Yellowy tinged fur under nose, just noticed

Question
Hello there;

I just got a 3 and 1/2 month old Dutch doe from a breeder on 7/2/08. She seemed relatively healthy aside from a tiny bit of looser stools which cleared up the same day (just gave her water and timothy hay for the first 12 hours. Today I noticed she had a yellowish tinge to her fur underneath her nose, and when I checked her again a couple of hours later, it appeared to be more obvious.

She sneezed once yesterday while eating her hay, and once two or so days ago just sitting there. Her nose is not wet, running or matted but the fur seems a tiny bit crusty where it is yellowed. Her front legs are clean, no evidence of wiping away drainage. Eyes are clear with no discharge. There is no obvious discharge from her nose aside form the fact that the fur is yellowed under each nostril. Eating drinking is normal, respiration and activity level is normal. I plan on bringing her into the vet tomorrow to be checked out/do a culture etc.

Does it sound as if I caught (assuming it is something) early enough for it not to be contagious to other rabbits? I have another bunny, 5 month old Holland lop whom she has been sharing a room (but not a cage!) with. He is healthy, has not shown ANY signs of a URI, no drainage/yellowing. Will he need to be started on AB's also? I have an appointment to get him neutered tomorrow, will it bet best if I postpone it to make sure he is not getting sick?

Thanks so much for your help,
Kayleigh(owner), Merlin(bunny), and Marina(bunny)  

Answer
Dear Kayleigh,

I would not worry too much about contagion. From my experience, and that of lots of other bunny-experienced people, upper respiratory bacteria are *not* easily transmitted between rabbits, even if they are bonded pairs who groom and cuddle.

If there's yellowish nose goo, my guess would be Pseudomonas, which is an opportunistic pathogen that causes signs mainly when a bunny is immunocompromised.  Now that Marina is safe with you, I'll bet her condition will improve.  But you're wise to have your bunny vet look her over.  Only a culture and sensitivity will really tell what's up there, but nasal cultures are notoriously easy to get contaminated.  Unless there's a *really* heavy growth of one particular bacterium already up there, the results may be questionable.  

I would NOT start Merline on any antibiotics in the absence of signs of infection.  When you take the buns to your vet, express your concerns and get the vets' opinion.  You can go from there feeling confident you're doing the best for your bunnies.

Hope this helps!

Dana