# She had something stuck up her nose?



## Amy27 (Mar 28, 2009)

I am curious what you guys think about this. 

I took Chase to the vet today for her recheck and decided to take the Little Bunny with me to get her nails cut. When I got there they took Chase back to do her tests and I noticed the Little Bunny was breathing really fast and hard and seemed very very nervous. I was trying to get her to relax a little bit because I was concerned by they way she was breathing. I ended up taking my sweater off (had another shirt on) and wrapping her up in the sweater and holding her hoping to make her feel secure. I noticed then that her nose was all gross. It had a lot of discharged and the discharge was a little discolored. So I went and showed the receptionist and they said they would have the vet look at it. The vet was concerned and took her back to get a culture of the mucous to check for pastrella. When th vet brought her back she told me she had something stuck up her nose and she is pretty sure that is why it was draining. She believes it was hay. She said only one side of the nose was producing mucous and so she is pretty sure it isn't pastrella but will send the culture out anyway. 

Seriously how does a small bunny get a piece of hay stuck in her nose? I can barely see her nose hole it is so small. Do you think the vet is right? I guess I will find out when the culture comes back. Since it was removed from her nose she hasn't had any discharge so I guess I assume the vet is correct but it just seems so wierd. Anyone ever heard of anything like this?


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## Maureen Las (Mar 28, 2009)

I think that it's possible for her to have gotten hay up her nose but since the vet sent the sample out you will get definite results anyway. 

I assume that she didn't have any discharge before she was going to the vet's? Right ?


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## Amy27 (Mar 28, 2009)

I didn't notice any discharge before taking her to the vet. But I was running late coming home from work to take them to the vet so I just threw them in cages and rushed off. I didn't notice anything last night but she is not the friendliest bunny so I don't usually hold her or pet her so I could have missed it. 

How would a rabbit even get a piece stuck in their nose? They couldn't breath a piece up there right? I would think there noses are to small. I was thinking maybe a piece of hay was sticking up in the pile of hay she has and she put her head down and a piece went up her nose and broke off. This just really has me puzzled and curious.


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## Maureen Las (Mar 28, 2009)

It doesn't mean it was a big piece /..even a tiny little piece of it could irritate her nose ...even like the dust at the bottom of a bag
although I would be asking the same questions that you are....

if it comes back you'll know that it wasn't hay


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## aurora369 (Mar 28, 2009)

I have seen a very young infant rabbit. It had a piece stuck up it's nostril and part of it was sticking out. The hay actually made the poor baby's nose bleed too.j

The baby didn't even have it's eyes open yet. The piece of hay was able to be removed and the baby was okay. It was very scary to see though. The piece was about a half inch long, and most of it was stuck up the nostril.

Freak accidents can happen, and there's no way to really prevent them, or sometimes figure out how they happened.

--Dawn


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## Amy27 (Mar 28, 2009)

Thanks guys for your replies. You are right angieluv I will just have to wait and see what the tests show. I always like to know the how's and why's which is not always a good thing because like this situation I try to figure out how that would happen. 

aurora369 OMG that is crazy. That baby bun had to have a really small nose. A half an inch is huge for a little baby. Poor thing. I knew that if it could happen there would probably be someone on here who has had it happen or heard of it before. 

I never would have thought anything like this could/would happen. You learn something new everyday and I guess this was my new thing to learn for the day. 

The vet was even surprised. She was telling me that the vet techs were like ewww it's a bogger. And the bunny mom in me was think don't ewww at my bunny. lol Everything is cute about her, even some piece of hay covered in mucous from her nose. I guess that is something only a bunny mom can love.


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## ra7751 (Mar 28, 2009)

I think two things are possible....and quite likely here. First, it is very possible for a piece of hay or something to get into a nostril and cause this. Next, it is possible, and again quite likely, that you have found something that I am seeing is getting harder to find....a vet that actually knows something about rabbits. I think her course of treatment is nothing short of fantastic. Stay with her. It is so rare I can say that.....how refreshing and something that I sorely needed to hear today to restore some of my faith.

Randy


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## Amy27 (Mar 28, 2009)

You are right Randy my vet is awesome. It took me awhile to find her but she does a great job and has a ton of knowledge. 

I do have a question about one of your comments. Do you really think it is getting harder to find good vets? I would think it would become easier. I don't know anything about it, so I trust that your right I just assumed that because more and more people are owning rabbits that we would see more knowledgable vets and continue to see more in the future. That is kind of scary. I have heard of people on here talk about how hard it is to find a good vet but do you think it is easier to find a good vet now then it was 5 or 10 years ago? I am curious to hear your comments on this if you have the time to respond. I am have become so interested and curious about rabbits.


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## ra7751 (Mar 28, 2009)

Well....is finding a qualified vet getting easier.....yes and no. I havea very unique perspective since I work so closely with some of the best vets in the country and also have a major vet school nearby and I am involved in some of the training....with many exotics and wildlife.

Things are beginning to concern me with some of the "exotics" specialists that claim to have rabbit experience. In most vet schools, there is very limited exposure to exotic and avian focus. Most of the small animal focus is spent on dogs and cats. What I have seen with some of the established vets is that they are relying mostly on the VIN.....Veterinary Information Network. The public part of this network is Veterinary Partner. The VIN is a subscription service available to veterinary professionals. It is much like this forum....a discussion forum. And like this forum, there can be a lot of great information exchanged and debates on certain issues. And, unfortunately like this forum, there can be some outdated and/or inaccurate posts. There are a few posts on the VIN that really concern me....and I have discussed this with several of my vets. It involves using oral cephalosporins for various infections. While there might be some rabbits that can tolerate these drugs, by and large, this post in inaccurate but I have had quite a few incidents that this very post come up....including one in particular that put me in a very difficult position since I am not a vet. That is just one example of several poststhatmakes me raise an eyebrow.I don't think being able to access and read the posts on the VIN qualifies any vet as an exotic specialist. The doctor still needs to have a lot of knowledge about Rabbit 101 and make the appropriate applications regarding information posted on the VIN. In reality, the VIN is a tool, and a valuable one, to vets that do want to learn exotics....but it is no substitute for hands-on experience. A kind of "Catch 22". I think that some vets that claim to be "rabbit experts" rely too much on this forum and suffer from a lack of experience in deciphering the information....be it right or wrong....that appears on the VIN.

On the flip side of that, vet schools are realizing that with all the downsizing people are doing that the smaller "pocket pets" and birds are where the opportunities and money (and being a vet is a business and the idea is to make money) are in the future. Being deamed "exoitcs"...that allows premium charges since there is now additional training available at the university level for students interested in exotics and avian focus. There is also much more push for large animals such as cows and hogs as farm sciences evolve. NC State College of Veterinary Medicine is stepping up and building an entirely new wing that will include exotic and avian focus. For several years, my animals have been seen by many of the senior vet students doing clinicals at various clinics around the campus. We are also exposing more vet students to wildlife and zoology. I just made a huge presentation at NC State that involved my rescue and four others. The purpose was to show that various rescues can work together and pool resources to get the job done....and we also exposed a huge crowd to some really neat critters including rabbits, degus, chinchillas, turtles, hawks, owls, vultures, snakes and we even had a Fennic Fox,Serval Cat and a real live American Alligator on display. The doctors that are coming out of vet school now already have more experience on exotics than most vets that have been practicing for years.....and are trained in using the modern treatments that are so much more effective....and safer. There are some schools.....Cornell and Tufts....that have very proactive wildlife focus studies and are huge rehabilitators.....and I have called on their information several times when I have had difficult wildlife issues. So things are improving....and that is a "win-win" all the way around.

Randy


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## Amy27 (Mar 28, 2009)

Thanks Randy for explaining that. I haven't owned rabbits long enough to really be able to compare it to anything to see if it is getting better or worse. 

It is funny you mentioned the VIN because my previous vet used that for a lot of the questions I had asked her that I got from here. One example was I asked her if I could give Chase dried cranberries or crasins and she said yes. I asked how many could I give her and she told me she would post on the forum for vets and find out. She came back and said don't give her any it will make her constipated. I do give them to Chase now and she has never been constipated so I don't know if that is true or not but it was a weird feeling for your vet to tell you they have to ask a forum.

I think the word rabbit savy vet is used to often. I know at least here in Columbus a lot of vets say they are rabbit savy and see exotics though they have no additional schooling or education on rabbits. I would love to see that changed, to have more vets get additional education on exotics. Here if you take an exotic in to a vet it is more money then if you took a dog or a cat. It was like that for the vet who didn't have any additional education and the one that did. So why would the one spend money on additional education when she can charge the same amount as the one who did get the additional education. 

My rabbits have seen 4 different rabbit savy vets but the one they see now is a real rabbit savy vet. I didn't really understand the difference education could make until I started seeing this new vet. 

It sounds like in your area that they are really moving forward with exotics and additional education and that is awesome. I hope more cities and states do that.


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## ronnie2012 (Oct 30, 2012)

My lil rabbit was sneezing like a freak for a couple of days....i was a bit curious bout that. I been overwatching her for the days.She was not playing as usual. even noticed some drools where she sat. I thought it to be cold. But things got normal the other day when i pulled out the hay that was stuck in her nosetril. Very Freaky....bit of bleeding...but relieved from the pain she was suffering..The size of the hay was about 4 inch...i still cant understand how on earth it got stuck in my bunny,s nose....:?


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