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What disease can guinea pigs pass onto rabbits?

Rabbits naturally harbour pasturella (or the bacteria that turns into pasturella) in their noses.

They can easily pass this onto piggies, without actually getting it themselves.

There are also a million and one reasons why a rabbit should NOT live with a piggy. (and vice versa) Full stop.
 
I wouldn't ever advise keeping a guinea pig with a rabbit. I was wondering about passing it on through clothes or airbourne if I got some guineapigs. They would live separately (obviously), but I'd care for both of them, so could i pass it on that way? Also, some times they may be in the same room (separate cages and not let out together), could this be a problem?
 
Sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions ;-) I had piggies and Floppy in the Conservatory (separate houses) and I never managed to pass germs on from one to the other. I never thought to wash hands etc between the two at the time.

I MAY have just been lucky.

*waits for someone more in the know to answer*

xxx
 
I would want to avoid housing Rabbits and Guinea Pigs in the same environment, eg separate set-ups in same shed as Bordetella can be transmitted via airbourne route as well as via direct contact. Whilst good ventilation *should* mean that there would not be a problem I personally would not take the risk.
 
I would want to avoid housing Rabbits and Guinea Pigs in the same environment, eg separate set-ups in same shed as Bordetella can be transmitted via airbourne route as well as via direct contact. Whilst good ventilation *should* mean that there would not be a problem I personally would not take the risk.

I've often wondered that... not that I have enough space at the moment, but if I could, I'd rather keep piggies and bunnies in the same 'air space' to minimise mess.
 
As already said, your big problem would be the risk of the piggies getting ill, not the rabbits. I would love piggies and my flatmate did consider getting a couple at one time, but with Barney's snuffles I wont take the risk of having them both allowed on the same carpet. Of course bunnies that dont have 'snuffles' can still carry bordetella, just like pasturella they can have it but never be bothered by it if their immune system keeps it in check, like Barney's bonded partner. I imagine it spreads a lot easier if the snuffles flares up though, so you'd have to be careful if one of your buns did get snuffly/sneezy.

If you keep the hutches a few feet apart, not in the same shed/room etc and dont allow them in the same run without disinfecting first, same if you bring them indoors, and if one of your buns does have snuffles flare ups maybe wash your hands between handling them, then I imagine you will reduce the risk drastically. Thats all you can do really. If you're worried you could always ask the vet about the chances of passing it on if you buns do have it.

There's not really any way to tell for sure your rabbits dont have bordetella, you could get C&S tests done but even when there is obviously bacteria present (ie snuffles bun) it wont always grow or they cant get a good enough sample.
 
I wouldn't ever advise keeping a guinea pig with a rabbit. I was wondering about passing it on through clothes or airbourne if I got some guineapigs. They would live separately (obviously), but I'd care for both of them, so could i pass it on that way? Also, some times they may be in the same room (separate cages and not let out together), could this be a problem?

I prefer to keep my pigs and rabbits in completely different areas as Bordatella can be passed through the air as Jack's-Jane pointed out, all rabbits carry Bordatella in their nasal passage but as it is symptomless nothing is obvious until the immune system is compromised :wave:
 
I keep guinea-pigs and rabbits and I don't wash my hands or change clothes when I feed them all. I just feed the rabbits, then feed the guinea-pigs. My guinea-pigs are the other side of the garden so I think the risk is quite small.
 
And this can be airborne? So if you had alot of piggies in the same room as a couple of bunnies and one piggie got this disease, could it kill all the piggies? Even if they were housed separately?
 
And this can be airborne? So if you had alot of piggies in the same room as a couple of bunnies and one piggie got this disease, could it kill all the piggies? Even if they were housed separately?

Yes it can pass between piggies once they have it. It is more likely to pass between the ones they live with, with ones in other cages it is less likely, the closer the cages the higher the risk I imagine.
 
And this can be airborne? So if you had alot of piggies in the same room as a couple of bunnies and one piggie got this disease, could it kill all the piggies? Even if they were housed separately?

Yes it is airborne, but unless their immune system is compromised you won't get any active symptoms. So yes your example could possibly happen :( That's why I don't run that risk personally so keep my piggies in a separate room and wash my hands when I go from one to the other as I am a worrier :oops:
 
OK. I was just wondering as a friend of mine lost about 15 piggies (she used to foster and rescue them) over about 2 weeks. Everyday a piggie was literally just dying even though they were eating and fine the day before. She had the pigs in cages stacked upon one another and so were in close quarters. In the same room but away from the piggies she had 3 unspayed, bonded bunnies. The pigs were away from the run but obviously in the same room. The vets told her it was most likely a virus which unfortunately spread extremely quickly and there was nothing she could do apart from wait to see if any survived the outbreak. She never found out exactly what the virus was but reading this I was wondering if it could have been something to do with the bunnies.
Of course it may have been totally unrelated since she did bring a piggie into the house which was not well and although it was kept separate from the other pigs it could have still brought in something which was very contagious.
She only has 2 pigs now and has 3 bunnies which are in the same room (but are obviously not in the same enclosure) and I just wanted to get my facts straight so I can tell her about the risks. I didn't realise the pigs would be in danger even if they are just in the same room and I don't think she knows this either.
 
OK. I was just wondering as a friend of mine lost about 15 piggies (she used to foster and rescue them) over about 2 weeks. Everyday a piggie was literally just dying even though they were eating and fine the day before. She had the pigs in cages stacked upon one another and so were in close quarters. In the same room but away from the piggies she had 3 unspayed, bonded bunnies. The pigs were away from the run but obviously in the same room. The vets told her it was most likely a virus which unfortunately spread extremely quickly and there was nothing she could do apart from wait to see if any survived the outbreak. She never found out exactly what the virus was but reading this I was wondering if it could have been something to do with the bunnies.
Of course it may have been totally unrelated since she did bring a piggie into the house which was not well and although it was kept separate from the other pigs it could have still brought in something which was very contagious.
She only has 2 pigs now and has 3 bunnies which are in the same room (but are obviously not in the same enclosure) and I just wanted to get my facts straight so I can tell her about the risks. I didn't realise the pigs would be in danger even if they are just in the same room and I don't think she knows this either.

This could quite possibly be Bordatella but without a necropsy I can only speculate :( I would advise your friend to house the pigs in a separate room if she can just to be on the safe side :oops:
 
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