Rabbit sneeze up mucus

Question
Hello,

I am a member of a rabbit rescue and I'm caring for a mini-lop until she's adopted.  Her name is Luna.  Luna seems very healthy, she's 3 years old and is spayed.

This evening she was eating her hay and pellets when suddenly she ran across her pen and sneezed up a ton of mucus.  And she made a terrible sound while sneezing, kind of a high-pitched yell.  Then she was fine. And still seems fine.

Do you know what it could be?  Could she have gotten a piece of hay up her nose and sneezed like crazy to get it out?

Thank you!

Answer
Hi Bethany,

I would recommend that you take her to the vet.  It could be possible that she got water in her nose or got dust in her nose but it is not worth taking the chance.  Is she the only rabbit in the home?  Respiratory infections spread so quickly and anytime we hear a rabbit sneeze we check its nose.  If it has white or mucousy snot we take it to the vet for a culture.  Now keep in mind that many times a culture shows absolutely nothing and your vet may want to try a course antibiotics before culturing.  We get a lot of rabbits that have respiratory problems.  Many of the people that surrender them have no clue that they are sick.  It is not normal for rabbits to sneeze but if she only did it that once I would suspect that she may have got something in her nose.  The only way to know for sure would be to have the vet look at her.  If you are fostering her for a rescue they should already have a regular rabbit savvy vet and should also be willing to pay the bill.

I wish I could help you more.

Pam