nobunnynoclue
Well-Known Member
Ever since the vet called to tell me Fiona has e. cuniculi, I have been reading *everything* I can find about it. So has my husband (even tho his motives have been to find a reason to get rid of the rabbitsI)
But even he can't find anything that positively points towards it really being this horrible disease. A Lagomorph Aids of sorts. My vet had me thinking it is a death sentence. But I find very conflicting information online. The only publication I could find that terrorizes the reader about this issue was one from Petco.
So far what I've read has taught me the following:
- Other mammals can get this but it doesn't affect them like it does rabbits.
- There have only been a handful of cases of this infecting humans and they all had full blown aids. An immune deficiency disease that makes them vulnerable to everything under the sun anyway.
- A high percentage of rabbits carry this parasite but only about 12% ever show any signs of it.
- Rabbits that suffer from it usually are suffering from an immune system depletion to begin with.
- Symptomatic rabbits can improve greatly from inexpensive meds such as ivermectin, dewormers, and other meds I fail tKio remember the names of right now.
- Once treated, a rabbit can improve and never relapse again.
- After infection, rabbits are not contagious after about the first 3 months.
- rabbits supposedly that die from this, could very well have died from any number of other ailments.
- the test for e. cuniculi only tells you if the rabbit has been exposed. Not if the rabbit has an active infection of it.
Am I forgetting anything?
I can tell you that the thought of putting Fiona down over a disease nobody knows enough about is ludicrous. If Jake doesn't have it, I would be inclined to let them back together and risk him getting infected just so I could keep them both. Sounds kindof selfish, but it just sounds like too many rabbits have this parasite and never experience any ill effect.
If Fiona is incontinent and that never improves, I could live with it because she's sick. Being sick is different from having an I correctable behavioral problem. I could not and would not pay $200+ per quarter treatment for a rabbit for life, but I also could not explain to my kids that their rabbit is going to die because she's become an inconvenience.
Sigh...
I go to the vet again tomorrow at 10:30am. I'll report back whatever unfolds tomorrow.
But even he can't find anything that positively points towards it really being this horrible disease. A Lagomorph Aids of sorts. My vet had me thinking it is a death sentence. But I find very conflicting information online. The only publication I could find that terrorizes the reader about this issue was one from Petco.
So far what I've read has taught me the following:
- Other mammals can get this but it doesn't affect them like it does rabbits.
- There have only been a handful of cases of this infecting humans and they all had full blown aids. An immune deficiency disease that makes them vulnerable to everything under the sun anyway.
- A high percentage of rabbits carry this parasite but only about 12% ever show any signs of it.
- Rabbits that suffer from it usually are suffering from an immune system depletion to begin with.
- Symptomatic rabbits can improve greatly from inexpensive meds such as ivermectin, dewormers, and other meds I fail tKio remember the names of right now.
- Once treated, a rabbit can improve and never relapse again.
- After infection, rabbits are not contagious after about the first 3 months.
- rabbits supposedly that die from this, could very well have died from any number of other ailments.
- the test for e. cuniculi only tells you if the rabbit has been exposed. Not if the rabbit has an active infection of it.
Am I forgetting anything?
I can tell you that the thought of putting Fiona down over a disease nobody knows enough about is ludicrous. If Jake doesn't have it, I would be inclined to let them back together and risk him getting infected just so I could keep them both. Sounds kindof selfish, but it just sounds like too many rabbits have this parasite and never experience any ill effect.
If Fiona is incontinent and that never improves, I could live with it because she's sick. Being sick is different from having an I correctable behavioral problem. I could not and would not pay $200+ per quarter treatment for a rabbit for life, but I also could not explain to my kids that their rabbit is going to die because she's become an inconvenience.
Sigh...
I go to the vet again tomorrow at 10:30am. I'll report back whatever unfolds tomorrow.