I'm really scared my rabbit might have rabies! :(

[Alexzendra]

Okay so i have health anxiety and keep reading about rabies is giving me 'worried well' -.- So i wanted to ask does my rabbit have rabies? I don't think he was ever bitten by a rabid animal but i'm not sure It's been 26 days since my rabbit have bitten me and he's still alive but acting kind of strange. He's eating very less and acting kinda hyper. He's not drooling or anything and he haven't bitten me or someone else since the last time, he's not paralyzed or anything. But i'm still scared! My doctor said if he had rabies he would have died within 14 days. :/ She's 5 year old female dutch rabbit. Help! Should i stop worrying?

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

I doubt she has rabies. Take her into the vet if it's worrying you.

 

[Azerane]

Firstly, where do you live and do you keep your rabbit inside or outside? The chances that your rabbit has rabies are in my opinion extremely low, even if you do keep your bunny outside. Your rabbit would likely have had to have been bitten (or other similar contact) by a raccoon or other animal to have contracted the virus. From what I'm reading online, rabies in rabbits has an incubation period of 2-3 weeks and once symptoms appear, the rabbit dies within 3-4 days. So the chances that your rabbit has rabies, I would say is very low, as rabies is uncommon in rabbits anyway.

If your rabbit is not eating as much as normal and is showing different behaviour, then there still may be something wrong though, it may be something as simple as a stomach upset from a new food, or too much of a particular type of food. Is she still pooping normally? I don't think your rabbit has rabies, but I think you might still need to go to a vet to work out what is actually wrong before she stops eating/pooping completely. A rabbit that hasn't eaten or pooped for 12-24 hours is an emergency case.

Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2518964/ (scroll down to "Rabies in Other Small Animals")

 

[lovelops]

I've heard in the US when asking my vet about it that rabbits couldn't get rabies... that's what my vet said, not me.

Vanessa

 

[dragynflye]

The reason people (including vets) say rabbits can't get rabies is because it's almost impossible they would survive an attack by an infected animal.

 

[Alexzendra]

@Azerane My rabbit is a indoor rabbit and i don't think he was ever bitten by a rabid animal.

it's been 4 weeks since i was bitten and he's still alive showing no signs of aggression and btw he's fine now ^.^ He's eating and pooping normally. :dutch

 

[Ivythelionhead]

Im glad ure buns looking and doing better wow what a scary thought