Great article - Thank you

by Stormy
(Sonoma County, CA)

Thanks for the great article. I have learned so much about rabbit diseases these past few months! I have been treating with antibiotics for one thing after another.

I was so happy to go large and get 4 rabbits shipped across the country, 3 were rare breed rabbits. One came down with pasteurella, and now I am testing all the rabbits in my quarantine zone. 4 came down sniffly, one doe got wet around the nose then recovered. A couple from my old colony tested for Bordatella - not Pasteurella, but I think you mention in one of your articles they can go hand in hand. A couple does from my colony escaped and hung out under the cages of the new ones in quarantine - eyiyi - so I may have a full-scale disaster on my hands.

I am wondering if you've ever seen Pasteurella as little whitish growths on the skin - I have a buck with a abscess-like growth on his genitals - or a warty whitish colored thing - which nothing will squeeze out of. The vet said it was vent disease and we've been treating it for months and months now. I am wondering if it could be pasteurella, it shrinks with antibiotics but never goes away.

It popped up after a treatment of Baytril for a respiratory illness. She didn't even offer to test for Pasteurella, just "lets treat it."

I can understand your strategy for breeding for immunity - this is going to be tough - and see that I should probably weed out anyone coming down with Bordatella too? I had two healthy colony does which I bred then one came down with symptoms after she was pregnant - so I wonder if the pregnancy just weakens her or if she's not strong enough stock either.

This is a much tougher job than I imagined - I had planned on keeping my breeding stock their whole lives.

***** Karen Sez *****
Stormy, you're on the right track, and I'm excited for your future success.

To answer your questions:

Your buck's "warty whitish colored thing" is possibly a blocked gland filled with secretions. These look more like white pimples, and don't seem to cause any problems. They might actually resolve on their own. But if it is an infection, it could as easily be staph aureus as anything else. Vent disease will be reddened, sore, and scabby. The vent area will get very swollen. Your description did not sound like vent disease. Take a look at https://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-syphilis.html and see what you think.

I don't think I would cull for Bordetella - bordetella can be successfully treated. However, I'd sure keep my eye on that rabbit in my barn going forward. This is to ensure that the rabbit did not have weakened lungs that could subsequently come down with pasteurella.

Pregnancy does place a strain on a rabbit's health...

Best of luck with keeping your outbreak a minor one! Once you've gotten it under control, you'll have fewer and fewer sick rabbits, and you'll start truly enjoying your rabbits.

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