My friend decided to buy our child a pet rabbit as an easter present. It's a rex bunny rabbit which means the fur is rather like velvet - truly smooth. It is because the rex bunnies fur grows vertically not like other bunnies whose fur grows on an angle.
I straight away fell in love with the baby rabbit & got her many things to play with.
Alas after just 4 weeks i observed that she was sneezing quite a bit. We wondered if it was due to our rex pet rabbit acquiring curly whiskers and maybe the whiskers had been tickling her nostril. Nevertheless I after that saw a discharge from her nostril so i got her immediately to the vet.
The vet checked her over and described she had snuffles and needed a quantity of antibiotics to remove the infection. The antibiotics were given in the form of a liquid that we were required to feed to her three times per day from the syringe. For those who have ever had to provide medicine to a bunny rabbit you'll know that this is really tricky to do. Our rabbit hated a nozzle pushed in her chops and I got many scratches from her struggling to get free. Following two days of it our pet bunny rabbit seemed to improve although she loathed medicine time and began screaming. It was truly awful for me and our pet bunny rabbit.
We started looking on the internet about the snuffles and was devastated to see what a nasty affliction it was & how rabbits never really recover from it and need to be on antibiotics right through their life. Its wonderful how quickly you can get close with a bunny rabbit and the idea of loosing her was hard to admit. I needed to set a brave face to our daughter and yet at the same time be honest in relation to how important the disease was. Following a week of antibiotics our pet rabbit was a good deal improved. She stopped sneezing and there was no longer a discharge from her nose. My husband & I were scratched to bits & our bunny rabbit no more appreciated being lifted up or cuddled which was a real shame. However we kept my fingers crossed that she had pulled through. Unfortunately within five days she was back to sneezing and discharge from her nostril. The fur on the front paws was tangled which is a sure mark of snuffles. Rabbits try to wash their nostril and the discharge gets on their paws creating the matted fur.
We took her to my vet again and explained that if she had to get antibiotics once more I did not know if this was reasonable on her or us. I'll always remember my vet stating I am not having a screaming rabbit on my shout" I'll sort this out one way or another. So I was shown how to give the bunny rabbit an injection. Our bunny rabbit didn't object to me giving her an injection. At the end of 10 days she was a lot better once more though she had suffered small lasting damage to her lungs. Sadly my tale continues since following a couple of days We saw a damp nostril. I looked on the net and came across a community regarding pet rabbits and how some pet rabbits are hypersensitive to saw dust. I was using saw dust in her toilet tray therefore We went to the pet supermarket & got paper pellet litter.
The result? My bunny rabbit hasn't had a wet nostril since and she is currently more than a year old! I'm so thankful that I discovered she had a saw dust hypersensitivity before it was too late. My pet rabbits lungs are permanently scared therefore she should be kept out of drafts & damp. I have covered her cage with a cover & insulated it beneath. She has a vet bed inside to sleep on & also some outside in her play pen. Through winter we kept her inside for the reason that even the cold air would make her sneeze.
She is now a awfully content pet rabbit although she hates to be picked up & clipping her nails is really quite a ordeal. Nonetheless if you go down on your knees next to her or sit next to her she loves to be stroked & cuddled. She will collapse next to you and lick your hand at the same time as "purring". Although being very mischievous we love her to bits & are so appreciative that she is alive and fighting fit.
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