Bloody Sneezes?

Question
My mini rex, Freckles, is 5 years old, and has always had a sneezing issue. My vet said he was probably allergic to something, we tried all sorts of new things but the sneezing remained. We settled on what seemed the best bedding and food, and while he sneezes, he is a pretty happy bunny, the sneezing never interferes with his normal eating and playing.

Last week when I came home from work he had blood on his face and paws. There wasn't alot, but enough that I was extremely worried and brought him to an emergency rabbit vet nearly an hour away. This vet also noticed swelling on one side of his face. Freckles got a cortisone shot and antibiotics for a week. The swelling went down quickly and Freckles seemed well. The vet didn't notice any abrasions in his mouth or nose, and couldn't see an obvious reason for the episode. Even with the blood on his face he still seemed happy and active and eating normal, so I cant say he was feeling better because his behavior seemed fine all along.

So I just got home from grocery shopping, one week later, and Freckles face was all bloody again! I cleaned him up and called the vet, they told me to give him more antibiotics.  I just dont understand, why could he be sneezing blood? Why would he need antibiotics if his behavior is normal? What else should I look into?

Answer
Dear Betsy,

This is definitely a serious enough sign for you to find a very experienced rabbit vet who has an endoscope and can look deep up into Freckles's sinuses to see if there is a tumor growing there.  The only other time I've heard of a rabbit sneezing blood, it turned out to be a cancerous tumor.  I hope that's not the problem here, but sneezing blood is definitely not normal.  The fact that his face is also swollen on one side is not a good sign.

It's possible, alternatively, that he has a molar root abscess, although I've never heard of one bleeding like this.  The cortisone shot will make him feel better, and reduce inflammation, but (1) corticosteroids are very risky to use in rabbits, and (2) they will not cure whatever is wrong with Freckles.  I would not use any more steroids until a diagnosis is made.

Please use the list linked here to find a good rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and read this, in case this is a dental problem:

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

The vet who gave you the antibiotics may be thinking there is an abscess, but from what you've written it doesn't seem that the vet did any serious diagnostics to find out.  (Radiographs?  Culture and sensitivity test on a sample of nasal discharge?  This also makes me wonder how experienced with rabbits this vet is, and whether the antibiotic prescribed is safe.  If it's anything ending in "cillin," stop giving it immediately and get Freckles to a good rabbit vet right away.

I hope this turns out to be nothing serious, but I certainly would want him checked by an expert ASAP, to get this treated before it becomes any worse.

Sending healing thoughts,

Dana