Of course, my polish buck was supposed to leave on Friday, I had arranged transport, he was going back to his original breeder, and I was getting some cage space back...
Except he started wheezing a little bit a couple of days ago. At first, I thought it was this weird honking he's done since I got him(he's always calling to the ladies.) Then I heard a few sneezes, but I have been working on the shed and it was dusty and gross in there, so I was hoping that was the cause. Yesterday, I moved all the shed rabbits out into the yard so I could insulate the shed, and the polish buck was still wheezy. After 13hrs on the lawn, he had matted paws and was wheezing even harder. I felt him all over, felt no abscesses, he doesn't have sneezing fits, just the occasional sneeze or two, and he doesn't wheeze all the time.
About 6wks back, I had a meat mutt doe who had an abscess on her inner thigh. When I started checking things out to see if she was ill or simply had an injury, I found numerous more abscesses along her undercarriage. I culled her, and tried butchering her, however she had abscesses all throughout her body, and I could only save her feet for processing, everything else was highly suspect and I didn't want to risk it. Other than the abscesses, her only symptoms was that she sat in the back corner of her cage and didn't really bother with anything. I had had her for 6wks when I found the abscess, she went through 30 days quarantine without any issues.
At this point, I have the polish under quarantine, separate from all the other rabbits, while I decide what to do. I don't know if I should cull him straight away(I am worried that a few people who want him might be upset with me if I don't give him a chance), but I don't want to allow any illness to spread.
What are the chances that this is an allergy or an irritation or something? What would you do in this situation?
Except he started wheezing a little bit a couple of days ago. At first, I thought it was this weird honking he's done since I got him(he's always calling to the ladies.) Then I heard a few sneezes, but I have been working on the shed and it was dusty and gross in there, so I was hoping that was the cause. Yesterday, I moved all the shed rabbits out into the yard so I could insulate the shed, and the polish buck was still wheezy. After 13hrs on the lawn, he had matted paws and was wheezing even harder. I felt him all over, felt no abscesses, he doesn't have sneezing fits, just the occasional sneeze or two, and he doesn't wheeze all the time.
About 6wks back, I had a meat mutt doe who had an abscess on her inner thigh. When I started checking things out to see if she was ill or simply had an injury, I found numerous more abscesses along her undercarriage. I culled her, and tried butchering her, however she had abscesses all throughout her body, and I could only save her feet for processing, everything else was highly suspect and I didn't want to risk it. Other than the abscesses, her only symptoms was that she sat in the back corner of her cage and didn't really bother with anything. I had had her for 6wks when I found the abscess, she went through 30 days quarantine without any issues.
At this point, I have the polish under quarantine, separate from all the other rabbits, while I decide what to do. I don't know if I should cull him straight away(I am worried that a few people who want him might be upset with me if I don't give him a chance), but I don't want to allow any illness to spread.
What are the chances that this is an allergy or an irritation or something? What would you do in this situation?
