Graphic Necropsy Photos of Two Rabbits

[OneAcreFarm]

Is that you, Pam? I bet it is...

The small pealike bodies along the spine are the adrenal glands; totally normal.

The best fit guess here is acute hemorrhagic septicemia, probably caused by Pasteurella. That would fit the lungs perfectly.

The liver...oy. In all my years of rabbits, that's one of the very worst looking livers I've ever seen. What was the texture/consistency of the various parts? Did they crumble? Feel slimy rather than firm? Lumpy? Did you rinse them off before you took the photos...? Was there fluid in the body cavity and if so, what did it look like?

It's hard to tell just what's going on in this rabbit; a substantial post mortem interval before necropsy can really change the appearance of some organs--but I've never seen it do THAT. So you can be fairly sure that the horrible hemorrhagic lungs and that liver were likely real pathology rather than postmortem changes.

If you still have the organs in the fridge (I hope you do) you might seriously consider taking them to your vet and have samples sent in for histopathology and culture/sensitivity.

Wish I had more ideas...I do see one yellow lump that says 'cocci' to me on the liver, but that's certainly not its only problem. If you lose any more rabbits, do not pass Go, but take the rabbit directly to the nearest veterinary pathology laboratory for a full necropsy. It would be very well worth the time and expense to find out what the heck is really going on.

Where in CA are you?

And BTW...very nice job on the photos! I'd love to have the full size copies to examine, if you could email them to me??

__________ Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:01 am __________

Oh, and clotted blood in the heart is normal. Once it quits moving, it clots up and sinks to the lowest part of the body by gravity. Might be part of the cause of the darkest portions of the liver on Blue, I don't know. What position was she in when found?

 

[ladysown]

woot woot! it worked! Pam is one of those go to people for interesting photos and ideas.

 

[RNRQ]

Yep, 'tis me, 'tis me... What was your first clue? I bet the glee over really good gross photos gave it away... ROFL!

Anyone is welcome to give me a yell, but it's not super likely I'll be here a *lot* unless called...just have too many irons in the fire.

MamaSheepdog, you'll want to go to the UC Davis site and look up the California Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System; there are labs at various places throughout the state and I can give you some names to suggest for consult if they aren't TOTALLY confident of their rabbit skills. It's kinda hard to walk in or call and say, "Hey, I want to work with you on my rabbit herd--what's your experience level, and would you be comfortable helping me with detailed diagnoses?" If they say they aren't comfortable, THANK THEM for their honesty and ask whom they might recommend.

The thing about acute hemorrhagic septicemia is that it can cause death VERY quickly. I've seen rabbits die within a matter of hours from a single exposure to a nursing kit that carried a bug that the does had never been exposed to. (#1 reason to be very very cautious about cross-fostering from one batch of rabbits to another..) They went to UCD within the hour (I took them down) and the report described lungs very much like strawberry jam. Pasteurellosis, acute, fast, and lethal.

Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize, and cull at the first sign of anything wrong. It's about all you can do to build a herd that is resistant to the darn stuff--but then you should warn any buyers that your herd HAS been worked on in that way so they know not to foster from there to their other lines. That's what got me.

Of course, you can always pack up the carcass with care according to their directions and overnight it to UC Davis, which is the lab I use. Whenever possible, I take them live, ill, rabbits because it yields better results. But they're still top notch on necropsy findings!

 

[Peach]

I processed a 13 week old Mini Lop doe and she had cyst/tumors on her liver. Her lungs,heart,and intestines were fine, but it was so strange to see that!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Whenever possible, I take them live, ill, rabbits because it yields better results.

So obviously you live in CA too.

I went to Davis for their course on Equine AI! It's a bit of a drive- 4 hours or so, I think. Sending a carcass would be easier.

Thanks for the info.

I processed a 13 week old Mini Lop doe and she had cyst/tumors on her liver. Her lungs,heart,and intestines were fine, but it was so strange to see that!

What? No pictures??? :shock:

 

[Peach]

I didn't get a pic UGH next month I'm going to get a new phone as soon as my contract ends so I can take good pictures. The camera I have right now sucks and dear boyfriend decided to burn the bag of organs as we were clearning out the leaves and old plants in the garden. Everything looks fine otherwise, she just had the worst attitude out of the whole litter. Probably cause things were weird inside. I'm very thankful that I have the ability to cull.

 

[RNRQ]

Were they clear bubbly looking cysts hanging on to the outside of the liver? Maybe with some tiny white specks in the bubbles?

 

[Peach]

Yeah...kinda looked like that but they were within the liver. They were small and where one of the more developed ones where, it looked like the liver was slightly deteriorated. They looked solid.

 

[ladysown]

wouldn't that be liver flukes or something??? (see .. I do pay attention sometimes).

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Yep, 'tis me, 'tis me... What was your first clue? I bet the glee over really good gross photos gave it away... ROFL!

It was more the speed at which you responded to hearing "super gross necropsy pictures!!" :lol:

This is Shannon from Meat Rabbits, btw....

 

[lissapell]

ok so I know nothing about this but WOW how awesome are those pics!

 

[RNRQ]

**waving to all the meatrabbiters** Hiya guys!

Yes, those are some extremely nice photos...sure hope I can get some of my contacts to look them over and see what they think...