Culling sick animals
- Thread starter HoppyMeal
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paintrider89
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Eat it
Most of the time you can eat the rabbit. If it is coccidiosis (spotty liver) discard the organs. If it is pasteurella, the meat is safe cooked. Be sure not to feed diseased rabbits RAW to your pets. Just not worth the risk.
Thank you MaggieJ and Chickiesnbunnies I thought I could eat them, but I wasn't sure. I currently have a NZW that has a sniffle, but no discharge and she is not off her diet. She has had this for about 2 months. I'm thinking this may be allergies due to the humid weather here. She has a vet appointment tomorrow.
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Yes, sniffle with no discharge or even clear discharge is not uncommon in the summer heat and humidity. Hope she's okay. 
Under those circumstances, Akane, I'd discard the carcases too! Not all cases of (suspected) pasteurella are that gross. A lot of people cull at the first sight of white snot, before the rabbit is obviously sick.
Not all cases of (suspected) pasteurella are that gross. A lot of people cull at the first sight of white snot, before the rabbit is obviously sick.There are a dozen different possible causes for snotty noses which is why I don't cull until I've determined what it is. I think I have a strain of bordatella in my smaller rabbits that pops up when they are stressed by weather extremes and sometimes spreads to a large rabbit. It goes away after 2 or 3 days with no treatment so I mildly cull for it but still have the original rabbit that caused it. She produces the cutest kits and the small cute kits are what pays for my rabbit feed. They all go as pets. Usually indoor so it will never be an issue.
That's why my 2 pasturella cases got so severe before I culled. Within 2-3 days they are half their original weight and have their entire face and paws crusted over instead of recovering like my suspected bordatella cases.
That's why my 2 pasturella cases got so severe before I culled. Within 2-3 days they are half their original weight and have their entire face and paws crusted over instead of recovering like my suspected bordatella cases.
That's very true, Akane. I have limited experience with rabbits falling sick, mainly I think, because I have a small closed rabbitry. But if there is an "ick" factor, I discard the carcases. I also do this when I don't know the cause of death. Any sudden deaths become a gift to the coyotes and other wild things.
Makes me wonder, is chronic P or chronic Bordatella possible?
Have two with snot, they don't loose weight, no matting, but usually some white snot in the nose. The pair lives way over in exile by their lonesome, I experiment with plants and drugs to see if it helps any occasionally. Goes away during treatment, comes back once drugs are stopped. No other rabbits have gotten it and I've had P in the past as well. They got gross and thin fairly quickly, if they did recover, they got ear mites easily which lead to head tilting, then seizures and lastly death. :/ Tossed those out to scavengers as well.
Sorry if I hijack or side track the thread a bit.
Have two with snot, they don't loose weight, no matting, but usually some white snot in the nose. The pair lives way over in exile by their lonesome, I experiment with plants and drugs to see if it helps any occasionally. Goes away during treatment, comes back once drugs are stopped. No other rabbits have gotten it and I've had P in the past as well. They got gross and thin fairly quickly, if they did recover, they got ear mites easily which lead to head tilting, then seizures and lastly death. :/ Tossed those out to scavengers as well.
Sorry if I hijack or side track the thread a bit.
