rabbit sneezing

Question
My rabbit has always sneezed since I got him.  It is not excessive and he tends to sneeze when I put hay in his cage.  I have tried not using sawdust as I thought the dust may be a problem but that didn't stop it. I should'nt stop his hay should I? Isn't hay a rabbits main food?  

I have got him dust extracted hay and this seams to have helped but he still sneezes,  my other rabbit has no problems.  Is he alergic to the hay? is there anything I can do to stop this.  He does not seam to be discomferted by it and the snot (if any) is clear and runny.  

I took him to the vet and they put him on antibiotics but it did not help.  What is happening to him?

Answer
Hi Emma,

It certainly could be something like an allergy since like us, anything like dust can trigger histamines that cause sneezing.  I am wondering why antibiotics were prescribed without a confirmed bacterial infections as "shotgunning" antibiotics can come back to haunt you later on.

You are very correct..hay is the primary food.  And all hay is not created equally.  Depending on many conditions some hay has more dust than others.  I use two hays that seem to be very clean...Sweet Meadow Farm located in New England and Kleenmama's Hayloft located in the Pacific Northwest.  I would try different types and brands of hay to see which, if any, cause less sneezing.  You make "shake out" they hay....just grab a hand full of hay and shake it (outside preferably) and that should remove a lot of dust.  Some people have success by misting the hay lightly with a mister bottle of water...and some use apple juice just to add a little flare to the taste.  But you should keep the hay available all the time since it is so important.

There are a couple of drugs that might be of help but I would suggest them only in extreme cases as they each carry some potentially undesired side effects.  We have used antihistimines in some extreme cases.  The problem with these drugs is that they act as stimulants and can increase the heart rate and blood pressure and that isn't always a good idea in a high strung animal like a rabbit.  Steroids are also another option.  They work by suppressing the immune system response to a stimulus....in this case most likely dust.  But steroids suppress the entire immune system.  A rabbit's immune system isn't really strong so suppressing it could cause some undesired infections to show up.

For starters...shake that hay out to remove as much dust as possible and lightly mist it with water prior to feeding....don't make it soaking wet but just enough water to hold the dust down.  Let's go that route before seriously considering drug therapy.