're already challenged by recent weaning or a move from one home to another, but their snot, if any, is clear; sometimes they just sneeze and cough. We give them VetRx drops in their nose and water for a week and it's usually resolved fairly quickly. If we do not treat them, it usually lasts longer, but it almost always resolves.
To use VetRx, I clean the nose if needed, then put a drop in each nostril 1-2x daily, plus a few drops in the water bottle. If you hold them securely, they don't seem to mind too much, though they may be inclined to sneeze when the liquid hits their nose. Sometimes we also add grapefruit seed extract (GSE) to the water, but use that judiciously, both because it's very bitter and you don't want the rabbit to stop drinking, and because if you use it too long it seems to be more harmful than helpful. We thought we were seeing possible reproductive issues with extended use, although GSE is supposed to be helpful for reproduction. So, we use the VetRx for a week or two, but the GSE for only 2-3 days - about 2 drops in 16 ounces of water. I'm not actually sure how it works since the oil tends to sit on top of the water... so I usually just go with the VetRx.
There is a blog that describes treating snuffles or snuffles-like illnesses here:
https://afterthoughtsblog.net/2013/11/treating-rabbit-snuffles-without-vet.html/
I appreciate her experiences, as I am of the same mind regarding vets and rabbits. Much of what she suggests has worked for my rabbits (or those of friends) when they've had any respiratory issues.
