My bunny is coughing like a hairball once every 5 - 10 minutes. Can I wait until tomorrow morning to take her to the vet?

Question
My bunny keeps making this hacking noise about once every 5-10 minutes. I gave her petromalt twice today just in case of GI stasis. But last week she saw a vet and the vet said her stomach looked good, not distended. So this symptom is confusing me, and freaking me out. It sounds like she's trying to cough up a hairball. But she's eating and pooping. Can I take her to the vet tomorrow morning or do I need to take her to emergency care now?

Answer
Dear Lane,

It's not an emergency, but I would get her to an experienced rabbit vet ASAP for examination deep into the mouth for problems with her molars or something else deep in her mouth or throat.  Please read:

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

Rabbits can't vomit, so Petromalt won't help her bring anything up.  You don't say how long she's been doing this, but if it's sudden she might have something caught on a back molar that's hanging into her throat, causing irritation.  (I know a vet who found a huge wad of food stuck in a bunny's throat because it was hanging by a little loop of twisted hair caught on a back molar!)

Find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and get bun there as soon as you can.

It's also possible that your bunny has a respiratory infection, so the vet will want to check for that, too.  

Hope this helps.

Dana