Can heat cause a runny nose?

[alforddm]

Ok, yesterday my himi doe had a wet nose and was sneezing. She is already isolated. This is the litter mate to the REW doe I culled about 6 weeks ago for a wet nose and paws. These two does shared a cage until they were old enough to breed so I've been watching the himi doe closely. When her nose was all wet yesterday and I heard her sneeze I was sure I would need to cull her soon. However, this morning I checked and she was fine. Nose was dry. With both these does the nasal discharge has been clear and thin, nothing clumpy, white or yellow. I did cull one of the himi does kits from her last litter for a weepy eye and nose but all the other kits are fine.

Now she does lay under the waterer when it is hot. Is it possible she is wetting her nose to keep cool and got water in her nose causing her to sneeze? Have anyone ever observed a rabbit doing something similar? Am I being paranoid? Has anyone else seen such a fast turn around? Her kits will be two weeks old tomorrow so she's not going anywhere for at least a week. I don't want to tolerate something that may be contagious but I don't want to cull prematurely either. I still wonder if I did the right thing with the REW doe since her lungs were clear...

Thoughts?

 

[Susie570]

If her lungs were clear it sounds like you might be dealing with something else. I don't think heat can cause a runny nose, but heat stroke can make them drool. I would maintain isolation and keep watch.

 

[Zass]

Have a look around for any irritants. (dusty hay, smoke or exhaust, chemicals, mold, ammonia, etc)

 

[alforddm]

Have a look around for any irritants. (dusty hay, smoke or exhaust, chemicals, mold, ammonia, etc)

I feed bermuda grass hay which is harvested from sandy soil so it does have some dust. However, I also use it in the nest boxes and to date have not had a case of nestbox eye *knock on wood*. :? Yesterday I fed some radish tops but I've done that before without issue. No smoke, exhaust, chemicals, mold, or ammonia that I can pinpoint. They are keep in single stack cages well off the floor and have really good ventilation.

I should probably add that whatever it is that is causing the runny nose is something that they have had since they came to me in November. Now whether this is something that is contagious but usually suppressed or something else is the question. The doe that was housed next to the REW doe and her litter has never shown any symptoms at all despite the REW having intermittent wet nose (although not sneezing) until the day her paws were also wet and I decided to cull.

I would really like to keep some of the REW does (the one I culled) litter they are the largest of all my growouts despite having been weaned at 3 weeks. However, I don't' want to keep worrying about whether they are going to suddenly be contagious and infect my pedigreed Rex. It's just not worth it.

Has anyone ever taken a culture and had it tested?

 

[Susie570]

I understand that taking a culture is tricky business.
Some say that it's very common to get a positive result from rabbits that are resistant to P and whom you would not want to cull because of their resistance. It's also common to get a negative result from an infected rabbit. I've also heard that it's very expensive... but I don't know.

I remember someone on here talking about culturing their rabbits regularly and I was curious what they were using, whether there was an 'at home' test that gave quick results or what, but I don't thing we ever got an answer on that. :/

 

[alforddm]

Well, she still looks fine this morning so maybe it was just a freak thing. She may have gotten water in her nose or maybe it was the hay.

I'm still relatively new to rabbits (less than a year) so don't have a lot of experience. Thank Goodness for Rabbittalk!