Question
When my lionhead rabbit tries to relax, even while he's eating, he begins to emit a wheezing sound and his whole body begins to rock. I've been told this is rabbit snoring and is normal.
However, as the rabbit falls more deeply into sleep, the snoring gets extremely loud and more grunt- and gurgle-like; his breathing becomes irregular, and begins to mimic someone having an asthma attack. Moreover, his body begins to shake and it almost looks like he is convulsing.
It is clear that this isn't very comfortable for him, and is probably causing a type of bunny sleep apnea, as he tends to be less engaged than my other rabbit.
Is there anything I can do to help my bunny breathe better?
I've noticed controlling the humidity in my house does seem to reduce the loudness of the snoring.
Video my bun sleeping as requested.
Answer
The medical term for difficult or labored breathing, when it appears to cause discomfort in animals, is dyspnea. Signs of this include:
- restlessness and poor sleep
- reluctance to exercise
- sneezing or other nasal discharge
- signs of anorexia (not eating) and lethargy
Some causes include:
- Injury or illness, stress
- Several diseases
- Nasal obstructions
- Abscesses
- Bacterial infections
So, I didn't post all that to scare the heck out of you. Your description does indicate some evidence that he's reluctant to exercise and so maybe this is a good reason to seek a second opinion on the issue. Not all of instances of this require medical intervention (most are unlikely to), despite apparent discomfort, and that may be what the vet was trying to tell you. Essentially, mild cases being "rabbit snoring" and normal.
To be fair to your vet, stress is a consideration here. It could be that he's not reacting well to the companion rabbit or some other environmental change and that's now manifesting this way. If that is true, then a change in this respect would alleviate things. Other than that, if this is a mild case of dyspnea, I haven't found a home remedy to help.
Answered By - Joanne C