My Pasteurella Journey

OneAcreFarm · Jan 8, 2013

This is a list of threads created over the course of 2-3 months, chronicling our initial brush with a Pasteurella Multocida infection, or "Snuffles" as it sometimes can be called. Hopefully, this will be of help to others experiencing this.

cupcake-and-sneezing-t3298.html

aaacckkk-what-did-i-do-t3321.html

herd-update-for-today-t3329.html

well-snot-t3412.html

treating-pasteurella-infected-does-prior-to-kindling-t3482.html

well-we-finally-did-it-t3579.html

6-week-pics-of-the-bunnicles-pic-heavy-t3657.html

first-sneezer-of-the-bunch-t3808.html

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Miss M · Jan 8, 2013

Excellent resource! Thank you for going to the trouble of putting this together.

lissapell · Jan 8, 2013

AWESOME!!! thanks so much!

Heritage Homestead · Jan 8, 2013

Bookmarking this so I always know where it is! Thanks One Acre Farm!

huntress86 · Jan 8, 2013

sorry you guys had to deal with snuffles, it's no fun! very helpful, i will also be bookmarking for quick reference. :thankyou:

OneAcreFarm · Jan 9, 2013

Well, if if helps anyone else to avoid the heartbreak we endured, then I will consider it worth the experience.

Diamond · Jan 13, 2013

What an intense, and disheartening, experience to go through.

I have been researching antibiotic use in rabbits due to a chronic eye problem with one of my does. Most signs point to pasteurella being a culprit - although none of my rabbits have had the 'snuffles', the pasteurella bacteria seem to be a common factor with respiratory and sinus problems.

I read a few studies on long-term bicillin use to treat pasteruella abscesses and am willingly experimenting on my afflicted doe, giving her a 0.25 cc SQ injection every other day. We've been at this for a week now and it is hard to tell if there is any actual improvement, all I can say is that she has not gotten worse. But I lost a lot of time with medicated eye drops, trying to treat the problem topically when it was most likely systemic.

The voice in the back of my head tells me I should cull her, but I want to see if the condition is treatable - there is really nothing to lose at this point.

And if pasteurella does respond to bicillin treatment, it would be worth a try once isolation has been established.

But it does seem that this bacteria 'hangs out' in an average environment, much like staph and e. coli live on our bodies, so the argument for culling afflicted rabbits is very strong - mother Nature does not favor the weak, and those who are not able to thrive should not reproduce.

Maxine · Jan 17, 2013

I'm so sorry you had to go through this ordeal.

I haven't wanted to read this thread because I irrationally fear that if I did then my rabbits would come down with it. Superstitious. My doe, Ginger has a bit of a scabby nose and she has always seemed skitterish and doesn't eat or drink as well as my other two rabbits. Now I am worried she has pasteurella. I guess I will get some gloves and go inspect her paws.

Thank you so much for posting all this together. Were you able to keep any of the offspring for breeders?

Secuono · Jan 17, 2013

Maxine":2pnsja0w said:
I'm so sorry you had to go through this ordeal.

I haven't wanted to read this thread because I irrationally fear that if I did then my rabbits would come down with it. Superstitious. My doe, Ginger has a bit of a scabby nose and she has always seemed skitterish and doesn't eat or drink as well as my other two rabbits. Now I am worried she has pasteurella. I guess I will get some gloves and go inspect her paws.

Thank you so much for posting all this together. Were you able to keep any of the offspring for breeders?

I want to know that, too.
Did you end up culling all, with any white snot or? I can't really find it. I culled 4 rabbits to it.
Do you breed for resistance? Would that mean rabbits that do not show white snot or rabs that do, but recover quickly and well and don't show it again??
Thanks.

ladysown · Jan 17, 2013

what I do in my herd is cull anything with snot. doesn't much matter. Watching your herd get sick once is WAY more than enough. (my herd got hit with entropathic issues not snot...but once bitten with major herd health issues is five times shy).

I watch sneezers and tend to cull them. Will sell as pet if convinced it's not a snot issue (takes a while to convince me of that though) so culling is easier and less risky.

OneAcreFarm · Jan 17, 2013

Diamond":24zdgljw said:
What an intense, and disheartening, experience to go through.

I have been researching antibiotic use in rabbits due to a chronic eye problem with one of my does. Most signs point to pasteurella being a culprit - although none of my rabbits have had the 'snuffles', the pasteurella bacteria seem to be a common factor with respiratory and sinus problems.

I read a few studies on long-term bicillin use to treat pasteruella abscesses and am willingly experimenting on my afflicted doe, giving her a 0.25 cc SQ injection every other day. We've been at this for a week now and it is hard to tell if there is any actual improvement, all I can say is that she has not gotten worse. But I lost a lot of time with medicated eye drops, trying to treat the problem topically when it was most likely systemic.

The voice in the back of my head tells me I should cull her, but I want to see if the condition is treatable - there is really nothing to lose at this point.

And if pasteurella does respond to bicillin treatment, it would be worth a try once isolation has been established.

But it does seem that this bacteria 'hangs out' in an average environment, much like staph and e. coli live on our bodies, so the argument for culling afflicted rabbits is very strong - mother Nature does not favor the weak, and those who are not able to thrive should not reproduce.

If you try with a "cillin" type antibiotic, make sure to use the injectable kind and also give probiotics, since "cillins" kill off the good bacteria in the gut as well. I wish you luck, please keep the rabbit quarantined and let us know what happens.<br /><br />__________ Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:39 pm __________<br /><br />

Maxine":24zdgljw said:
I'm so sorry you had to go through this ordeal.

I haven't wanted to read this thread because I irrationally fear that if I did then my rabbits would come down with it. Superstitious. My doe, Ginger has a bit of a scabby nose and she has always seemed skitterish and doesn't eat or drink as well as my other two rabbits. Now I am worried she has pasteurella. I guess I will get some gloves and go inspect her paws.

Thank you so much for posting all this together. Were you able to keep any of the offspring for breeders?

NO...they all came down with it, over the course of 3 long, heartbreaking months.

Maxine · Jan 18, 2013

Truly devastating. I'm so sorry.

Miss M · Jan 18, 2013

Maxine":34fchfzp said:
My doe, Ginger has a bit of a scabby nose and she has always seemed skitterish and doesn't eat or drink as well as my other two rabbits.

I have read elsewhere on here that a scabby nose can be vent disease. The nose gets scabby because of grooming, but the disease is in the vent. I'm sure if you do a search on here, you'll find plenty of info on it.

Maxine · Jan 20, 2013

Miss M":3bvcvsp0 said:
Maxine":3bvcvsp0 said:

My doe, Ginger has a bit of a scabby nose and she has always seemed skitterish and doesn't eat or drink as well as my other two rabbits.

Click to expand...

I have read elsewhere on here that a scabby nose can be vent disease. The nose gets scabby because of grooming, but the disease is in the vent. I'm sure if you do a search on here, you'll find plenty of info on it.

Thank you, I will check into that.

Frecs · Feb 5, 2013

I have been avoiding this thread and all the others because it makes me cry to think about what you went through. But, I am stuck at home today with my car at the mechanic so I'm going to make myself read all the threads...I'm so sorry you had to go through this but thank you for sharing so we can learn...

Stormy · Mar 2, 2013

Diamond":3tn0iz17 said:
I read a few studies on long-term bicillin use to treat pasteruella abscesses ...

Anyone know what pasteurella abscesses look like? Now that I am experiencing Pasteurella in my herd (testing everyone!) I am looping back to my first rabbit who is on round 5 of treatment for vent disease as he has a swollen lump on his shaft. The vet had inspected it and determined it was syphilus. But now I am wondering if he might have pasteurella. Earlier last year we had to treat him for upper respiratory illness, he's done fine ever since no sniffles at all, but he's also been on Duo-Pen for vent disease. After the Baytril round last summer, this lump appeared on his genitals. I am wondering if the two could be mistaken. The vet had looked under the scope at the serum squeezed from the lump and found no evidence of infection and ruled that out. I am still learning about pasteurella, and while she's great her experience with rabbits is limited.

MamaSheepdog · Mar 2, 2013

Stormy":217ppi34 said:
Anyone know what pasteurella abscesses look like?

Yes. They are filled with very thick cream colored pus. It is not liquid like most pus, but is paste-like and very sticky. This is the post I made when I did the necropsy on my buck, Black Floyd, when I culled him for an abscess:

floyd-is-finished-graphic-necropsy-photos-t5919.html

Stormy · Mar 2, 2013

Oh! that is disgusting. Well its not like that - its a more superficial bump on his genitals. it mounds up, but not inward, not like a cyst. We've tried to pop it but it doesn't pop. There is hope yet for my little buck...

gulien · Apr 6, 2013

I brought home a pair of 8 week old NZ cross buns 2 weeks ago, and one of them has started sneezing. He has a tiny bit of white nasal discharge as well :'(

I've read this thread through and am trying to make sense of it all. Here's what I've got so far, please correct any misconceptions:

1. Quarantine procedures for both as they were/are housed together
2. The other bun might not get sick. If she doesn't, she's a keeper
3. He might recover on his own, or with tetracycline therapy
4. If symptoms persist, cull
5. as long as only the respiratory system is affected, the meat (excluding
lungs, of course) is safe to eat.

Arkane stated that recovered rabbits became pets. I would assume a recovered rabbit is now resistant, why would such a rabbit not be used for breeding?

Thanks everyone.

AnnClaire · Apr 10, 2013

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No, he might become asymptomatic, but will need antibiotics for life to keep the disease suppressed, and he will still die relatively young.
4. Yes
5. Yes

A "recovered" rabbit will still be a carrier that can infect others. Basically, recovery is simply a masking of the symptoms, there is no cure. What you want to keep and breed are rabbits that demonstrate a robust immune system that does not succumb to the disease. Kits that don't contract the disease from an infected mother are ones that you will want to grow out and keep a very close watchful eye on them if you use them for breeding stock.

My Pasteurella Journey

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