Sneezing Minilop

Question
I'm writing because I have a 3-4 month old minilop who's been with me for about 2 months now and has been sneezing a lot since yesterday.  I have her in a wire cage with a litter box for her to "go" in (I only use paper bedding - no pine, cedar or anything that can cause respiratory illness), a little bed in which she sleeps in, her timothy hay dispenser, water bottle and a little plate for some fresh carrots and some pellet mix.  

  She's always been very active and happy but these past 3 days has been a little tired and she hasn't been as active as usual, she just jumps over to the sofa to sit on my lap an be petted until she falls asleep.

 I'm extremely worried about her sneezing because it sounds really weird, it would almost sound like she has asthma because there's a little whistle to it and she sneezes like 8 times in a row and then scratches her nose with anything she can find.

 I checked her eyes and they look normal, I couldn't find any signs of nasal congestion by looking at her nose (it looks shiny like it was wet but it isn't exactly runny), even though I can see that she sprays a clear liquid while sneezing.

 I don't know what I did wrong... There's two things that worry me and I think might be the cause of this...

The first being I bathed my bunny just 2 days ago and she might've caugt a cold because she remained a little wet (she didn't let me blow dry her).

  The other thing is that she insisted, while playing, on hiding behind a corner in the closet that's full of dust and who knows what else...

  What worries me is the whistling sound, it almost sounds like a human coughing, like an asthmatic person...

  I'm worried sick about her and am desperate... Is there anything I can do to help her stop sneezing?  

I already cleaned her cage twice today, I emptied and disinfected it, including the litterbox, just in case.  I changed her water and her food and moved her cage to a new area in my house away from  my birds (just in case it was the feathers or something).  I just don't know what else to do...

Answer
Dear Krystal,

The one thing you haven't mentioned is whether you have taken her to a good rabbit vet.  That's what you need to do right away to be sure she doesn't have pneumonia.  If she has an upper respiratory infection, she will need the appropriate antibiotics, and if she has pneumonia she may need to be nebulized several times a day with a "cocktail" designed to clear the infection from her lungs.

You can read more about this here:

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

and here:

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

and find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Don't worry yourself sick, but DO get her to a vet ASAP so that you will be confident knowing she is getting good medical care.

Hope this helps.

Dana
P.S. - You should *never* bathe a rabbit.  Please see:

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