Time for Some Help

[hucklekree]

Alrighty. I have been worrying sick about this all summer and I need some outside input. All my rabbits at this point in time have wet spots under their noses. There is occasional sneezing as in once in a while I hear a sneeze. There arent any white snotty bubbles or matted paws. The wet spots come and go and after reading about the worst case scenarios I do indeed fear the worst. I did examine the rabbit carcasses from the most recent butchering and did not find anything out of the ordinary. Though i did not examine the sinuses. I began to notice this happening as the weather got warmer and drier. We feed the same we have always fed: pellets barley and greens but we have added boss to the mixture. We have multi hole hutches that are seperated from each other.It seemed to start around the time we started feeding hay but have sinse stopped. Oh and we have lost two older brood does with litters since this started. But one was to gi stasis and the other could have been connected or could have been something else. If any other info is needed I will try to provide. What does ths sound like?

 

[MaggieJ]

It could be heat-related or it could be a disease like Pasteurella. I'm not familiar enough with your weather to say more than that. Do you take any measures to keep the rabbits cool? You could see if ice bottles help.

Since this has been going on for a while and all the rabbits are showing the same symptoms, I would adopt a wait-and-see policy. It will either improve when it cools off or other symptoms will develop. If you butcher any more, take a look at the lungs for signs of infection. Consider your rabbitry closed for the time being and don't bring new stock in or let any of your rabbits leave until this is resolved.

 

[Zass]

I'm in the same place you are, hucklekree. Waiting and watching. Culling anyone who shows obvious symptoms.

I think I've been hit with pasteurella or something similar. Mulling over the possibility of it having come in with a resistant rabbit, and thus allowing it to sneak past quarantine.

Symptoms were just sporadic dry sneezes, not even once/day. I thought maybe the conditions in or around the rabbitry were irritating them. Then two does who really haven't been exposed to anyone new started with white snot, one about two weeks from the other. Culled ASAP, but I can only assume everybunny came in contact, and I'm just waiting to sort the rabbits with good immune systems from rabbits with poor ones.

Mold was also found underneath the cages of the snotty ones, and steps were taken to totally re-do the whole rabbitry floor to allow for better drainage and improved sanitation.
I'm just...not optimistic enough to hope that it was just the mold.


But just for reference, was your hay dusty or moldy?

 

[akane]

It doesn't actually sound like a serious illness. Usually they get steadily worse if it's going to kill and die or steadily better and then some might have a repeat when another stressor comes along. Not the same mild symptoms, no symptoms, mild symptoms in all of them. I think it sounds more like they are being irritated by something. You might want to try diet elimination first. Put them on just pellets for awhile and if the symptoms get better it's probably the hay or some weed you are feeding. If they get worse then you might want to try a hay and grain diet without the pellets and see if you got some bad pellets. If neither attempt shows solid improvement then I would go to environment. Things that might be blowing in to their cages periodically or some buildup of waste that gets between cleanings or worse with a rainstorm. There's a lot of possible factors for such symptoms.

 

[MaggieJ]

Good advice, Akane!

 

[Miss M]

I'm with Maggie and Akane... don't panic... if everything is normal besides the fact that you see wet noses and an occasional sneeze, chances are that the weather is getting to them, or something in the area has been dumping more pollen than in past years, or something like that.

For examining the lungs, do an image search for rabbit pneumonia, and you should see what to expect. Healthy lungs should just look a relatively even light pink. No white spots, no angry pink or red.

If you start seeing white snot like Zass did, you need to at least quarantine.

 

[Zass]

Ah, I wasn't trying to say they had the same thing, I don't even know for sure what I have here yet!

Just...trying to empathize with being in the same state of waiting and watching and checking carefully for signs. It's a nervous place to be.

Probably the least fun part of raising rabbits for me is hearing sneezes and wondering if it going to turn into anything worse, or just blow over and be nothing.

 

[bantambunnies]

Last year I was very concerned about a litter of Mini Lops. They had wet noses and lips and I felt like I was hearing a lot of sneezes. But when I talked to a more experienced breeder, she asked me a few questions and pointed out that they didn't really have Pasteurella symptoms (matted paws, congested breathing, snotty noses, etc.) That was very reassuring.

Sneezes happen. It's easy to be alarmed, but it can happen for any number of reasons. Hay and pellets can be very dusty. Water can get in their noses. In many cases, a sneeze is just a sneeze. But it's good to be alert for any new symptoms.

As for wet noses, I don't think I've ever had a rabbit who DIDN'T have a wet nose in the heat. Now that my rabbit cages are, for the most part, heavily shaded, I rarely find my rabbits looking hot, but I don't worry at all when I see a nose wet with a liquid that's clean, clear, and not sticky.

Here is a good article that may help to put anyone's mind at rest:
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-he ... -to-freak/

 

[HoppinHalfPints]

Do you have crocks or water bottles? I do have wet noses on my rabbits, and they're totally fine. My guess it's a combo of hay dust, hot weather, and sometimes slobbering while drinking. :lol:

 

[Miss M]

Ah, I wasn't trying to say they had the same thing, I don't even know for sure what I have here yet!

Just...trying to empathize with being in the same state of waiting and watching and checking carefully for signs. It's a nervous place to be.

Probably the least fun part of raising rabbits for me is hearing sneezes and wondering if it going to turn into anything worse, or just blow over and be nothing.

I'm sorry, Zass! I didn't mean to sound like I thought you were saying y'all were dealing with the same thing.

 

[hucklekree]

Thanks everyone. I am much relieved that for now it seems my wait and see approach sounds alright. I just got back from a crazy trip so I can and will respond more tomorrow. Thanks

-- Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:45 pm --

So, cooler weather today but still quite dusty. There is dust everywhere out there. Until I had mentioned the problem my rabbits are having on here I didn't truly take into account how much of the stuff is around my poor rabbits. Grrr. now I am thinking the hutch housing maybe needs to turn into a barn housing situation. I did a thorough check of the stock today and found that out of 50+ bunnies the wet noses are only showing in about half. The most prevalent wet noses are found in the working does. My bucks don't have any sign as of today.

The wet noses showing up on the kits are mixed. In the hutch where I noticed this whole issue starting, the five kits left (culled the worst four) still have sneezing and wet noses. In the other hutches there is occasional sneezing but only during feeding time and the pellets seem to have a lot more dust than usual. Most of my hutches have screened J-feeders so smaller particles fall through and those hutches seem to have a lower incidence of wet noses. The two holes/hutches that don't have the fall through feeders sneeze the most (excluding the original hutch with the issue). The kits that were culled as already stated didn't have any abnormalities inside.

I've stopped the hay and I have disinfected the removable pieces in the hutches. No mold has been found (yet) and the only other issue is that some of our hutches are older and are in need of a thorough deep cleaning. Thanks so much to all who responded. If you'd like I will update with the progression of things. <br /><br /> -- Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:12 pm -- <br /><br /> Update!

After cooler temps have settled in I am down to two litters with sneezrs. They are located side by side in the same hutch but different holes. All other sneezers have cleared up and are fine. I haven't lost a single rabbit nor seen any matting or absseces. I have seen nasal discharge and bunnies sneezing. No bunny has lost condition. I changed the method in which I cleaned cages to ensure I am cleaning well. I still dont understand what my buns have/had. I feel very undecided about where to go from here. Can I sell them? Should I cull all and start over?

 

[Miss M]

I'm going a little nuts myself, right now... We have five accidental litters as a result of a precocious litter of growouts, and they ALL have sneezers in them! These are descendants of our original doe, who had allergies, and passed it on piecemeal to her kits. The doe we kept from her didn't sneeze, but when she and all of her doelings were accidentally bred by her little bucklings, I got sneezers coming out of my ears! We start butchering tomorrow, and I can't wait to stop living on pins and needles! :x

We're treating them all like they're sick, even though they probably aren't. We stuck two cages out in the chicken coop and rearranged the rabbitry to get all of them away from our breeding stock.

And it's the same here, except for the rare white discharge. Other than that, there are no matted paws, everybunny is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, all seem perfectly healthy, just the sneezing! I can't wait to be done with it!

Okay, rant over. Back to you.

I wouldn't sell them. As for whether you keep the breeding stock, it's up to you what you are willing to put up with. Ultimately, allergies are an immune system issue. It would be ideal to cull them and get new stock from a different breeder. It would definitely be less stressful to have rabbits that don't sneeze. You wouldn't worry every time you hear a rabbit sneeze -- is it just allergies? ...or is it snuffles this time? But it is up to you.

 

[hucklekree]

Thanks Miss M! Though it is a bit overdue another update though. Rabbits have the runny nose again. This has coincided with our dry spell and heat. Lots of dust in the pens and urine smell under the hutches. I have been pressure washing and sanitizing all summer. Creating and building new hutches while i comb through the old ones. I have gone crazy over these runny noses! The noses are running clear and arent really running, just wet spots under noses with sneezing occasionally. Though the sneezing has subsided substantially since the cleaning spree.

thanks to all of you that have chimed in. I have decided to continue my course with my rabbits. I dont sell live animals and they are vibrant and still breeding. There havent been any losses and as far as I can tell the organs and carcasses are healthy on all animals culled. I will of course keep you posted and I hope this can be od a service to someone in the future.... :roll:

 

[Zass]

Hucklekree! Good to see you back on

I want to update my story too.
All my sporadic sneezers stopped and it hasn't returned. Not even a hint of a sniff or a sneeze. Only the two with white snot were culled, and culled fast.
So, with the hindsight factor in play...I still believe that it was a problem with environmental irritants. (mold, ammonia, smoke, excess humidity)

At least, you can consider clear snot a good sign that a bacterial infection isn't currently present, but it means they are probably being irritated by something, and it could put them at a little bit greater risk of having their immune systems succumb to a secondary bacterial infection.

 

[Miss M]

Okay, update for me, too.

All of the accidental litters have been butchered, regardless of size. We kept one of Squeak's doelings to share her cage and ultimately replace her, as long as she doesn't sneeze. And her litters don't sneeze.

OUR RABBITRY IS NOW SNEEZE-FREE!!! :bouncy:

Okay, Thumper sneezes once in a while, like he always has. But still.