Did my rabbit get VD from Wild Rabbit?

[Stormy]

My buck was free-roaming til he came down with some sort of snuffles. We treated that, but what I've seen since is some kind of wart or bump next to his penis, that is growing larger. We had suspected he had been in contact with wild rabbits to get the snuffles, now I'm suspecting he also caught VD. Anyone know how to treat a venereal disease? I just had him in the vets plunking down $150 for snuffles and he's been on two weeks of Baytril anti-biotics, so its not something treated by anti-biotics. If anyone has any idea about this, I'd love to know.

 

[MaggieJ]

Never seen it, but I've heard penicillin is the treatment.
http://rabbitinfocenter.8m.com/vent.html

Google rabbit vent disease for more info.

 

[Stormy]

Thanks Maggie- it might be this. I guess that is another vet visit, isn't it? I am surprised the Baytril didn't take care of it. argh...

 

[skysthelimit]

you can get the penicillin pen from tractor supply company

 

[jason_l_boyd]

The penicillin is a different class of antibiotic. That's what I would try. TSC, Attwoods, or any farm/livestock supply will have it and its dirt cheap. We keep some around for cows and hogs.

 

[MaggieJ]

I used Pen G with Procaine, injected subcutaneously, for a rabbit with an abscess. It worked very well and the cost, with disposable syringes, was only about $10.

A wart or growth does not sound typical of vent disease. Usually there will be open sores around the genitals and sometimes on the face from grooming. You might want to read up on it a bit before starting treatment. In the meantime... strict quarantine to make sure it does not spread through the herd.

 

[Stormy]

I used Pen G with Procaine, injected subcutaneously, for a rabbit with an abscess. It worked very well and the cost, with disposable syringes, was only about $10.

A wart or growth does not sound typical of vent disease. Usually there will be open sores around the genitals and sometimes on the face from grooming. You might want to read up on it a bit before starting treatment. In the meantime... strict quarantine to make sure it does not spread through the herd.

Its more like a raised area that's gotten bigger over the past week. I just looked at it tonight, there is now a yellow head like a giant pimple. He seems to have clear pus? in his genitals, I noticed this earlier today too so it must be something related to this lump. Its not an open lesion, which is what syphilis sounds like - although maybe that's advanced stages, maybe this is early stages? anyone know? meanwhile, more internet searching for early stage pics...

 

[Piper]

bot/warble fly?

 

[Stormy]

bot/warble fly?

Ha, no... but great idea. Bot flys don't make yellow pimples. They make red holes. I had pulled one off his neck already a few weeks back. Its a weird little sore down there where it counts. Reading up on Vent Disease on the link Maggie posted freaked me out says its syphilus and not really curable. So I hope he doesn't have that. I really have not been able to find good descriptions of early stages of the disease. Seems most people don't notice until the rabbit has been sick for a couple months and get lesions on the face. Again, I hope its not that and something more minor. I think I will see if I can get penecillin though and treat him as if.

 

[MaggieJ]

Another link for you.

http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-he ... treatment/

 

[Stormy]

Thanks Maggie... still no early signs of the disease just listing all the progressed symptoms... its definitely not hutch burn. He's got a healthy living arrangement in pasture by day and a clean litterbox. I just don't know what an ulcer or lesion looks like by the word alone, and wish there were good pix somewhere. Now that the pimple has popped, maybe that is a lesion? ick.

 

[MaggieJ]

I really don't know what it would look like either. I've never seen a rabbit with vent disease and the pictures I looked at were not large enough to give me a good view.

 

[Stormy]

5 days of Penicillin shots and no change. I poked around some more - besides the obvious raised swollen bit at his "vent", I noticed 2 round tumor-like lumps on either side of his business bits. And really icky smelly glandular secretions - is that a scent gland down there or what? I have no idea what a sticky little mess was going on in there and wondering if I should clean it and how. Do male rabbits normally have stinky sticky waxy looking stuff down there? Or is that a sign that he's been sick? Since he just got treated for upper respiratory with Baytril... he's been on the mend for over a month. Now these genital lumps- I am wondering how many days to give it to see a change before I just haul him off to the vets - again. And what else could it be but 'vent disease' (aka Syphilus!)?

On another note, he sure gets pee all over himself. He's so messy!! I don't have him on a wire floor because he's a Belgian Hare. His fur is a mess of dried stickiness and bleached color - he used to be black now he's brown. He was my indoor pet until he demanded being outside next to the other bunnies, for the summer at least. He's too dirty to bring back inside with those habits. Anybody else dealing with dirty bucks and how to keep them clean?

 

[MaggieJ]

Rabbits have scent glands on either side of the genitals and they can get very stinky and waxy, some rabbits more than others. Maybe you should do some online research to see pictures of normal rabbit genitals. Just don't google "bunny anatomy". My first year with chickens, I googled "chick anatomy" in order to confirm that the swelling on the neck was just the crop... You can imagine that what came up had nothing to do with poultry!

 

[Stormy]

Rabbits have scent glands on either side of the genitals and they can get very stinky and waxy, some rabbits more than others. Maybe you should do some online research to see pictures of normal rabbit genitals. Just don't google "bunny anatomy". My first year with chickens, I googled "chick anatomy" in order to confirm that the swelling on the neck was just the crop... You can imagine that what came up had nothing to do with poultry!

haha! I'll bet!!
great suggestion - I discovered they are supposed to have little round preputial glands there, from what I can tell from this picture http://www.ansci.wisc.edu/jjp1/ansci_re ... ction.html
I noticed them on another buck was my first clue...