I feel sick... could they all have snuffles??

[canadagirl]

Okay, I have had two rabbits for nearly a year that have only had a bit of a runny nose when ever they need their cage cleaned or when I feed them dusty hay (I try not to). I didn't think it was a big deal. Not bad, just a bit of a wet nose. Never like chunks and never sneezing... but I have alway quarentined those two rabbits away from the others just incase. Never cross contaminating anything.

Now I recently stuffed a bunch of cheap (but not unhealthy) hay into each cage as bedding (they are outside in all wire cages, but I wanted to stuff them to keep them warm). Now I have someone coming today to buy some rabbits so I went out and took a close look at everyone and it seems like most of my rabbits have a bit of a runny nose.. like just a damp nose. I really feel like I am about to be sick.

Other forums I am on most people say that EVERY rabbit that gets a runny nose needs to be killed so we can eliminate the problem. But that makes no sense to me. If I brought my issue up on the other forum I would seriously be told to kill all my rabbits, bleach and start over. Ya right! I LOVE my rabbits.

It seems sort of alarmist to me to think that every rabbit that ever gets a damp nose needs to be killed and if you get one with snuffles it will infect ALL your rabbits no matter what. I mean, if thats true, then how are there any rabbits left?

 

[Sweetie]

First of all, you don't need to kill your rabbits because of a runny nose. The people on the other forums don't know jack.

Yes rabbits get sick, there are ways to treat the illnesses that rabbits get, some are through the vet, others you can do at home.

I am not sure if it is snuffles, because I would think that they would be sneezing and have other things going on with them.

 

[Kipcha]

No, you definitely do no need to kill all your rabbits. Apparently, people in the other forums like to jump the gun a bit. There has been quite a bit of study of snuffles the last few years and it can actually be cured now, so it's not as big of a concern.

However, it doesn't sound like that's what yours have anyways... How runny is their nose? Is it clear or milky? Generally, it's the milky stuff you want to keep an eye out for. If they're not sneezing as well, I really don't know what it is but you definitely don't need such extreme measures as the people in the other forums said.

 

[canadagirl]

Kipcha wrote:

No, you definitely do no need to kill all your rabbits. Apparently, people in the other forums like to jump the gun a bit. There has been quite a bit of study of snuffles the last few years and it can actually be cured now, so it's not as big of a concern.

However, it doesn't sound like that's what yours have anyways... How runny is their nose? Is it clear or milky? Generally, it's the milky stuff you want to keep an eye out for. If they're not sneezing as well, I really don't know what it is but you definitely don't need such extreme measures as the people in the other forums said.

Its clear. No matted paws, no sneezing, no snuffling. I am going to remove the hay and put in straw and see if that helps.

 

[maxysmummy]

wtf those people are crazy. my bun gets a crusty nose when his cage gets dirty... unless its dripping and milky and crusty it shouldnt be a problem.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Kipcha wrote:

No, you definitely do no need to kill all your rabbits. Apparently, people in the other forums like to jump the gun a bit. There has been quite a bit of study of snuffles the last few years and it can actually be cured now, so it's not as big of a concern.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, there is no cure for snuffles. The illness can be treated so that the rabbit no longer shows symptoms, but the rabbit generally remains a carrier and symptoms can pop up again later in times of stress.

This is why, in a breeding herd, most people will remove the rabbit from the property. I got the impression this might be the case here, since rabbits are being sold but am not sure?

Anyway, if the whole herd has runny noses, I would definitely be concerned. Snuffles is usually characterized by thick, colored snot (not clear) and sneezing, but you said you hadn't noticed that. Check the inside of their front paws- does anyone have matted fur? If so, I'd suggest taking one or two of the rabbits to a trusted vet to be tested.

If not, it is probably not snuffles but you may want to consider switching to a higher quality hay or cleaning the cages more. It may be some type of allergy or build up of ammonia causing the nose running. Do you ever notice watery eyes too?

In any case, there is certainly no reason to destroy the herd. If they are pets, most people just treat whatever it is when it comes up and most of the time, things are fine. But if it's a breeding herd where you're selling rabbits, you'll want to ensure that any sick rabbits are not being sold. If the issue is snuffles, it may be best to remove those rabbits from the herd. If it's allergies or something else, that may still be the case because you want to beb producing healthy rabbits.

 

[Kipcha]

OakRidgeRabbits wrote:

Kipcha wrote:

No, you definitely do no need to kill all your rabbits. Apparently, people in the other forums like to jump the gun a bit. There has been quite a bit of study of snuffles the last few years and it can actually be cured now, so it's not as big of a concern.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, there is no cure for snuffles. The illness can be treated so that the rabbit no longer shows symptoms, but the rabbit generally remains a carrier and symptoms can pop up again later in times of stress.

This is why, in a breeding herd, most people will remove the rabbit from the property. I got the impression this might be the case here, since rabbits are being sold but am not sure?

I guess cured isn't exactly the right word, but I've had a few vets around here explain it to me and they all agree on the others explanation.

80% of rabbits are carriers of Pasteurella, whether they show symptoms or not. So these rabbits are generally safe should a rabbit with "snuffles" come along. They will, more likely then not, have a kind of immunity to it because the majority of them will never show signs, even under stress. However, it is the remaining percentage that do not have the bacteria naturally that need to be looked out for because if they are exposed to the bacteria, it is something that will likely hit them pretty hard.

So those breeders that kill all their rabbits to prevent the spread of bacteria are really just fighting a losing battle because most likely, most of their rabbits have it anyways. Supposedly, you can take a rabbit that has been healthy his entire life and get it blood tested, 8 times out of 10, it will have the Pasteurella bacteria. Of course, this doesn't mean you should be exposing your rabbit to snuffles for no reason because there is the chance that your rabbit is not a carrier and it can hit them pretty hard.

So you can hide the symptoms and they may be more succeptable to reacting under stress, but other then that they are weaker against the bacteria, there really isn't a difference. The one vet I visit has supposedly got a lot of rabbits back in working order and once the symptoms are gone, they don't even need the antibiotics anymore. She hasn't had a "return customer" yet.

 

[Maureen Las]

Kipcha wrote:

OakRidgeRabbits wrote:

Kipcha wrote:

No, you definitely do no need to kill all your rabbits. Apparently, people in the other forums like to jump the gun a bit. There has been quite a bit of study of snuffles the last few years and it can actually be cured now, so it's not as big of a concern.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, there is no cure for snuffles. The illness can be treated so that the rabbit no longer shows symptoms, but the rabbit generally remains a carrier and symptoms can pop up again later in times of stress.

This is why, in a breeding herd, most people will remove the rabbit from the property. I got the impression this might be the case here, since rabbits are being sold but am not sure?

I guess cured isn't exactly the right word, but I've had a few vets around here explain it to me and they all agree on the others explanation.

80% of rabbits are carriers of Pasteurella, whether they show symptoms or not. So these rabbits are generally safe should a rabbit with "snuffles" come along. They will, more likely then not, have a kind of immunity to it because the majority of them will never show signs, even under stress. However, it is the remaining percentage that do not have the bacteria naturally that need to be looked out for because if they are exposed to the bacteria, it is something that will likely hit them pretty hard.

So those breeders that kill all their rabbits to prevent the spread of bacteria are really just fighting a losing battle because most likely, most of their rabbits have it anyways. Supposedly, you can take a rabbit that has been healthy his entire life and get it blood tested, 8 times out of 10, it will have the Pasteurella bacteria. Of course, this doesn't mean you should be exposing your rabbit to snuffles for no reason because there is the chance that your rabbit is not a carrier and it can hit them pretty hard.

So you can hide the symptoms and they may be more succeptable to reacting under stress, but other then that they are weaker against the bacteria, there really isn't a difference. The one vet I visit has supposedly got a lot of rabbits back in working order and once the symptoms are gone, they don't even need the antibiotics anymore. She hasn't had a "return customer" yet.

I agree with above

Snuffles is really a "catch all" term for any variety of bacteria that can cause respiratory infections in rabbits and yes most rabbits have latent strains of bacteteria in their systems which are kept in check by their own immune systems.
I am not a breeder so , to some extent, I cannot realize the extent of attemtpting to treat an entire herd of rabbits, however, I do know that many breeders use bicillin injections effectively for these types of infection if it progresses beyond sneezing to actual illness.

Iwould guess that it makes a difference what the breeder is breeding for. Those breeding for show and pets may uses antibiotics and those breeding for meat may not be able to use antibiotics.

Anyway sneezing is not any reason to cull a rabbit from my point of view.

 

[tonyshuman]

Lots of good points here. I agree with angieluv and Kipcha, at least from all the stuff I've heard and my experiences with URIs.

Since the mucus is clear, it's probably an allergy. Change the hay, and if that doesn't fix it, you can treat all the affected bunnies with Pen G from the feed store.