Yesterday, I went into a town a few miles away, and got myself a baby rabbit- my fourth (And, for now, final) addition to the family. As I don't drive, my friend was driving me to the store, and that evening, back to my house. In the meantime, we bunny-proofed her room and let little Pipkin (as we named him) run around. At NO point did I hear him sneeze.

However, since I got him home last night, he's been sneezing freqeuntly. I'm hoping it's just the bedding, which is cut up hay and paper shreddings. His eyes aren't running, and although his nose is slightly damper than is normal, it is only slight.

I'm panicking because we actually have NO money to take him to the vets, as we got unexpected bills through. I'm seriously considering removing and replacing all his bedding, to see if it helps, but I don't want to disturb his new home as he's just settling in.

Any advice?

Rabbits, like us, sneeze anytime something irritating gets into their nasal passages. So, hopefully, it is just some hay or litter dust. Rabbits with pasteurella do sneeze but with the rabbits I've had that have pasteurella, the running nose is a more prevalent symptom. So, if the bun's nose is not gunky or overly wet, there's a good chance that Pipkin just sneezed from something dusty in the air. Sudden frequent sneezing would seem to indicate it's something near the bun so it could very well be the bedding. If he's still sneezing, switch to another brand. Don't worry about disturbing him; I'm sure the sneezing is more irrititating for him than a litter change.

Thanks!
I've changed his bedding, as it was the last of the hay in the bag, there was a lot of very small bits. I've removed the hay, apart from the longer hay in his basket, and the sneezing hasn't stopped, but HAS reduced a lot. I'll keep an eye on him, but may come back to you if it doesn't stop soon.

Pipkin's still sneezing... And he's still doing it a fair bit, too. It doesn't seem to have reduced any at all since my last post.

Do you have any suggestions?

your post caught my eye...

we had a rabbit for many years. i was constantly warned about Pasteurella, which is a respiratory disease that is aggressive and often fatal for rabbits. Every time he sneezed I was terrified he had contracted it. at some point we did have him tested (it is an expensive blood test) and I believe he tested positive. we treated him with antibiotics and at least two other medications to counteract the side effects of the antibiotics. My memory of this is that it took months to run the course of the medications (memory tends to exaggerate). He never did stop sneezing and snuffling, so I eventually stopped worrying. He lived for two more years to the very ripe rabbit age of eight.

here is a link: http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/h...asteurella.html

Hope your bunny is okay, don't know if this helps or just makes things more confusing!!

Thanks for the link, Jane- It's very informative and helped put my mind at rest a little.

Pipkin's sneezing has worsened, and there's a small amount of discharge from his nose, so I guess he probably DOES has Pasteurella.
We will be able to get him to a vet on Monday, and as he seems to mostly be fine (still highly active and eating plenty) then I'm hoping that he'll be fine until then.
I'm just wondering how I would have to administer medicine to him. I can't imagine forcing pills into him, as he's so young and so new. Also, because he's a little underweight, there's not really a scruff to inject anything into.

Should I move him out of his little run in the bedroom, and into the lounge, away from my other buns? Or is it not contagious?

Pasteurella is something that most rabbits have been exposed to and many rabbits carry it. If your other buns have been with your sneezing bun and that bun does have pasteurella, they are already exposed but may have been exposed beforehand. In my experience, the sneezing/runny nose form of pasteurella is fairly easy to get under control. It's the tumor-causing form (okay technically abscesses) that is hard to deal with and much more nasty. I think if your bun takes Baytril for a month or so, he should be better. This is all assuming he even has pasteurella. Because I've had buns with severe pasteurella in the past, I too freak out when one of my buns shows any nasal discharge or sneezing. When I show my vet, he's like, "No, he/she's fine. If it were pasteurella, the nose would be much worse than that." Pasteurella causes a lot of discharge and resulting yellow front paws from wiping it off.

If your bun needs Baytril, you can get a liquid form which is what I've used. It can be made into a bunch of flavors. I think we had bubble gum flavor. My hedgehog is on liquid Baytril now but he gets meat flavor. By sticking a syringe in the corner of his mouth, you can squirt in liquid medication without much hassle. I've never been able to pill a bun like I can a cat. When they used to make the purple Baytril (now they're brown liver flavored for cats and dogs) pills, my old buns used to eat them off the floor they were so yummy?!

Whew. That really DOES make me feel better. His nose really isn't all that runny- there is obviously some form of discharge, but it's nowhere near as you've discribed. Still, I shall keep a close eye on him, and shall whisk him off to the vets if he gets any worse. I'll keep you updated!

And dispite having just woken up, I still have to giggle at the thought of your buns gobbling up their medication like it's a raisin or a bunny treat!