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EC advice please

nic08

Young Bun
Hi, I have a bit of a dilemma I would appreciate your opinions on. I board rabbits and have just been told by a client who is due to bring her 3 bunnies in next week that as of yesterday are being treated for E Cuniculi with Panacur. It is not definate but obviously if the vet has mentioned it, it must be a strong possibility.

I know organisms are passed in the urine and from the urine can be transferred in the air therefore realise there is a risk involved here.

My dilemma is conflicting opinions. A rabbit boarding friend has said she would still take them and make sure they are kept away from the others and do the usual disinfection etc.
On the other hand, My vet who is very rabbit savvy said yes the further away they are the better however it would be a lot of work to limit the risk of cross infection. You would effectively have to deal with these rabbits and then change your clothes, disinfect equipment etc before seeing to the others. Basically he was more inclined to say it is not worth the risk. Even though rabbits can be carriers and not show symptoms so in all likelihood being a boarder you may already have come in to contact with a rabbit that is a carrier, if they are showing possible symptoms then the risk is more definate and not worth it.

I hope I am making sense here! The lady was just ringing to let me know I would have to medicate them during there stay so doesn't know yet that I am thinking I may not want to take them at all. I feel awful if I let her down as it will be very awkward for her to find someone else at such short notice. On the other hand I have 6 of my own rabbits as well as other guests to consider and as hygienic as I know I am I am still worried it is too big a risk to take.

As rabbit owners yourself I would appreciate your opinion on this. Thanks

Nicola
 
I wouldn't have them in.

Even if the risk is minute, I would turn them away, sadly. Other customers may not be happy with this arrangement.
 
When I had a foster with EC, my vet scared the :censored: out of me saying I could no longer keep rabbits. Bouncer died. Since then I have had other buns display symptoms that COULD'VE been EC - but all the ones tested came up negative.

As soon as I'm out of myxi quarantine:cry: - I will be taking on a blind baby bun from someone with active EC (& still breeding - do not get me started:evil:), but they will be a long way from my own buns until 6 weeks panacur course complete. I would find out how far into their panacuring they are. At 21 & 28 days a full disinfect needs to be done. And when buns go you will need to steam-clean & disinfect their hutches.

I agree you have to think about your other customers - but most buns are EC carriers anyway, & Rescues deal with these situations all the time by strict quarantine & cleanliness. It might be an idea to get some EC leaflets to dish out to potential customers too:D
 
At least 70% rabbits have been exposed to E cuniculi and can then test positive so the risk of transferring EC to a bun that hasn't already met it is fairly low. Once on treatment it is also unlikely that they will be shedding significant amounts of parasitic spores. I think it would be reasonable to keep them as far away from the others and feed/clean them out last to minimise the risk of transferring the disease and wash and change clothes after for complete peace of mind. If you can keep them on a waterproof surface (we use plastic kennels which makes life easy) then the urine can't soak in and persist like it would in a wood hutch/on grass. If you could also use different equipment to clean them out you could disinfect it after their stay. I would be as careful as you can but not get too stressed out by it.
In an ideal world rescues and boarding centres would all have a few large coated quarantine kennels and runs purpose built for bunnies with health problems, oh and staff dealing only with these, but I can't see that happening without lottery wins :?
 
That is true actually Marie.

The very common misconception thatpeople have is that when animals are wormed (which kills parasites, worms, eggs etc) they excrete live worms and eggs etc. This has been proven to be tosh. The parasites are killed inside the host and excreted dead. I have been to enough horse health seminars led by vets to know this. Panacur is also used in horses.

The host, however, may carry spores from an infected environment, I would guess, on their bodies.
 
I was advised the other day by Guy Carter that everybun should have one long treatment of Panacur (think he said 30 days, or was it 28?) and then only need to be done again if exposed to a "risky" environment eg boarding so if your guests have all been Panacured previously for long enough and you advise them to Panacur again after boarding, as you should anyway, and you treat your own the same in my mind that would cover it. Obviously obsereve the regular hygiene and 10% bleach cleaning on the relevant days during the treatment. My only concern would be the grass, which of course you can't bleach.
 
every bun that she takes into the rescue has an above average chance of having the EC parasite or possibly something worse so you always have to be very careful about maintaining hygine when moving from one bun to another, bleech the hutches, litter trays etc between use & I would probably say disposable aprons and gloves as well.
 
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