Grey lungs with red spots

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Mac060709

Mac060709

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Hello! I have a question.
My parents have a litter that was just weaned not too long ago. They started dying off suddenly without any symptoms. They butchered the last two, and the only thing they noticed was the lungs were grey with red spots. After some research, I think they could have had a weaning/heat stress induced pasturella infection, maybe? If they did, would the meat be safe to eat? And how contagious would it be to other rabbits and animals? Or maybe it was something totally different. It’s a fairly controlled situation, no new rabbits coming in lately.

Thank you all in advance!
 
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Honestly I am not sure. There are a lot of respiratory illnesses that can cause this kind of lung damage. Mostly I would say that I would not eat the lungs themselves or feed them to anything. As with any meat, I would not eat it without cooking thoroughly, and I would also freeze it for a week before I cooked it.

There are not a lot of things that will cause these symptoms that will survive that treatment, so in my area I would likely eat them, but that is an eat at your own risk kind of thing. With lungs the big concern is tuberculosis, which is quite hard to kill and very contagious, but fortunately that is vanishingly rare in rabbits, as they seem to be resistant.

As for contagious, you lost a whole litter. Yes, it is contagious, and likely by air. However, adults often have more mature immune systems and fight thing off that kill kits, so don't panic, but do watch for sneezing, and dirt/snot wiped on the forepaws--sometimes that is the only hint they give.
 
eco2pia said:
Honestly I am not sure. There are a lot of respiratory illnesses that can cause this kind of lung damage. Mostly I would say that I would not eat the lungs themselves or feed them to anything. As with any meat, I would not eat it without cooking thoroughly, and I would also freeze it for a week before I cooked it.

There are not a lot of things that will cause these symptoms that will survive that treatment, so in my area I would likely eat them, but that is an eat at your own risk kind of thing. With lungs the big concern is tuberculosis, which is quite hard to kill and very contagious, but fortunately that is vanishingly rare in rabbits, as they seem to be resistant.

As for contagious, you lost a whole litter. Yes, it is contagious, and likely by air. However, adults often have more mature immune systems and fight thing off that kill kits, so don't panic, but do watch for sneezing, and dirt/snot wiped on the forepaws--sometimes that is the only hint they give.
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Ok, thank you so much for all the information! I will definitely tell them everything you said and try not to spread it to our rabbits.
 
Does anyone have any idea what this might be? I just butchered and found this set of lungs on the last rabbit. It was also the smallest of the bunch. We eat the rabbits and grind some for raw food for the dogs but I'm a little concerned about this. Everyone else in the same cage looked perfect on the inside, just this one. I am going to package this rabbit seperately in the fridge until I know if it would be safe to eat. The liver on this rabbit was 100% normal as well.lungs1.jpg
 
TKT said:
I think that's aspiration of blood from dispatch. I used to get it more with cervical dislocation, but since I'm using a pellet gun the lungs are cleaner when I get to them.
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I use a pellet gun as well. All the rest looked great and then this. I kind of freaked out when I saw it. Could I still get aspiration with the pellet gun?
 
I haven't been doing rabbits for even a year yet, but I've processed 24 now. I have seen this mostly with cervical dispatch, but also when I have been slower getting to the lungs, like with an older rabbit with a tighter pelt due to silver skin. I save my heads, hind feet and pelts for my dogs' breeder to turn into raw food and chews. Is this what they looked like before you took them out as well? Just the process of removing them will do this, as will any blood that has pooled in the cavity if they are hung head down down. I was told in Rabbits Inside Out on Facebook that as soon as you have the guts and liver out, open the diaphragm the rest of the way and take a good look at the lungs before you even touch them.

And yes I would say so regarding use of a pellet gun for dispatch, we use a pump pellet rifle that is 1000 FPS, and I am a decent shot with good reflexes, but they are quick. We put them in a cardboard box and I give them something yummy to eat, but usually they're too curious and are looking around. So I have to just follow them around until they put their head down to sniff or chew, and I can grab a properly aligned shot. I will not let my husband hold the head I don't want any hands or faces near a pellet rifle! Even a small change in the angle can change how the pellet scrambles the brain. I think if the rabbit is bleeding from the mouth and nose you will tend to get aspiration. If the blood is mostly coming out the ears you won't, from what I am seeing in the lungs. I also usually pick them up immediately by the hind legs to keep blood off the coat and head, and hook them up to the gambrel while they are still in the death throes. Then I pull down on the head to break the neck just in case if they are still twitching by then, which takes me about 10 seconds from the dispatch to have them hanging by their hind feet. If the eyes are bulging right after you fire, it's a good shot. As soon as I have them on the gambrel, I take the head off immediately to finish the bleeding out if it hasn't all come out the inverted head.

So to reiterate it doesn't look like anything I haven't seen before in my own healthy dispatches. If the liver is fine, the meat should be fine. The actual lung tissue looks healthy.
 
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TKT said:
I haven't been doing rabbits for even a year yet, but I've processed 24 now. I have seen this mostly with cervical dispatch, but also when I have been slower getting to the lungs, like with an older rabbit with a tighter pelt due to silver skin. I save my heads, hind feet and pelts for my dogs' breeder to turn into raw food and chews. Is this what they looked like before you took them out as well? Just the process of removing them will do this, as will any blood that has pooled in the cavity if they are hung head down down. I was told in Rabbits Inside Out on Facebook that as soon as you have the guts and liver out, open the diaphragm the rest of the way and take a good look at the lungs before you even touch them.

And yes I would say so regarding use of a pellet gun for dispatch, we use a pump pellet rifle that is 1000 FPS, and I am a decent shot with good reflexes, but they are quick. We put them in a cardboard box and I give them something yummy to eat, but usually they're too curious and are looking around. So I have to just follow them around until they put their head down to sniff or chew, and I can grab a properly aligned shot. I will not let my husband hold the head I don't want any hands or faces near a pellet rifle! Even a small change in the angle can change how the pellet scrambles the brain. I think if the rabbit is bleeding from the mouth and nose you will tend to get aspiration. If the blood is mostly coming out the ears you won't, from what I am seeing in the lungs. I also usually pick them up immediately by the hind legs to keep blood off the coat and head, and hook them up to the gambrel while they are still in the death throes. Then I pull down on the head to break the neck just in case if they are still twitching by then, which takes me about 10 seconds from the dispatch to have them hanging by their hind feet. If the eyes are bulging right after you fire, it's a good shot. As soon as I have them on the gambrel, I take the head off immediately to finish the bleeding out if it hasn't all come out the inverted head.

So to reiterate it doesn't look like anything I haven't seen before in my own healthy dispatches. If the liver is fine, the meat should be fine. The actual lung tissue looks healthy.
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Thank you so much!
 

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