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rabbit panting

22 11:21:04

Question
I have a 5 year old dutch dwarf rabbit. She has been having sneezing fits for about a month, at first quite often but now much less.  About a week ago she started breathing different.  She is "panting" while in a relaxed position.  We brought her to the Vet this week.  He examined her and took a head X-ray.  He said he believes she has a sinus infection that is caused by her molar teeth pushing upward.  Also, her front teeth are much shorter than her bottom front teeth.  He gave her "baytril" antibiotic to take.  She is eating and drinking but now she has some soft stool, at times, mixed in with her normal stool.  She hardly has any sneezing fits anymore but she is still all the time. I am going to bring her back to the Vet. What could be making her breath like that?  What should I make sure the Vet looks for?  He is a Vet that does treat rabbits also.  

Answer
Dear Diane,

It's good that your vet knew to have a look at the molars.  But if the bunny appears to be laboring to breathe, you might ask the vet if he thinks a chest radiograph would be a good idea, to see if there is congestion in the lungs.  Pneumonia might require somewhat more aggressive treatment, such as nebulization with a "cocktail" to open the airways and loosen the thickened mucus (and possibly pus) in the lungs.

It's good that the Baytril is working.  Be sure to continue the full course, even if she stops showing symptoms.  That's the critical time when you want to at least *try* to wipe out as many of the problematic bacteria as you can, and not leave an tough "survivors" to create a worse, more resistant infection in the future.

I hope this helps.  

Dana