Do rabbits get spina bifida?

[Damani]

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The first pic is a 5 hour old litter. The second is a closer look at one of seven born to a French Angora doe, the last photo, and a Satin buck. This is her first pregnancy at 3 years of age. This is the buck's third litter, he started his career at 6 months; he is now 7 months old.

Her nest box was pretty messy, bloody, wet, so I untangled the mess and put the litter on a towel. I noticed a small red 'pimple' on one kit's back. It seems to be located directly on the spine and there is a depression there. For all the world it looks like spina bifida. Should I dispose of it?

Anybody else have this problem? Could it be the condition of the doe or the buck?

 

[Dood]

Yes, rabbits (and any vertebrate animal) can be born with a damaged spine.

I had a kit with a similar "pink pimple" on the spine at the last rib and he was paralyzed from that spot down. After 2 days he wasnt getting better and was not getting enough milk so I culled him

 

[Schipperkesue]

This sounds like textbook spina bifida. I had it last year in a lamb. A small bare spot on the the backbone. Everything behind the backbone was limp, no bladder or bowel control, hind leg paralysis. I only wish I culled the lamb earlier. I thought about it a day and when I finally
took the lamb away, mom's cries were heartbreaking.

 

[dayna]

I just want to throw my own experiance in here.

Make sure it's paralyzed before culling (unless just just want to cull) if you are culling for the hole in the spine.

I have "almost" spina bifida. LOL I know, sounds crazy. I was born with a hole in my back (still have it!) at the base of my spine/tail bone area. My parents joke that they thought I was going to have a tail. However the doc says it's like spina bifida that closed up in the womb. The hole goes ALMOST all the way to my spine. There is a thin layer of skin between the end of the hole and the spinal column.

So you never know until you check to see if it's paralyzed. My hole is still there, but mostly healed solid. I still have some issues with irritation and infection if I'm not really paying attention but for the most part I forgot it's even there.

 

[akane]

Hmm... that's pretty much what I have but no one has said anything about it. I just saw it once when sitting on the bathroom counter straining to see my back in the mirror because of a minor noninfectious cyst that appeared on my spine. I found there's a hole with some skin over it that goes up to the end of my tailbone. I dealt with one infection as a teenager that took 2 years to fully heal and close on my own. My mom wouldn't take me to a doctor for it or even listen there was a problem. Sometimes there's some blood from the hole if the skin over it gets stretched for some reason like long periods sitting in a car or lots of falls in martial arts but I've learned to avoid infections and it's never caused any other health problems. It just looks odd and I never knew what it was.

 

[Damani]

:bunnyhop: Thanks for all of your input. I noticed the flabby back feet before the pimple on the back, I couldn't tell if it was passing waste, but assumed that the kink in the cord causing the paralysis would also affect the lower digestive tract and bladder. So rather than starve or die of sepsis, I set it in a foam container in the rain barrel and let it pass. My ducks took care of the carcass pretty swiftly.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

:bunnyhop: Thanks for all of your input. I noticed the flabby back feet before the pimple on the back, I couldn't tell if it was passing waste, but assumed that the kink in the cord causing the paralysis would also affect the lower digestive tract and bladder. So rather than starve or die of sepsis, I set it in a foam container in the rain barrel and let it pass. My ducks took care of the carcass pretty swiftly.

Not sure what you mean by "rather than starve or die of sepsis, I set it in a foam container in the rain barrel and let it pass"..."

 

[dayna]

Hmm... that's pretty much what I have but no one has said anything about it. I just saw it once when sitting on the bathroom counter straining to see my back in the mirror because of a minor noninfectious cyst that appeared on my spine. I found there's a hole with some skin over it that goes up to the end of my tailbone. I dealt with one infection as a teenager that took 2 years to fully heal and close on my own. My mom wouldn't take me to a doctor for it or even listen there was a problem. Sometimes there's some blood from the hole if the skin over it gets stretched for some reason like long periods sitting in a car or lots of falls in martial arts but I've learned to avoid infections and it's never caused any other health problems. It just looks odd and I never knew what it was.

If you got it as a teen or adult it's a cyst. If you were born with it, it's "almost spina bifida". I was diagnosed by a spina bifida specialist because I had no idea what the heck was going on!

I've gotten infections there as well and yeah, I've also learned how to avoid them. The #1 thing that causes infection in mine is shampoo! Shampoo runs into it and if I don't let enough water rinse out the area after wards I get an infection. lol