Hindquarter paralysis- possible causes? Graphic pics!

[MamaSheepdog]

A little history of the case at hand:

Some of you may remember that last month I had arranged for the sale of a lilac Rex buck to a fellow from out of state who has purchased rabbits from me in the past.

The morning of the day he was due to pick up the rabbit, I went out to get him out of the growout pen, only to find that he had broken his back.

Fortunately, I had one other buck- smaller, but still nice enough- so I pulled him out to tattoo him. When I had nearly finished, the little guy struggled and started to scream. I stopped immediately, but he too had broken his back.

I ended up selling him a broken opal buck instead, and gave him a lilac doe by way of apology.

Well... just now, as I was feeding hay, I found that the next to last kit from the litter is losing control of her hindquarters. (Edited to add "next to" because I have a possible "keeper" in a single pen.)

She is in a pen with four other young does, and they are symptom free.

I have already emailed the buyer and told him to keep his doe in quarantine, and have offered to replace her with another rabbit next year if she too succumbs.

A litter out of the same breeding was born yesterday, so I will be monitoring them closely as well.

I am hoping someone will have an idea of possible causes. Genetic? Viral? Bacterial?

 

[Miss M]

I hate to tell you this, but E. Cuniculi can cause hindquarter paralysis. It was one thing I read as I was reading about wry neck.

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-2/e-cuniculi.html

 

[MaggieJ]

That is just plain weird - and rather alarming. Poor bunnies and poor you, MSD!

E. cuniculi is certainly one possibility. There's a lot of good info in that link, Miss M!

A necropsy might show if the spine was actually broken or if something else was causing the paralysis. It seemed a very sudden occurrence with the second rabbit - more or less instantaneous. I'm wondering too if there could be a spinal weakness making them more subject to injury.

If this shows up in the new litter, MSD, you might want to have a rabbit tested for E. Cuniculi.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

E. cuniculi is certainly one possibility. There's a lot of good info in that link, Miss M!

Yes there is! Thanks for the link, Miss M.

A necropsy might show if the spine was actually broken or if something else was causing the paralysis. It seemed a very sudden occurrence with the second rabbit - more or less instantaneous.

The rabbit that broke its back while being tattooed did have bruising of the tissue along the spine.

I plan on culling this doe and doing a necropsy today. I will take a close look at the kidneys to see if there is any pitting as mentioned in the article. I will also watch the other does carefully in the next month in case E. Cuniculi has been shed in the urine.

I had completely forgotten, but back in March, Hoodat had an episode where I thought he had broken his back. He was all splayed out, and dragging himself. I petted him firmly, and he snapped out of it after a bit.

Against my better judgement, I bred him to Schannon... why? Because I only have the two lilacs.

So I quite possibly have myself to blame for this for not following my own strict culling protocol. :angry:

He has been perfectly normal since then, and never shown any other symptoms.

 

[MamaMandy]

But, if Hoodat had E. cuniculi would he have just snapped out of it?

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

MSD, don't feel badly, I would have done the same thing. Sorry this has all happened...do keep us posted on what you find out inside the doe.

 

[Miss M]

Yes there is! Thanks for the link, Miss M.

You're welcome! I was surprised by how far they went into their study.

But, if Hoodat had E. cuniculi would he have just snapped out of it?

No, I would not think so. I would not conclude that Hoodat had E. Cuniculi. Maybe a sore back for a little while? I don't know.

How suddenly, and after how long, did Hoodat "snap out of" his paralysis, MSD?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

MamaMandy wrote:
But, if Hoodat had E. cuniculi would he have just snapped out of it?

No, I would not think so. I would not conclude that Hoodat had E. Cuniculi.

I doubt it was E.C., but it was something. :? Just another symptom that I thought should be mentioned.

How suddenly, and after how long, did Hoodat "snap out of" his paralysis, MSD?

I just pet him for a couple minutes, and he came out of it. I think he was in the "I'm gonna die!" mentality. I have saved other rabbits (kits) that went into "panic mode" by doing the same thing.

She was doing better yesterday, and had her legs under her, but still limited control of one, which when she was hopping had the toes dragging across the wire. I had forgotten that I had already moved my "keeper" doe to a separate cage, so given that I still had a lilac doe, I decided to process her. Additionally, I saw the same type of limited improvement in one of the buck kits, but then it lost the ability to urinate on its own.

Here she is, on the chopping block:



She seems to have suffered some type of traumatic injury, judging by the bruising of the tissues:




Even a front leg and area on the ribcage were affected:



Her kidneys looked fine, but her lungs were off, and once again I found these weird tracts on the liver:




She had a bit of gas in the intestines, but nothing too major:



So I am still stumped. Why would only the lilac kits be suffering these "injuries"? I processed two other kits from the same pen- one had snot- and their carcasses were blemish free.

 

[MaggieJ]

Very, very odd. :? Were the lilac kits more flighty than the other two? I only ask because sometimes rabbits injure themselves if they panic. Could something have been frightening them?

As for the organs, I've never seen a liver with those tracts before... and the gall bladder is huge! Lungs look pale, but sometimes that happens when blood pools elsewhere.

 

[Cottie]

Are they possibly anemic or scurvied? I really have no ideas other than that. I hope you figure it out. Very odd that it's color-linked.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Were the lilac kits more flighty than the other two? I only ask because sometimes rabbits injure themselves if they panic. Could something have been frightening them?

No, not really. This line is not as tractable as my other Rex. Hoodat and Schannon still kick and struggle somewhat when they get their nail trims, but they don't act flighty in their cages.

The rabbits are pretty desensitized to sudden movements. Our barn cats scale the sides of the cages in the bunnybarn and spend time on top of the cages. The dogs regularly go under the growout pens as well.

I haven't found any evidence of other animals in the area- no rat or mouse poop, and no odd paw prints.

I've never seen a liver with those tracts before... and the gall bladder is huge!

I think I may have posted pics of a liver like that before. :? They are odd.

I think I need to study up on gall bladders- one kit's was quite small and the fluid was pale green. But I have no idea what it means.

Are they possibly anemic or scurvied?

I hadn't considered anemia or scurvy. I will put some chewable vitamin C tablets in the feeder.

Of the three litters born the other day, Schannon's kits are by far the healthiest of the bunch.

Very odd that it's color-linked.

This is a totally different line than the rest of my Rex herd. My Sistah OAF has the same lines, and she has never had problems with hers.

 

[dayna]

I've seen that on a rabbit liver before. I'd love to know what it was. I was wondering if it was cocci?

 

[DitchDoc]

Recessive trait in the lilacs, perhaps? I'm sorry this is happening, MSD, hopefully an answer will crop up soon!! Gall bladder bile is typically green, at least in humans, no idea about bunnies <hugs>

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I've seen that on a rabbit liver before. I'd love to know what it was. I was wondering if it was cocci?

No, not cocci. That appears as yellow pustules below the surface.

I just emailed the pics to our large animal vet. Hopefully he will know the cause. I asked about the fluctuation of fluid in the gall bladder as well to see if there is a clinical cause, or if it is just part of the normal digestive process.

I'm sorry this is happening, MSD, hopefully an answer will crop up soon!! Gall bladder bile is typically green, at least in humans, no idea about bunnies <hugs>

Thanks, DitchDoc.

Yes, the fluid in the gall bladder is green- but I was wondering why the one appeared so pale. Perhaps it is only the refraction of the light that made it appear so. I did not actually express the bile onto a surface to see if they were truly different in color. I will next time.

 

[dayna]

I have a few friends that are vets, mind if I show them the photo?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Please do! The more input the better!

 

[dayna]

I just went and did some more internet searching, can rabbits get liver flukes?

 

[MaggieJ]

Yes, rabbits can get liver flukes, especially if they are on pasture.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I doubt liver flukes would be a problem here- the intermediate host is a pond snail, so the pasture would have to be very moist or adjacent to standing water. There isn't much of that here in CA!

 

[Cottie]

Of the three litters born the other day, Schannon's kits are by far the healthiest of the bunch.

...

This is a totally different line than the rest of my Rex herd. My Sistah OAF has the same lines, and she has never had problems with hers.

Are hers lilac? The fact that it was related to a specific color in a specific line made me think a genetic problem with absorption. It seems like those rabbits injure their backs awfully easily, and the extensive tissue bruising is fairly consistent with scurvy.