Hindquarter paralysis- possible causes? Graphic pics!

[Miss M]

Those pics are startling! Quite an amazing set of injuries... like she really went on the fritz or somebody beat her up. You can tell she is not comfortable in the way she stands in that first picture. Her whole look says, "Ow..." <br /><br />__________ Sat Aug 10, 2013 3:46 pm __________<br /><br />I'd say genetic weakness, except that OneAcreFarm has rabbits from the same line.

 

[tailwagging]

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.

In dogs, many have found that the dilutes can have strange temperaments (blue,chocolate, dilute fawn) and the more dilute, more health issues.

 

[skysthelimit]

Dilutes are known to have genetic weaknesses in rabbits as well.

I have never seen a liver like that before.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

A little background: I have one Lilac doe in my barn, and she is quite large and healthy. She is super friendly, as are most of her kits. She is out of chocolate doe to chocolate buck breeding. I got the doe and buck from LonelyFarmGirl in WI. Both have been completely healthy, but a tad nervous. I have not kept any other lilacs, so most of them get sold or butchered. I have not heard from any other person that they are having these issues, nor have I experienced it myself. I check livers, kidneys, etc when I butcher and have not seen livers like that before.

The gall bladder is normal. They can vary in size, fullness and color. The lungs are probably spotty from aspirating a bit of blood at dispatch. I have NO clue what that is on the liver, but it isn't flukes, tapeworm or coccidia, at least from what I know and have seen.

I will be really interested to hear what any of the vets have to say...I also have some chocolates and a lilac buck to butcher this week. I will take pics and post them here.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The vet I sent pics to didn't know what it was either. He mentioned that a cross section would have been helpful.

Schannon's current popples look fabulous- they are very vigorous and growing well.

I have a blue doe that I am going to cross Hoodat to and see what happens there.

 

[Miss M]

Nuts... I was really curious about that liver.

But now we know to do cross-sections...

 

[rawfeeder]

Did some research for you... could it possibly be a type of tapeworm?

http://dora.missouri.edu/rabbits/cystic ... rval-form/

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Thanks, RawFeeder. That does look like it! :hmm:

With six dogs who poop all over the place, no doubt I brought it to the buns on gathered weeds or grasses. According to the link below, when the egg-filled segment of the tapeworm is excreted with the feces, it crawls to a location where it is likely to be ingested by the rabbit.

http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/dxend ... ormis.html

More info:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_disease ... peworm.htm

http://www.raising-rabbits.com/tapeworm-life-cycle.html

 

[fuzzy9]

That's what I was wondering too, if it was some kind of tapeworm or something. Odd!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Drat! I am having a terrible time finding an effective treatment protocol! :angry:

Mebendazole has to be given for 14 days, which is not feasible unless it comes as a pelleted feed.

Praziquantal does not seem to be efficacious against the larval stage seen in rabbits:

http://actavet.vfu.cz/pdf/197847010087.pdf

 

[Miss M]

Oh... that does look like it, doesn't it?

 

[MaggieJ]

Chemical treatments always worry me... So many things are "off label" for rabbits and dosage information can be hard to find.

Pumpkin seeds might be enough. They paralyze the larva and help the rabbit to expel them. You would need to treat a second and perhaps third time at intervals to get the rabbit completely free of them.

This PDF file on organic pest control might also interest you.
http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/pdf/ ... 9-7-21.pdf

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Thank you, Maggie.

Everybunny had pumpkin seeds with dinner tonight. I think I will feed them for a week or so and hope that helps. I will also study the life cycle of the specific tapeworm in depth to determine the intervals between treatment to best catch them when they are most vulnerable.

I have not yet read the whole link you posted, but noticed essential oil of rosemary is efficacious, so I will feed some rosemary branches to all of them tomorrow.

I am also going to treat all of our dogs with fenbendazole, since they are obviously carriers. Queenpup's dog Basil is an avid hunter of ground squirrels and rabbits, so she may very well be the vector.

I have a garden on the north side of our bedroom that is overrun with lamb's quarter that I have been harvesting, but the dogs think that it is a toilet area... so getting it fenced off will be a priority, and I will pull all of the weeds and compost them instead of feeding to the buns.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Ah, and the cysts can develop in the spinal cord, causing paralysis! I bet that is it and that is why I don't have it in mine, since we don't HAVE dogs!

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Oneacrefarm is right!!! If a tapeworm gets into another part of the body, they'll do serious damage and wreak havoc there. I bet this is why there's been spinal issues!!!!

 

[tailwagging]

i think you can use fenbendazole on the rabbits too