A questions thread...

Where is the possibly most contaminated place you have been, then been to see/handle your bunnies straight away afterwards without washing or changing your clothes/shoes?

Do you worry about handling things from a pet shop where other pet owners have possibly handled the same things?

Do your house rabbits walk where shoes have been i.e on front door mats?

Do you feel that you need to 'steralise' their world to keep them safe?

Would you worry if you walked bare foot on your door mat where dirty shoes have been then walk in to your bunnies room? Would you wash your feet first?

Hey, I'm not being mean or anything, but knowing that you have OCD I don't think its a good idea to ask these questions - you will get paranoid over everything you touch and start obsessively washing your hands and stuff.

Suffice to say, if you think your hands might be unclean, wash them once with normal soap and water and that's it.

Where is the possibly most contaminated place you have been, then been to see/handle your bunnies straight away afterwards without washing or changing your clothes/shoes? If I think there is a risk to my rabbits, then I will change my clothes, shoes, etc. But I go down the RSPCA loads, and they have a lot of vulnerable rabbits and for your average rabbit, don't go to extremes.

Do you worry about handling things from a pet shop where other pet owners have possibly handled the same things? No. I worry about holding animals because you don't know what they are carrying, but not the objects. If I was, then washing my hands when I came in, would sort that.

Do your house rabbits walk where shoes have been i.e on front door mats? We don't have a 'shoes off' rule in our house, so shoes go everywhere, so yes. In fact, I've had bunnies play with my shoes. My outside bunnies also go places where people have walked

Do you feel that you need to 'steralise' their world to keep them safe? No. I'm strict with my quarantine if necessary, otherwise all rabbits are ok. It's just a case of keeping them clean.

Would you worry if you walked bare foot on your door mat where dirty shoes have been then walk in to your bunnies room? Would you wash your feet first? As I said, we don't have a 'shoes off' rule in our house, so I walk around in socks with my bunnies, sit with them, they mark my socks, scrabble them, have great interest in my feet, etc, so no, that wouldn't trouble me at all

VikkiVet said:

Hey, I'm not being mean or anything, but knowing that you have OCD I don't think its a good idea to ask these questions - you will get paranoid over everything you touch and start obsessively washing your hands and stuff.

Suffice to say, if you think your hands might be unclean, wash them once with normal soap and water and that's it.

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I do that anyway so nothing would change. It is good for me to find out how 'normal' people react to situations that I go to extrems over so that is why I am asking these questions.

Where is the possibly most contaminated place you have been, then been to see/handle your bunnies straight away afterwards without washing or changing your clothes/shoes?

Do you worry about handling things from a pet shop where other pet owners have possibly handled the same things?
Not really. I wash my hands when I get home and that's it really.

Do your house rabbits walk where shoes have been i.e on front door mats?
Yes, I don't take my shoes off when I get in, so shoes have walked everywhere
Do you feel that you need to 'steralise' their world to keep them safe?
No, as with children, I feel that a certain amount of germs are needed to help build up immune systems

Would you worry if you walked bare foot on your door mat where dirty shoes have been then walk in to your bunnies room? Would you wash your feet first?
I frequently go outside in the garden in my bare feet then come back in and go to see the rabbits.

We have 31 buns - mostly outdoors but some (about 7 at present) indoors.

They live happy bunny lives mixing with each other, the world around them, wildlife (mice, birds, our cats, the tortoises) and anything else that passes through the garden . . (obviously foxes and dogs do not enter!!).

There are 5 people live in the house at present and we wear shoes that we also wear down the allotment, or going walking in.

On our Garden Open Days sometimes hundreds come through the garden and into the room we serve teas and cakes in. These people may have come from other bunny households, or come in shoes where they have walked in the countryside, and

To my knowledge, none of my buns have ever caught something from this.

I hope this re-assures you.

parsnipbun said:

We have 31 buns - mostly outdoors but some (about 7 at present) indoors.

They live happy bunny lives mixing with each other, the world around them, wildlife (mice, birds, our cats, the tortoises) and anything else that passes through the garden . . (obviously foxes and dogs do not enter!!).

There are 5 people live in the house at present and we wear shoes that we also wear down the allotment, or going walking in.

On our Garden Open Days sometimes hundreds come through the garden and into the room we serve teas and cakes in. These people may have come from other bunny households, or come in shoes where they have walked in the countryside, and

To my knowledge, none of my buns have ever caught something from this.

I hope this re-assures you.

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Thankyou that does!

My buns mix with my dogs cats, siblings, use the same litter trays as the cats if their free ranging upstairs!

they run around the garden which the dogs also use to toilet! obviously its cleaned up, but you cannot sterilise the garden!

and Gracie as a baby bun has even been known to sit on the kitchen counter whilst I make a sandwich!

we don't have a shoes off rule so people go all over with their shoes on, Gracie steals shoes and sleeps on them :/

I generally don't think at all about contamination! i have never considered it. i went out today for a long walk through fields where there were sheep, cows, many people with dogs and most probably some wild rabbits. I haven't changed or showered (but have washed my hands but only because I went to the loo) and I have already kissed the bunnies and the cats! i cuddled the cats before the bunnies and one of the cats rolls and rubs herself over everything in the garden! I don't take my shoes off indoors from outdoors and don't wash my hands before handing any of my animals, unless my hands are really muddy because I have been gardening or I have been using cleaning products, then I am really careful and wash well as when cleaning I usually get covered in bleach!!

I don't know anyone else with other bunnies but I will regularly go places where there might have been wild bunnies. There are wild bunnies near my grandmas house where I am going most days but I never considered contamination. I don't think it is a risk really anyway, unless I started picking up wild bunnies then I might wash my hands.

Where is the possibly most contaminated place you have been, then been to see/handle your bunnies straight away afterwards without washing or changing your clothes/shoes?
I walk the dogs in places wild bunnies are all the time and I never think twice about it or change my clothing when immediately letting the rabbits out for a run round the yard, as is my morning routine every day. However, I don't even think of it being a 'contaminated' area.

Do you worry about handling things from a pet shop where other pet owners have possibly handled the same things?
Nope.

Do your house rabbits walk where shoes have been i.e on front door mats?
I have outside rabbits that run about in the same place the dogs walk. The TM even eats wild rabbit poop (ewww) so we both must walk where they do then through the yard.

Do you feel that you need to 'steralise' their world to keep them safe?
No. They are safe enough with their vaccinations and a bit of dirt never harmed anybody. In fact, it's good for their immune system and there's evidence that people who sterilise their children's worlds to keep them safe do more harm than good, hence the rise of kids with asthma and eczema.

Would you worry if you walked bare foot on your door mat where dirty shoes have been then walk in to your bunnies room? Would you wash your feet first?
Nope and nope.

rachylou said:

Where is the possibly most contaminated place you have been, then been to see/handle your bunnies straight away afterwards without washing or changing your clothes/shoes?

not sure but if i have been out i take my shoes off, wash my hands and i will change my clothes if i've been near any other animals.

Do you worry about handling things from a pet shop where other pet owners have possibly handled the same things?

again, if i bought anything i would wash it before using, and also wash my hands aswell before touching the pets.

Do your house rabbits walk where shoes have been i.e on front door mats?

no. i do worry about this. i won't let anyone walk where the buns go if they've got shoes on.

Do you feel that you need to 'steralise' their world to keep them safe?

not overly no. just keeping their trays clean and their blankets, bowls, the carpet etc is fine.

Would you worry if you walked bare foot on your door mat where dirty shoes have been then walk in to your bunnies room? Would you wash your feet first?

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no, i wouldn't wash my feet but if the mat was wet i would change my socks first.

eta: don't know why that last answer went there! :?

Where is the possibly most contaminated place you have been, then been to see/handle your bunnies straight away afterwards without washing or changing your clothes/shoes?

I work in a garden with attached parkland, it is ridden with all manner of wildlife and poisonous plants, I never change my clothes on coming home

I help at a rescue too...I wash my hands afterwards but don't change clothes


Do you worry about handling things from a pet shop where other pet owners have possibly handled the same things?

Nope, would never cross my mind

Do your house rabbits walk where shoes have been i.e on front door mats?

Yep

Do you feel that you need to 'steralise' their world to keep them safe?

Nope, a little bit of grime never hurt anyone...obviously there are sensible precautions to be taken but no good comes of overdoing them

Would you worry if you walked bare foot on your door mat where dirty shoes have been then walk in to your bunnies room? Would you wash your feet first?

I do not do anything cleanly about my rabbits, in fact I think being too 'clean' can be detrimental as they never build up immunity. I work in a vet and take in rescues- yes, i do change my clothes after work and quarantine any new rabbits but I keep the rabbits outside during the day and we live on a croft so there are lots of wildlife and dirt, but I do not change/ wash my wellies, etc!
I know you have OCD issues and it must be very hard, but I do not over fuss my buns and the oldest and longest resident is 8.

halfpenny said:

I do not do anything cleanly about my rabbits, in fact I think being too 'clean' can be detrimental as they never build up immunity. I work in a vet and take in rescues- yes, i do change my clothes after work and quarantine any new rabbits but I keep the rabbits outside during the day and we live on a croft so there are lots of wildlife and dirt, but I do not change/ wash my wellies, etc!
I know you have OCD issues and it must be very hard, but I do not over fuss my buns and the oldest and longest resident is 8.

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They will still build up immunity from the vaccines though wont they?! :shock:

rachylou said:

They will still build up immunity from the vaccines though wont they?! :shock:

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To those particular diseases, yes.


The way vaccinations/immunity works is that the body is exposed to various, hopefull mild, pathogens and as a result develops and "stores" suitable defences (antibodies)

So when you vacc your rabbit, the rabbit recieves a weak dose of myxo which is not enough to make it poorly, and in the event of true infection bunny has defence mechanisms ready prepared as it were

By exposing animals - and children - to a mild level of dirt they encounter various pathogens and build up diverse antibodies for future use I can't remember any specific articles but I'm sure I've read of studies showing that children from over-clean homes later had worse health problems, particularly with allergies and asthma.


Anyway that is my understanding of it as a (very tired!) layperson - anyone with better knowledge feel free to correct me if I've got something wrong.

Yes, the rabbits are all vaccinated yearly for VHD and 6 monthly for myxi, because these are diseases we can vaccinate against and they are particularly dangerous, but in general day to day illnesses the animal builds up immunity due to exposure of them.
I do not worry about VHD and myxi day to day because they have been vaccinated- I live in a high risk area for both and I've seen about 2 domestic rabbits in the vet with myxi and they were not vaccinated.