Lymes?? Extremely aggressive rabbits

[Strongheart]

One is 14 weeks old, dwarf lop, albino. Came in with her brother. He
died of mucoid enteropathy, very sad, every effort was made to save
him. Both she and him came down with it at the same time. I was able
to stabilize them both but then later, he got it again and passed. She
is still ok but shows signs of pain, chewing on cage bars and biting.
Her temperament seems uneven and has completely changed since she came
in, that's Roxie.

The other is a 4 month old NZW I'm calling Bunnicula for now. She came
in very nice, now she's scared and lunges and bites really bad. I mean
she is like the Monty Python rabbit.

Both had been outdoor hutch bunnies, we also have cousins of Roxie who
are older and very sweet.

Bunnicula's former owners said she had been infested with ticks, Roxie
possibly was exposed to ticks as well. They did not pull them off but
rather let them fill up and drop off.

Do you think they might have Lyme's? I know aggression is a symptom of
that. I asked my former exotic vet about it and she said they can take the
doxycycline but not sure if a titer would show anything. She can't help cuz she recently moved overseas.

What do you think? I know there's a type of fur mite that can cause
extreme aggression, but we've never had fur mite problem, ever.

Would love some feedback please???

 

[Maureen Las]

Hutch rabbits who have been neglected ( and also have been sick and lost a mate) are often times aggressive due to fear. They can be unsocialized just like a feral cat may be.
I did not know that rabbits got lyme disease and survived it but will try to check this out some time today.

in the meantime I would attempt to talk softly to them, handle them only if necessary and keep them in a quiet environment.

 

[Maureen Las]

http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~ron-anne/yourpets.htm

it appears that pet rabbits are at minimal risk for contracting lyme disease

 

[BethM]

My Tobi is a little on the aggressive side. I think it's because she was shuttled around a lot when she was young, and not socialized enough.

She's really territorial, and will lunge if she feels like her area is being invaded or if we try to pick her up or something. She has calmed down some, she now knows she is safe in "her" area.

We've had her for a year, and she now likes pets on the head, but still gets really uncomfortable if her back/sides/rear are touched. She may never get over that.

(She was a fair prize, displayed for several days and probably hundreds of fingers poked and prodded at her. The family who "won" her didn't actually want a pet, and dropped her at a shelter about a month later. She was in the care of my local HRS for a month, long enough to be spayed, before being adopted out. She did not bond with her adopted owners' rabbit, and was returned a month later. We took her as an emergency foster, as her space had been filled with another rabbit, and she would have been put down if we hadn't taken her. She is now a "permanent" foster. We have come to love her quirks, and being in one loving home has calmed her down just a little. If she ever did get adopted out, we would insist on an adult-only home. I wouldn't want little fingers to be bitten. And let me tell you, she has drawn blood more than once from me. She loves my DH, though, and will give him kisses if she's in a good mood. She does have to remain seperated from our other rabbits, she likes to try to bite them on the nose if she can.)

I would assume the hutch bunnies just didn't get a lot of human contact, and just aren't socialized.

 

[Strongheart]

Well Bunnicula was a carnival prize and is verified for being tick infested, so there is a good possibility that she has that bacteria in her but Roxie and her brother were hand-raised and very sweet and friendly when they came in.

My only thought is that they're not feeling well and its making them aggressive but that's the only symptom so far, except that Roxie did have mucoid enteropathy.

 

[Pipp]

It's only a specific type of tick that causes Lyme disease although other ailments are possible.

Here's a pic of the tick...

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ld_humandisease_diagnosis.htm

Have you tried Metacam to gage their post-dose behavior?


sas :?

 

[Leaf]

Pipp, Maryland is one of the top ranking states for Lyme Disease cases.

 

[Maureen Las]

I live in a very high lyme area also. I have tried to find any case of a rabbit being treated for the disease and cannot. I do believe that l ticks carrying the diseasecan attach to a rabbit but I'm not sure if the disease manifests itself the same as it does in humans and other animals.
We have many many cases of dog infestation here because it is state with a lot of hunting and hunting dogs who are running through woods and the river.

I am very interested in anyone who would have needed to treat their rabbit for lyme disease
just never heard of it.:?

 

[Strongheart]

I have had Lyme's myself. Neuro Lyme's. I got the bullseye rash and then was on doxycyline. Had the horrible arthritis. but it had already spread and attacked my brain, i almost died. had a PIC line with IV antibiotics going straight to my heart. Then i was told this caused me to have MS and I had to leave work and became disabled. Now all I do is rescue bunnies. So I know Lyme's unfortunately.

A rescue colleague at the EPA has put in an inquiry to their Lyme's wildlife expert. My former exotics vet, who moved to peru, is checking on it also.

However, yesterday I was at the fosterer's house who has Roxie and I can't believe how much she's grown in 3 weeks and it's obvious she is in full throes of nesting hormonal behavior. I gave the mom calendula to make tea to correct any lingering tummy issues but we'll spay her asap and that should alleviate some aggression. I'm wondering now if albinos may have a different hormonal balance than others. The most aggressive buns I've known have been albino girls.

So we'll get them both spayed asap.

But Bunnicula's Lyme question is still open. I wonder if only carnivores are affected by Lyme's? I know lots of rodents and rabbits get bitten but maybe they're immune. I also wonder then do deer get it since it's the deer tick which carries the bacteria?

I'd be deer and rabbits would react the same. I will let you know what the EPA wildlife biologist says.

My exotic vet said that there have been a few cases of wild rabbits (not sure if hares or true rabbits) getting it. So maybe i'll ask where I could find more info, her husband, a vet also, is also looking it up.

This would be important to determine. I hope we can figure it out but Lyme's is insidiously covert.

 

[Maureen Las]

Sounds like you have had a really rough time with lyme disease. I was diagnosed with CFS and fibromyalgia years ago and it ended my nursing career. ..altogether different problems but similar enough in that it disrails one's life/

Please let us know if you find out more about lyme disease in a rabbit and let us know how Bunnicula is.

 

[Strongheart]

Bunnicula seems to be calming down. Her spay is scheduled for 10/9. That should calm her down even more.

Some of the shelter techs are really fast moving and rough with the rabbits and as a result, some lash out. I keep telling them albinos are more afraid because of their impaired eyesight.

Bunnicula's real name is Noelle. She hasn't lunged at DH in several days, she is down lower and I can't bend over right now due to recent sx. But she seems to like him now.

My friend at EPA's colleague came up empty, but I found this. It is old and the methods may not have been the best but it SEEMS that domestic rabbits do not become ill from the Lyme's bacterium.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagerender.fcgi?artid=261456&pageindex=1#page

Good to know. I see hares all the time with ticks hanging off them, there is some question apparently whether or not the hares are in fact the host of the bacterium which the tick then is the vector for! So little is known about Lyme's even in humans, who could say.

 

[Maureen Las]

that would place rabbits in the same position as deer...hosts for ticks to pick up and carry the disease.
very interesting ..................

 

[Strongheart]

Here's what my rescue associate, an EPA wildlife biologist said about that paper I linked to:

"It looks as if one has to either innoculate quite a bit of tick homogenated organs, which would supposedly contain the bacteria that carries Lyme or have a lot of ticks feed on the rabbit for the rabbit develop any signs of the disease. Then, the ones who did develop early signs of the disease didn't get sick. You are right in that there were problems with the study itself, but the preliminary results indicate that rabbits are probably somewhat resistant to Lyme's disease.

The abstract didn't really cover everything that they said in the document, but the bottom line appears to be (in my opinion) what I said above. I looked up some of the terms used in the abstract. Erythema chronicum migrans refers to the rash often (though not always) seen in the early stage of Lyme disease. Spirochetes are the specific type of bacteria that carry the disease.

So, it looks as if it is unlikely that Lyme disease is the issue with your bun. I guess that you could have a blood test done to see if there is an indication of the presence of the bacteria or something like that. People have those tests done all the time, so they might be able to send it out to a lab."

Now my exotics vet, who is brilliant (and unfortunately now living in Peru) says that a lyme's titer for rabbits would be useless.

So yea I guess they are like deer that way, and they also both have scuts. It's so interesting because it's almost like rabbits are a cross between horses and deer. In many ways, they are so similar to horses and also to deer.

 

[Maureen Las]

I have read elsewhere that there are similarities between horses and rabbits...
...and I have thought myself that they are like deer only in that they are herbivores, silent, beautiful prey animals and deer poop looks just like rabbit poop except it is bigger.