Rabbit seizure or respitory infection?

Question
Dear Dana,

I adopted a female lion head four months ago and she seems to be in good general health (good appetite, stools etc). Yet around christmas time she started having episodes where she would suddenly produce an enormous amount of mucus which would dribble from her nose and end up all over her face, which she would struggle to swallow and breathe through. The first two times this happened I rushed her to the emergency vets who suspected an upper respitory infection and treated her with antibiotics. The last time it happened, she looked obviously more distressed than ever before, running round the room frantically and lifting her head apparantly struggling to breathe and then she collapsed completely and her breathing almost stopped completely. Twenty minutes later at the emergency vets, she seemed a little shaken but in perfect health- no temperature, no trouble breathing, no telltale sounds in her chest to suggest a respiratory infection. This time a different emergency vet suggested that it might be a seizure possibly caused by e.cuniculi. In between these episodes she seems incredibly healthy and there are no warning signs that she is about to produce all this mucus. She does snore slightly but has no discharge from her nose between these episodes. Do rabbits have spontaneous seizures? Should I ask for her to be put on panacur and assume it is e.cuniculi causing her "fits"?

Thank you for your time,

Katie

Answer
Dear Katie,

Wow, this is pretty unusual.

Because this is a Lionhead rabbit, my first suspicion (other than a respiratory problem) would be that she has some severe molar problems (spur; abscess) that are making her drool excessively.  Most rabbits just drool out the mouth and the result is a wet chin and chest and burned skin in those areas.  But I wonder if some abnormality of her mouth anatomy keeps her from drooling (or swallowing) until she gets a big mouthful of foamy, mucous saliva.

Because rabbits are obligate nasal breathers, this might not get in her way until she moved around and somehow the mass of liquid in her mouth blocked her internal nares (the openings of her nostrils into the pharynx) and she essentially "backs up" the saliva and mucus into her nose, blocking her breathing passages in every way.  What a horrible thing to happen to a little bunny!

I'd ask the vet to do a very thorough oral exam to check for anything that might be making her salivate excessively.  If molar spurs can be filed, that might be the end of the problem--though she'll need regular exams to make sure they don't come back.

I'd also invest in a pediatric or adult ear syringe to have handy in case this ever happens again.  We had a bunny with severe pneumonia.  He was nebulized with Mucomyst to break up the mucus, and it worked a little *too* well a couple of times:  he suddenly presented unable to breath, his mouth full of phlegm and mucus, and he was frantically trying to breathe.  We had a pediatric ear syringe and were able to suction his mouth and nose clear quickly, preventing him from drowning in his own mucus.  

I think you might want to have something like that on hand to prevent a disaster, as it can make a HUGE difference just to get the goo out of the mouth so the bunny can breathe.

Please feel free to share any of this with your vet, if you think it will help.  This is an awful mystery, but I hope this helps with a few ideas.

Sending healing thoughts...

Dana