sneezing mini rex

Question
Hello, We are new to the whole rabbit pet/4-h world. Back in DEC of 09 we purchased a blue mini rex. She at the time had NO sniffles or white discharge from her nose. Within the first month she started to sneeze and look as if she had a runny nose.  We looked it up in our rabbit book and it stated that this can be deadly for rabbits and is highly contagious.  
  We called the breeder we got her from and she came and looked at her and said all appeared well.  
   As of today she is now sneezing more consistently and has a "white" not clear nasal discharge.  She is still eating and drinking as usual. Plays and runs when we let her go in the house. But the discharge has us worried.
    We have not taken her to a vet, do you have any advice?
    At this time a vet is not near  us or really an option
Thank you in advance for any advice
Patrice

Answer
Dear Patrice

I apologize for the long delay!  I had meant to put myself on "vacation" on AllExperts during advising here at UM, since that doesn't allow me time for anything else, but I made an error on the dates!  I hope this answer will still help you.

The rabbit book you have is outdated and incorrect when it says the upper respiratory infection (URI) is highly contagious.  And unless you let it go without treatment, it should not be deadly!  But it does require veterinary attention.  You can read more about the various causes and some treatments of this common disorder here:

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

and more about how your vet might determine the exact pathogen and its antibiotic sensitivities here:

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

You can find a rabbit-savvy vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

But since you're new to the Wonderful World of Bunnies, please visit this site, most important of all:

www.rabbit.org/

And this very important information may help you for the future:

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

Please let me know if you have any more questions, once you've had a chance to look over these materials.

Hope this helps.

Dana