• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Dolly has scabby gentials!! - syphilis? u/d post 19

Havent been able to get on for a few days as both pc and loptops have been down.

I was examining Dollys bottom and bits a few days ago and noticed they were looking a bit red. I thought id just keep an eye on it and see how it went. I checked again yesterday morning before i left and they looked really inflamed and scabby with a yellowish mucus/gunk.

I have a vets appointment this evening, but ive been desperate to post on here as im sure ive seen a thread similar to this. Can anyone help with what it might be?

Im not sure if its her bottom or her "bits", but i couldnt keep her still long enough. I think its her bits.

ETA: She has been eating/drinking normally and binkying like a nutter so no change in her behaviour. One of them does have some squishy poos (Marley i think because he had sticky bottom reecently) could it be some sort of infection caused by this?
 
Last edited:
Definitely vets

Any swellings on her body or manky eyes?
Is she vacs for myxi?

Also, as she with another bun? Just thinking infected injury or an STD?

Or does her fur seem wet/yellow ith urine?
 
Sounds like it could be syphilis. Does she have scabs around her nose and mouth also?
Keep a very close eye on her until you can get her to the vets tonight, as she will be a target for flies.
 
Definitely vets

Any swellings on her body or manky eyes?
Is she vacs for myxi?

Also, as she with another bun? Just thinking infected injury or an STD?

Or does her fur seem wet/yellow ith urine?

No swellings, i was worried about myxi so i checked everything. Shes up to date with all her vaccines. She is with another rabbit, i dont believe its an injury but we has thought about some kind of infection.

Her feet and parts of her fur are sometimes wet when i take her out of the run on an evening. Shes not wet when i put her out on a night though.


Sounds like it could be syphilis. Does she have scabs around her nose and mouth also?
Keep a very close eye on her until you can get her to the vets tonight, as she will be a target for flies.

Should i seperate her from Marley/bring her indoors? There are no scabs anywhere else.
 
No swellings, i was worried about myxi so i checked everything. Shes up to date with all her vaccines. She is with another rabbit, i dont believe its an injury but we has thought about some kind of infection.

Her feet and parts of her fur are sometimes wet when i take her out of the run on an evening. Shes not wet when i put her out on a night though.




Should i seperate her from Marley/bring her indoors? There are no scabs anywhere else.

No need to seperate her from Marley or bring her indoors, unless she's at risk of flies landing on her. If the vet says its syphilis, its usually very easily treated with a short course of injectable penicillin.
I'd definitely check her again though, to make sure there aren't any maggots hiding in any of the inflamed areas.
 
sounds like syphilis.make sure they give her penicillin and nothing esle as nothing else treats it
 
Right, ive checked them both again. It looks like Marley could have it too, so it doesnt sound like it could be anything else.

Ive had Marley 2 years, Dolly was introduced to him in February and they have lived hapily together since then. How come this hasnt raised its head before now? Where does it come from, will one of them have already been a carrier? Can it be spread any other way apart from sexual contact between the 2 rabbits? I had another rabbit here for a couple of months, but they didnt have any real contact apart from through bars on the run/hutch.

Dollys looks worse than Marleys.
 
Last edited:
My Thistle had syphillis last year, my vet actually thought it was myxi and was all set to PTS until I chanced upon RU and got proper advice!

It's easy to treat. Dolly will need a course of three penicillin injections over three weeks. Marley will also need treating, whether showing signs or not. The incubation period (the length of time they can carry it before symptoms show) is very long so if you only treated Dolly, you might find that Marley's symptoms would have presented themselves and re-infected her again. You say Marley has symptoms anyway so it's obvious they'd both need treating.

I'd also get in touch with whoever you got Dolly from. She must have picked it up from somewhere and if you only got her in february it seems very likely she got it from where ever she was before you had her. Did she come from a rescue, pet shop or breeder? If it was a breeder there's a high chance that they're still breeding rabbits with syphillis and selling babies that are carriers. If it was a pet shop or rescue, they need to be told so they can check the rest of their rabbits.

:wave:
 
My Thistle had syphillis last year, my vet actually thought it was myxi and was all set to PTS until I chanced upon RU and got proper advice!

It's easy to treat. Dolly will need a course of three penicillin injections over three weeks. Marley will also need treating, whether showing signs or not. The incubation period (the length of time they can carry it before symptoms show) is very long so if you only treated Dolly, you might find that Marley's symptoms would have presented themselves and re-infected her again. You say Marley has symptoms anyway so it's obvious they'd both need treating.

I'd also get in touch with whoever you got Dolly from. She must have picked it up from somewhere and if you only got her in february it seems very likely she got it from where ever she was before you had her. Did she come from a rescue, pet shop or breeder? If it was a breeder there's a high chance that they're still breeding rabbits with syphillis and selling babies that are carriers. If it was a pet shop or rescue, they need to be told so they can check the rest of their rabbits.

:wave:

Thanks for that Georgie :)

Is that 3 injections over 3 weeks then?
Im not sure what to say to the vet if its the one i dont like. I usually always end up arguing with him because he dismisses what im saying whenever i suggest that it could be something else...and im usually right! :censored:

If they try and say its myxi, ill take them somewhere else.

Does anyone know what cage burn is? Just incase he tries to suggest it?
 
They can contract it from their mother at birth as well as through sexual intercourse.

Yes, 3 injections over 3 weeks.
 
They can contract it from their mother at birth as well as through sexual intercourse.

Yes, 3 injections over 3 weeks.

Well ive had Marley 2 years without any problems. I think Dolly was probably carrying it when i got her in February, although she has showed no signs or symptoms until now.

She was 12 weeks when i got her, does this mean that she probably got it from her mother? What would happen if this was left untreated?
 
Thanks for that Georgie :)

Is that 3 injections over 3 weeks then?
Im not sure what to say to the vet if its the one i dont like. I usually always end up arguing with him because he dismisses what im saying whenever i suggest that it could be something else...and im usually right! :censored:

If they try and say its myxi, ill take them somewhere else.

Does anyone know what cage burn is? Just incase he tries to suggest it?

Sorry for the super slow reply, I had to go to work (booooo! :lol:).

Originally my vet thought Thistle had myxi and put him on pain relief and antobiotics. He was on these for a couple of weeks without showing any improvement at all (the vet suggested PTS and his meds weren't having any effect), which is when I got on Google and found RU.

I rang the vets up and made an appointment with a different vet for a second opinion and told them what members on here had said about syphillis. I don't think he was too keen to start with as penicillin is really not good for buns (it can only ever be given in injection form by the way, orally can be fatal) but I explained to him that I'd feel happier if he'd just agree to try it as Thistle's other medicine hadn't worked at all. He was pleased when it worked though and appologised about almost putting Thistle to sleep!

The injections are all the same, penicillin, but the buns will need one a week for three weeks.

My vet always ignores my suggestions too - I took Cloud in with a lump on her nose and told them that I (after getting advice from RU) thought it was nodular myxi but they decided it was nothing and sent us away with no meds. The lump got bigger so I took Cloud back in, still saying I thought it was nodular myxi but they still weren't having it and decided she needed to have a biopsy done. I get the results on monday and if it comes back that it is in fact nodular myxi, I'm going to feel so smug! :lol:

I think the only thing you can do is ask about the possibility of it being syphillis and see what the vet suggests. They might think it's something else, in which case I think you should go with whatever meds the vet suggests and if it doesn't seem to work, you can always take them back for a second opinion and a change of medication.

Whatever it is, I hope they'll make a full recovery. :wave:
 
I had another rabbit here for a couple of months, but they didnt have any real contact apart from through bars on the run/hutch.

That sounds more likely to me. Incubation is usually around 12 weeks and it is hugely infectious so can easily be spread by buns touching each other through bars. I have had that happen before - with the first bun I ever fostered, before I learnt about proper infection control!
 
That sounds more likely to me. Incubation is usually around 12 weeks and it is hugely infectious so can easily be spread by buns touching each other through bars. I have had that happen before - with the first bun I ever fostered, before I learnt about proper infection control!

It is syphilis by the way, weve started the antibiotics and hopefully theyll be ok in a few weeks.

Ive had Marley 2 years and he was my first bun, so im pretty inexperienced really. Ive learned so much from RU and im still learning! :)

Im just so glad i found it, otherwise i could have been another ignorant bunny owner with a bunny in a 3ft hutch, fed on nothing but mix and with no vaccinations.

ETA: Ive started a new thread :oops:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=245026

please follow this one from now on :)
 
Back
Top