What is going on?! Snuffles, bordetella? GRAPHIC PHOTOS

[Wolfeh]

I recently bought two Holland Lops from a breeder and she seemed very knowledgeable and professional so I trusted her. I have a feeling now that I shouldn't have.

The breeder themselves had laryngitis, the first rabbit appeared healthy, the second had a red nose which she said it was sun burnt, and then when we came to pick it up it was sneezing and she said it had dug in very dusty pine shavings.

Today I went to feed the rabbit which appeared healthy and found it stone cold dead. I put it in my bathtub to necropsy later, and went to take care of my meat rabbits in the barn. I found my Silver Fox litter of 8, half had their eyes swollen and crusted shut, the other was mostly healthy (a few were just starting to crust on the eyes and nose). I got a bowl of water and a wash cloth and gently wiped the eyes, then pulled them open, and a thick yellowish-white mucus came gushing out, it was thick enough that I was able to remove it with just my fingers. I gave the kits a drop of colloidal silver directly and some antibiotic ophthalmic gel, and put two drops of silver in the water bottle. I then went in to treat the rabbit which we had purchased and which was sneezing, and found the same mucus, but white, coming from his nose.

I then necropsied the dead rabbit and found that one of his lungs was very abnormal and his liver was also abnormal. Here is the picture:

And of the whole rabbit (might be useful in diagnosing I don't know, dark fluid is from the ceacum)

I have a feeling this came from the breeder, but what is it? Is it bordetella (which is what we are thinking) and should I cull that litter and the remaining rabbit? Regardless I am both furious and just crushed, I will not be as trusting in the future...

 

[grumpy]

How recent........is recent? Contact the breeder and see what they say. Recent, is a relative word. Apparently, the rabbits had issues when you bought them. Always go with your gut-feeling. If in question, don't buy.

Your silver fox litter has "nest-box eye". It occurs sometimes. Frequent changes in weather may cause it. Soiled bedding may cause it. It's tough to treat and rarely completely successful.

grumpy.

 

[Wolfeh]

The one that was sneezing was brought home on the 4th, the other on the 31st of March. Do kits with next box eye also get mucus in the nose? And is it normal for them to gush out mucus from the eye with nestbox eye? Or was it just a bad case?

 

[ladysown]

a really bad case of nestbox eye can have a fair bit of pus in it.
having mucous in the nose is not an overall good sign. I'd treat for no more than a week those kits and if they don't recover well I'd cull them. DO NOT keep any of the affected offspring for breeding.

did you isolate the new buns at all?
Generally speaking, bringing home a bun that is less than perfect health (so no red noses, no sneezing, no thinness etc) is not a good idea.

So basically a week and four days ago they came right?

The liver has a bigger gall bladder than normal but beyond that looks fairly normal.
The lungs are darker than expected usually with pasturella you'd see white patches. And I have to admit, I'm not really sure which parts are which as the liver is rather butchered .... is this just the liver and the lungs?

For all we know though she could have had a heart attack and died. Rabbits do sometimes randomly die.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

White snot from the nose is usually pasteurella, or at least I usually treat it as such. Crusty eyes are usually Nest Box Eye, but can be related to pasteurella as well, especially since you say they had nasal crusting too. Pasteurella can cause infections in many different areas of the body, not just respiratory infections. I would cull the rabbit with white snot, treat the kits a couple of times and if they don't clear up, cull them. So sorry you are experiencing this.

 

[Wolfeh]

Yes I had the buns isolated away from the barn rabbits but I wasn't thinking about transmitting anything so I was worried I might have still transmitted something, but all of my other rabbits seem perfectly healthy so I do think it is more nest box eye than anything else.

I culled the three kits with nest box eye (I thought it was four but either one recovered very quickly or I miscounted) who showed very little improvement, and have five that seem healthy, some have some eye crusting, like a little crust on the tear duct area, but I think that's fine, as long as it isn't full blown crusted shut right?

The healthy rabbit still didn't show any signs of respiratory infection (no sneezing, honking, anything) so we still have no idea what happened to him and it looks like the necropsy doesn't say much either... The one we still have which does have snuffles (Pasteurella), I told the breeder about it and the healthy one that died and she's willing to take back the sick one to euthanize herself and give me another kit, I think I'll give her another chance and hope that her rabbitry doesn't have any more snuffles...