Do rabbits have seasonal allergies?

[bunnychild]

This is not an urgent question I am just curious. Do rabbits have seasonal allergies? Over the winter Imp got some crustiness around his eyes, not that it is warmer and the rabbitry has better ventilation it is clearing right up. The only thing I did was keep his eyes clean.
If rabbits do have seasonal allergies is there a way to prevent it?

 

[akane]

Some get allergies but it's a lot less common than humans. It's more likely he poked his eye with something.

 

[bunnychild]

It is from both eyes

 

[arachyd]

Yes, they get seasonal allergies. As akane said, it's not very common but it isn't rare either.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I have noticed some of mine sneezing , and a little snotty nosed, when I started to feed mature lambsquarters in summer, -- then about the time I get worried it might be pasturella or something-- it just goes away-- my guess was, it was just an allergy, or irritation of the sinus.

 

[bunnychild]

Thanks for the answers guys. As I said I wasn't concerned I was just realy curious

 

[ladysown]

you may wish to be cautious about breeding rabbits with allergies.

Is that something you want to further in your herd?

If you breed it, you'll get more of it. Do you want that worry .... or a lack of concern to develop?

 

[Damani]

I was going to post something about allergies too. I thought I'd weigh in on this because my Standard Rex doe started sneezing when her litter was under 2 months old. I got her last fall, so I didn't notice this sneezing before. They shake their heads and sneeze 10 times in a row, but there is no discharge or irritation that I can detect. I thought it was the a different feed I got at Jax, that had shorter 'barrels' and more dust--she was eating out of a bowl instead of a feeder, you could see the dust on her snout. I took the kits out to their own cage, and she stopped sneezing. Then, the kits started sneezing, not all of them, less than half. They have been out on the grass, not eating pellets. So, seasonal allergies? I dunno, but my thought was to treat them with homeopathy (I'm a classical homeopath.) The problem is there isn't much of a symptom picture, other than the sneezing.
Also, her first litter is still here, they are just about 6 months old, and I observed one male doing the sneezing. The sire is not sneezing. Should I get rid of this doe, she's a great mother. I only raise these Rex's for the fur.

 

[JessiL]

I have an American Blue buck who seems to have seasonal allergies (though he has them all the time, pretty much), in that he typically has just a tiny bit of white muck in the corners of his eyes. It got a lot better when I took him out of the dusty environment of the rabbit barn (pictured) and put him on pasture.

It doesn't transmit to others in the herd, and I have never seen any indication of Pasteurella or other communicable diseases in the 70+ rabbits we've butchered here. But he does seem to transmit it to some of his offspring. Out of curiosity, I'll start tallying how many show it and how many don't...

I've yet to save anyone for breeding from him, and when I do, I will be sure to select someone without the hay fever issue. He's a great buck otherwise, so I'll continue to use him until I find an alternative (a little tough to find good Americans nearby, it's not like they are typical Craigslist generic mutts!).

 

[Damani]

Wow wouldn't that be weird if it was linked to color--blue?

 

[skip]

Wow wouldn't that be weird if it was linked to color--blue?

I was going to pipe in with a reply because I have a doe who shows the same symptoms as yours, and then I got to this. She's REW, but throws blue kits. I removed most of her kits two days ago because I was concerned she'd pass on whatever made her sneeze, and because she had a wet butt. Since they've been gone she's cleaned herself up, but is still sneezing. No other rabbits have started sneezing, none of the kits are sneezing, just this one REW blue doe.

I was going to cull her to protect the herd, but this thread has sort of got me second guessing myself there. This is her first litter, she had 8 kits and is the only doe who didn't lose a single kit this month. Her kits are growing almost twice as fast as the other two litters from the same breeding. She throws a beautiful mix of fur colors, and is sweet and easy to work with. I've been studiously checking for loose stools, change in food and water intake, any sign of trouble ever since the sneezing started, and I've seen nothing. I almost think she just became over taxed from nursing the litter. Burn pile season just started here, so I've been a sneezing wreck myself. I guess I'm just going to keep on keepin' an eye on her.

 

[JessiL]

Mine has never sneezed. Well, I am sure he has once or twice in his life, but neither he nor any of his offspring make it a habit. Just a little schmutz in the eyes sometimes. Never to full-out weepy status.

 

[michaels4gardens]

just a note-- rabbits that have any health problem, or potential health problem [especially respiratory] should be quarantined, -- while waiting to see if the problem is a disease or a slight allergy you could infect the whole herd. If that happens, you will be faced with depopulating all of them.

 

[arachyd]

I would not consider seasonal sneezes and the occasional snot from allergies to be a bad thing. It is the rabbit's way of clearing out irritants. Dust is an irritant whether an animal is resistant to it or not. I'd rather the irritant be removed by sneezing and mucous than that it lay in the rabbit's respiratory tract unnoticed to cause a respiratory infection.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I would not consider seasonal sneezes and the occasional snot from allergies to be a bad thing. It is the rabbit's way of clearing out irritants. Dust is an irritant whether an animal is resistant to it or not. I'd rather the irritant be removed by sneezing and mucous than that it lay in the rabbit's respiratory tract unnoticed to cause a respiratory infection.

If you have seen what pasteurellosis does to a rabbitry, a little overly cautious, is definitely preferable to optimistic. --It does not hurt to Quarantine a doe / buck, or a doe and her litter. until it is decided.
Once the whole rabbitry is exposed, it is a little too late to try to "fix" the problem.

 

[wildeden]

if a rabbit would have seasonal allergies, can they still have wet/matted insides of their front paws?

I have rabbits who have never left the barn start to sneeze the last few days and I don't see any signs of white snot. Only dust up their nose (and the wet spots on the inside of their paws are brownish). Again, sneezing up a storm but no runny eyes...I do note that after feeding they begin sneezing a lot and our pollen count here says "high" on the weather website.

 

[michaels4gardens]

if a rabbit would have seasonal allergies, can they still have wet/matted insides of their front paws?

I have rabbits who have never left the barn start to sneeze the last few days and I don't see any signs of white snot. Only dust up their nose (and the wet spots on the inside of their paws are brownish). Again, sneezing up a storm but no runny eyes...I do note that after feeding they begin sneezing a lot and our pollen count here says "high" on the weather website.

I would be concerned... sometimes a disease can lay dormant until a time of "aggravation" then "rear it's ugly head" --cautious is better then optimistic - if it is only a member or two-- I would quarantine -- if is a lot of rabbits, I would have it "swabbed / tested, " and see if it is something to worry about.