bunny sneezing and whimpers

Question
I Have a question about my bunny, i have noticed her sneezing its not very much, maybe  once or twice a day, sometimes, not everyday though, but there is little bit of mucas, just a little spot,so i make sure to wipe her nose clear, do i need to be worried, that it could be snuffles or can a bunny sneeze just simply be a bunny sneeze,her one eye is a little watery at times but not much,.She has suffered from dental issues, but all her incisors and most of cheeck teeth have been removed, the cheeck teeth she does have on one side. do not have any spurs and  were  cleared ok, her last few visits. only thing is , the front incisors that were removed have shown really slow growth rate when growing back, its been over a year and nothing yet, but x rays showed they have grown since her last x ray, i was wondering is that could maybe cause this whimpering noise she is doing, its  a very soft whimpering noise that tends to get a little louder, but i notice it mostly when she is lying down. Soon as i go over to her she perks her head up then stops,i just dont know if its maybe crying, or if its just more of a nasal, snoring kind of thing, but she never did it before, just the last few  months. I dont want to take her to the vet if i dont  have to, she has  been to so many  vets in the past that she has actually 3 vets in different towns to tend to her different needs, she is just starting to get a normal life, so i hate to take her in there unless its necessary, pls help.

Answer
Dear Michelle,

Without hearing/seeing your bunny, it's pretty much impossible for me to tell whether this is a snoring type of sound she's making because of a partial nasal obstruction.  But given her history, this doesn't sound unlikely.  Many bunnies with chronic dental problems have chronic runny noses, too, because of blockages in the sinuses.

I would check with her vet to see whether the vet thinks the discharge levels suggest infection that would be best treated with antibiotics.

If the "whimpering" or wheezing seems to be interfering with her quality of life, then the vet can check to see if it's due to swelling of nasal tissues, and perhaps prescribe a bit of pediatric Benadryl to reduce inflammation and open her airways a bit.

But this is one of those conditions that really must be seen in person for proper diagnosis and treatment.  If you are not sure your vet is very experienced with rabbits, or if you'd like a second opinion, you may be able to find another rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana