my rabbit is sick

Question
My rabbit is over 2 years old and he started to get a cold about 2 months ago but it has gotten worse he now has a wet neck cause he is always licking it. He is eating less and just lies around. He snuffles all the time and now he has a white gunk coming from his eyes. Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.

Answer
Thanks for asking.

Rabbits are great at hiding an illness until it is serious as a instinct for being prey. What you need to do is find a good vet in your area that takes rabbits. First here is a link that may help you if you cannot find one :www.rabbit.org\vets

Second, before you can take him to the vet you can do some things that will help him feel better, stay hydrated, and more comfortable till you get there:

1)You can give him lots of Romain lettuce, spinach, butter leaf lettuce to build up his immune system and help fight whatever is in his body.

2)Make sure that he isnt allergic to anything like new bedding, is the area his cage in dusty, are you using something new (chemical wise) to clean his cage?

3)Keep him hydrated by making sure he is drinking water. If he isnt try using a syringe(like from infant tylenol) to give him water every 1-2 hours so that he keep hydrated. Also the lettuce will give lots of water, too. Some rabbits like watermelon and of course that is mostly water and will help.

4)When you go to the vet ask for a  nasal culture and ID/Sensitivity test.  This will tell them what it is he is having.

5)You do want to keep him clean and his cage clean, too.

6)Give him probiotics like acidophilus during and after antibiotics to make sure her gut has enough good bacteria left because anti-botics tend to leave little natural anti-bodies for the rabbit.

You can find it here: http://www.opentip.com/Home-Garden/Peter-Rabbit-Probiotic-p-512711.html







Here are some links that may further help you:
http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-with-a-Sick-Rabbit

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html