harplady
Registered: 04/18/07
Posts: 99
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Reply with quote | #1 |
My 5 1/2 year old rabbits died three weeks ago of a suspected case of Pasteurella. Chewy showed no obvious signs of illness until the day he died. Tasha lived five days longer, but refused to eat, even though she was on meds from the vet to stimulate her appetite. Tasha had obvious signs of illness, as with a cold. I am heartbroken.
About two weeks before Tasha and Chewy became sick, I found a dead cottontail in front of their pen. I didn't inspect it to see how it died, I just assumed one of our dogs killed it. Could my rabbits have contracted something from the visiting cottontails in our yard?
My rabbits live in covered pens with freedom to go in and out of their hutches, so I am sure they come in contact with more stuff than hutch rabbits. Any suggestions on how I can prevent this tragedy from happening again? I still have two more rabbits that I want to protect.
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Charlcie
Moderator
Registered: 04/15/07
Posts: 120
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Reply with quote | #2 |
How sad!
Off the top of my head, I might suspect Tularemia, though you would need a necropsy of both the dead cottontail and your pets to be sure. Tularemia is not directly passed from one animal to another generally, but is passed through ticks, fleas, biting flies, etc. The symptoms are high fever, loss of appetite, depression, and pneumonia-like symptoms.
Protection from diseases like Tularemia (and Myxomatosis - spread by mosquitos) involves protection from fleas and other external parasites. Usually snuffles is a chronic disease, so I would be suspicious in the death of Chewey, since you said it his symptoms came on rather suddenly. If it was hot and the rabbits were already compromised, they may have been especially vulnerable, however.
Again, I am very sorry to hear about your losses. Reading your posts over time made me feel as if I knew Chewey personally. 
Charlcie
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Charlcie
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com |
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Peteysfriend
Registered: 04/27/07
Posts: 44
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Reply with quote | #3 |
Harplady:
I am so sorry about your rabbits. I too feel like I knew them from reading your posts. I know they brought you a lot of joy and will be missed. What lucky rabbits they were to have you to care for them. You're in my thoughts. Best wishes.
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harplady
Registered: 04/18/07
Posts: 99
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Reply with quote | #4 |
Thank you both for your kind words. Chewy did have loss of appetite, but then he was molting, so I thought little of it. I don't remember if he had a temperature. I would sit next to him and pet him and I did not notice anything different in his breathing, but when I brought him to the vet, the vet said that his "pasteurella" may have already gone into pneumonia. His eyes nose and ears were clear, but when he got to the vet he was tearing out of one eye. At the time of death, his eyes, nose and mouth were dripping with water, but that happened about an hour within his death. The vet had given him subcutaneous fluids earlier that day. I don't believe he had pasteurella. Tasha, I'm not so sure about. She had gotten overweight from eating what Chewy didn't eat, so I thought she had a good chance of making it, but she refused to eat. She also was moulting, and perhaps she didn't want to go on without Chewy. |
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