oh no. I think one of our rabbits has snuffles.

[taraann81]

Well I bought a few new rabbits a few eeks ago. Kept them apart from my other rabbits until just a few days ago. I quaranteened just over two weeks(obviously I should have extended this time frame but they all appeared so healthy). Moved them in to the shed where I house our rabbits in separate wire cages.

Today I went out to do my usual chores and noticed one rabbit sneezing on closer inspection I noticed white nasal discharge.( I handle everyone one of my rabbits daily(besides pregnant does) so this is a new development). Moved her into the house and away from all other rabbits.

The research I have done makes me pretty sure this is snuffles. Is there anything prophalactically I can do for the other rabbits to prevent infection?

And what can I do for this girl?(She is being raised for meat so vet care will be the very last resort, please be kind with comments)

 

[millebantam]

If she is a meat rabbit, process her TODAY. If you do in fact, have a case of snuffles, don't risk spreading it. From my experience, you can treat it, and somewhat "cure" the visual symptoms, but will always be present to some extent and usually a treated rabbit will show signs again at a later time, as soon as it's resistance runs down for any reason. There is only one sure-fire solution to your problem, and that is elimination from the herd. Sorry.

 

[thebritt]

Snuffles is HIGHLY contagious! When they sneeze, the spray travels a great distance. It is incurable, but a bunny can live with it. We had one w/snuffles that lived for years with it. You need to either house it in a separate building from the others (and handle that one AFTER caring for the others) or cull. Sorry.

 

[granmahen]

We had two himalayans (sp) that had snuffles when we got them. Both lasted a year. Was very careful about feeding and watering them last so as to not accidentally spread their germs to the others. Only one other, a fuzzy lop, caught snuffles from them because I accidentally put a himmy water bottle on the lop's cage. He's been snuffley for a year now, I give him sage leaves, which helps. He never runs free in the bunny run like the rest get to, don't want to spread germs, but he is a doll. Our bunnies are outside, so I figure that helps snuffles not spread. His cage is not near any others, so he can't sneeze on anyone. Good luck with yours.

 

[chinbunny]

Cull her if she is big enough. If not, you may want to consider putting her down. it may not be woth medicating her to try and get her up to weight when you have other healthy rabbits out there to worry about. I wouldn't worry about the others for now. The only thing you can do is cull the sick ones, and keep and breed with the healthy ones. They tend to be more resistant to the disease. If she isn't that big, you can processher and give her to your dog raw. Providing you have a dog that is.

Thats what my tiny fryers go to if they are too small to be edible. Don't cook the carcass once its cleaned. that way it won't choke on the bones.

 

[taraann81]

Thanks everyone. She is very young and her brother I got from the same breeder started sneezing today. They are both seperated and we care for them last. But I think we will cull them. I don't want to risk accidently forgetting to wash hands or cover my clothes and infect my other rabbits. Now how to do it....I was planning on having a processor do them when they got up to weight. Now it looks like its mine or my DH's job(hes as big of a softy as me). I am very worried about it and not sure the best way to go about it. Having it put down by a vet is a bit out of the question. I know the last cat I had put down cost 150. I am sure a rabbit is cheaper but not much.

Any advice on this part. And chinbunny good advice about feeding them raw to the dogs, I like to think that at least that way they will not be going to waste.

 

[Bunnylady]

Quote:
I wouldn't bet on it! Euthanizing rabbits is almost as difficult as anesthetizing them, and costs accordingly! Apparently, rabbits' blood vessels aren't big enough to allow the use of an IV, so a much larger dose is injected into the abdomen. Around here, almost all vet work on rabbits costs more than comparable work on cats.

Just as a side note: I read a report many years ago, by a Vet that was studying Snuffles in commercial herds. Normally, of course, commercial breeders cull animals immediately that show the symptoms, but she managed to arrange to have them brought to her first. When nasal swabs and cultures were done, the majority of the rabbits that had been brought in with "snuffles" symptoms had Staphylococcus, not Pasteurella. Whatever bacterium is the cause, nasal infections in rabbits are hard to "get at" with antibiotics, and tend to get suppressed rather than cleared up. Some rabbits will seem to recover and stop sneezing on their own, but when stressed, begin sneezing again.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

I'd probably pump it full of electrolytes, and if that doesn't work, put it down.

Source: Raise many rabbits, and had to cull quite a few.



Might consider giving tetracycline during the winter, because if they are cooped up, they will have many problems in the spring! We had a GORGEOUS english lop die, and he didn't even sire any kids yet! I was very disappointed. So, now we give all animals a low dose, and then the problems don't come up.

 

[chinbunny]

Quote:
i think showbunny.com has a list of ways to euthanize a rabbit. Its actually fairly easy. Hope this can be posted here, cause its gonna be graphic. You can easily break the neck on a young rabbit just by giving the head a quick twist. I think the lady that processes mine uses an air gun of some sort. Whatever he choses to do make sure its quick and humane. I use the broomstick method myself when it comes to putting them down. Sometimes that one takes some skill to learn. Not going to go into details on that one here. You can probably find it just by googling it. I wouldn't go with a vet on it either. Much easier to do it yourself and process them. They will make nice pet food.

Yep, just process and freeze them if you want. Or give them to the dogs right away. Make sure they don't have any kibble at least eight hours before or after they are given to them. otherwise you may end up with a dog with an upset tummy.

 

[granmahen]

Quote:
Probably too late, but when we have to put a bunny down, we wrap it in a towel and place in a small cat carrier, the smaller the better. Then place entire carrier into a large garbage bag, like the ones you put leaves in. Then place vacuum hose or old pool hose into bag and seal with duct tape. Place other end of hose into tailpipe of car and turn on engine. It only takes minutes for bunny to die. This is quick, though I wouldn't let the kids watch, and I definitely wouldn't feed to dogs after (not sure about carbon monoxide harming meat). Anyway, it works. Sorry about your bunnies.