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Rabbits Breathing

22 10:49:50

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I wonder if you can help me.  Over the last few days My Lion Mane rabbit has been breathing faster than usual over the last few days,l ike he has exerted himself, but without any running around.  He is eating well and using his litter tray as normal.  There is no nasal discharge and no chest sounds.  I'm wondering if he could be a little stressed as over the last two weeks he has stayed at my sisters due to holiday and the week before that he had been to the vets to have his teeth burred.  When he falls asleep his breathing almost returns to normal.  I don't want to take him to the vet unless its necessary as the car journey really stresses him.
Thanks for any reply.

ANSWER: Dear Andrea,

The warmer weather may be making him pant.  Or he may be feeling a bit stressed.  But if he seems to be breathing unusually hard, then it would not hurt to get him to a good rabbit vet for auscultation and possibly chest radiographs to see if there is silent pneumonia:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Perhaps better to be safe than sorry.  It's a good sign that his breathing goes back to normal when he sleeps, though.  If he had pneumonia, one would expect him to labor to breathe even in his sleep.

I hope this helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Dana, thanks for the prompt answer.  It is very useful. One thing I forgot to mention is that occasionally (around once a day) he sort of sighs through his nose.  He did this frequently the day he return from having his teeth done, usually when he was stretching his head out or looking up for a stroke (it sometimes sounded like a whine).  I called the vets and they said it was probably stress, but its not really gone away. Is this related?  he was a bunny without any noise prior to this.

Thanks again for the answer, I read your GI Stasis paper whilst bunny was at the vets being treated for the problem.  It really helped to understand the problem.

Answer
Dear Andrea,

Without hearing the noise I can't really tell what it is.  But he could be vocalizing for attention or just giving a big sigh, which bunnies sometimes do.

As long as he's eating well, producing normal poops, and has a clear-sounding chest, I would not worry too much.

Hope this helps.

Dana