serious sounding noises: bunny is gagging

Question
Hi Dana
my spayed 3.5 yr old bunny has been doing something weird things.
She has been with us for 1.5 yrs. about 1 yr ago she started making like a gagging sound..its hard to explain but it almost looks like when you gag yourself with a toothbrush and you actually gag and make that god awful sound...
My vet is very rabbit savvy. He checked her out and couldn't find anything {we did a chest x-ray too which was normal}. When she came to me {a rescue} she was very noisy: snored, made alot of noises in general and her nose was always wet {no sneezing, no  discharge, just wet like a dog}. about 8 months ago vet did a nasal culture which came back slight pseudomonas growth and she was treated with zenequin. about 1 month later he recultured and it came back "scant" growth for pseudomonas and we did another zenequin course}
now she makes a "snorting" sound when she runs, she is snoring again, she does that gagging sound everyday {strange; but 99% of the time it's in the evening} and 2 weeks ago she made a "percolating" sound. I brought her in right away and of course that percolating sound was gone. Vet checked her and said could have been a fluke, he was not going to put her under for a head x-ray ray unless it continued.
Since then,  she did it 1 more time the other night for like 10 minutes.
Note that she acts completely normal otherwise, she eats very well, plays alot, etc.
I am a worrier, big time...
I'm just not sure what to do now, is this enough to put her under for a head x-ray, should she have other x-rays? ultrasounds?...have you seen this "gagging" like thing before? how about percolating?

I look forward to your comments and advice.
thanks,
CC

Answer
Dear CC,

This *really* sounds like something in her mouth, such as molar spurs, causing a problem.  I know of a vet in New York who had a bunny who kept gagging.  He finally did put her under anesthesia to have a look and found nothing out of the ordinary...at first.  Then he noticed a narrow, dark band around a back molar.  He scraped at it, and it moved.   He pulled with forceps, and up it came:  it was a small band of fur wound around the back tooth, and stuck to it, hanging down the bunny's throat, was a great wad of half-swallowed food and fur!!

Poor bunny!  But she made a full recovery.

Molar spurs alone can make a bunny gag, and they can be hard to see.  But gagging likely means they are impinging on the back of her tongue.  You can see pictures of what typical molar spurs look like here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/pix/molar_spurs.jpg

and more explanation here:

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

and here for more pictures:

http://www.vet.uga.edu/mis/exotics/mammals/oral.php

The vet should be able to look in the mouth with an otoscope to check for spurs, but if there are any, the bunny will probably need to be anesthetized to have them clipped and filed smooth.

If you are not sure your vet is experienced enough with rabbits to do this, you may be able to find a rabbit-savvy vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

for a second opinion.

Hope this helps.

Dana