GRAPHIC Photos VERY GRAPHIC dead young rabbit

[dayna]

I had a young rabbit (30 days old) that I put down today. It had pus filled sores. This is the second young rabbit I've seen with this affliction this year. I put the last one down but didn't cut it open because I thought it was a fluke, or an infection from being bitten by a rat. Now that I have an unrelated case I decided to wait and see if it would either go away or not.

Since it did not go away, I decided to euthanize it today and see what was going on inside.

So my first observations are:

1. Perky, bright eyed, healthy weight, eating fine, pooping fine.
2. Front leg looked slightly crooked.
3. 2 large shores obvious on each shoulder blade.

I put the animal down with a single shot to the head with a .22 air rifle.

Upon cutting it open, I see the abscess going through both shoulder blades, in one knee area, and in the rib cage that I can see from the inside. Not a pleasant smell.

Normal looking heart, liver, kidneys. Normal stomach/intestines.

Below are the photos from looking at the inside. Any suggestions on what this could be would be welcome. In both cases, the sores/abscess is in the shoulder socket/blade area primarily. In both cases, eating well, normal size, etc. Though I could tell that it hurt it to pick it up.

 

[ladysown]

total guess would be a systemic pasturella compounded by a broken limb.
OR you have something going through your herd scaring the buns (ergo the broken limb) and biting them and the wounds getting infected.

 

[michaels4gardens]

was there any sign of scaring, or other trauma ,on the hide [to sugest an outside [external] cause for the infection?] or-- do you think the abscess points are the "wound" sites also

 

[dayna]

To the best of my knowledge there was no external injuries (the one abscess that goes through burst a couple days ago).

As far as them being "wounds" I don't think that would be the case. Two rabbits getting 4 wounds all in the exact same spot?

This is so confusing.

 

[Miss M]

That is so strange! How do you get two rabbits with identical abscesses?!?

Are the two from the same doe/buck pairing?
Could they both have injured themselves similarly -- squeezing through the same tight spot, breaking the skin on the shoulders?

Other than those two possibilities to connect them, I'm at a loss. <br /><br /> -- Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:04 am -- <br /><br /> Excellent photos, by the way!

 

[dayna]

No, 4 different parents! That's the weirdest thing here. Not even bred/kept in the same part of the property. The first one was in a cage out by my aviaries, the one I put down today is near the house (like 300 feet away) so if it's contagious, I must have spread it between the cages/does/litters/months?

If I get another kit with the same symptoms I'll be contacting the state vet and sending it out. <br /><br /> -- Sun Mar 16, 2014 8:16 pm -- <br /><br /> Oh and thanks for the photo props! lol I was taking photos with one clean hand and my daughter was helping to hold it. UGH.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I have seen staff and strep infections, with some abscesses in baby pigs, that were spred by rats [we assumed, but it could have been birds, or cats] any way-- I solved the problem [or it just went away] by closing up all places where rodents , birds, , and ferral cats, could get into the farrowing barn.

I wonder---- how much radiation are you getting where you are at-- some places on the west Ca. coast are getting 300% of safe amount readings, and some people have been damaged already-- and it is just starting-- probly not applicable-- but-- I can't help but wonder---

 

[arachyd]

The first pic looks exactly like what was left behind after I removed a warble from a rabbit. The rabbit had several but recovered just fine so I did not see what the damage looked like beneath the skin.

 

[michaels4gardens]

The first pic looks exactly like what was left behind after I removed a warble from a rabbit. The rabbit had several but recovered just fine so I did not see what the damage looked like beneath the skin.

excellent point, and-- I think, but am not sure----- ivermectin kills those parasites also. and this is consistant with this discription-
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Rab ... opics/3224

 

[BlueMoods]

Did you use the same brush or other grooming tools on both affected rabbits, or handle one then the other w/o washing your hands? I've nver seen ringworm do that exact type of sore, but it is possible. Shope Fibromas is also possible and, give your recent rat trouble I would suspect that more. Normally it's more common in wild rabbits, but it is caused by a virus and does cause that kind of damage under the skin. Normally the fibromas are not open sores but, if one had it and somehow opened one to make it a sore, then you handling them or, being together or, in neighboring cages could give it to the other one.

 

[dayna]

No, none of them have been brushed. The one had never even been out of the nestbox. The first one I put down was only 2 weeks old. I did give this rabbit ivermectin at 10 days old as I was worried about e cunniculi. These kits were born 2 months apart so they were not alive at the same time.

I will research shope fibromas.

Also, yes radiation could always be an issue for health here. We are much closer to Japan than the mainland. We have seen some high readings of radiation. PLUS we have an active lava flow not that far from us (about 5 miles) that I'm sure has poison gasses, etc.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Dayna,

Given the location of the abcesses and their consistency, I think it much more likely to be Systemic Pasteurella than either radiation (which usually causes tumor growth, not abcesses) or Shope's Fibroma (which is usually more wart-like).

 

[dayna]

I agree, I've been reading about systemic pasteurella.

Any suggestions on why it would affect two kits only? I've got no sneezing, or otherwise ill rabbits.

 

[MaggieJ]

If it is systemic pasteurella, it could be that it only shows up in rabbits with a weak immune system. A lot of rabbits carrying pasteurella never show any symptoms and appear completely healthy.