bunny syphilis

silverspider05 · Jul 29, 2013

Hello just want to ask a quick question. Shortly after I got my rabbit Mimi from the rescue centre I found out she had contracted syphilis. I have reason to believe that she may have contracted this from the wildies in my garden, but not entirely sure if this is possible as my two are in an enclosed area. It may have been that Jake was a carrier and it has never presented itself, I don't really know how she got it. What I want to know is, is it something that can be re occuring, lying dormant in their system, or is it something that they can catch over and over again? Either way, she is being taking back to the vets, as is Jake, as I think he has it now too

is there anything I can do to help reduce the risk or help prevent this? Can stress trigger it If it is something that lids dormant in their system? Sorry, this isn't one quick question after all, I'm just really worried!!! :S

elis-mum · Jul 29, 2013

Hi. One of my bunnies caught this shortly after I got her. I was told it could lay dormant and yes things like stress can trigger it.
It is highly infectious but luckily neither of my other 2 picked it up.

Lula had 3 injections of penicillin with a weeks break between each. It has to be injected as it can kill a rabbit if taken orally and you need to keep an eye out for side effects.

Once treated and cleared up I don't think that there is a chance of it coming back. Its 3 years since Lula was treated and she has been clear since.

Is your vet quite rabbit savvy?
Someone else on here was told her bunny had mixi but I recommended my vet for a second opinion as it looked like syphilis to me. It was and he was cured. Her vet had recommended pts.

Good luck... keep us updated.

Santa · Jul 29, 2013

:wave: Syphilis incubates for up to 12 weeks so if she came down with it shortly after arriving, then it sounds more likely that she had picked it up or had started to 'brew' a latent infection before she came to you. Whenever I've had bunnies with syphilis, my vet treats all in-contact rabbits and not just the one with symptoms, because otherwise they could just pass it backwards and forwards between each other, and with up to 12 week incubation each time, you won't know until it's too late. It is highly infectious, but it is also very easily cured with (usually weekly) penicillin injections for 3-6 weeks and once it's been treated properly in all in-contact rabbits, it shouldn't recur later.

Personally I wouldn't fret about it too much as it isn't as alarming as it sounds, but I would definitely ask for both bunnies to be treated at the same time, so you can be confident that one of them isn't harbouring it ready to pass back to the other one as soon as the treatment finishes. Good luck

Tamsin · Jul 29, 2013

It's not a big deal in pet rabbits because it's contained and treated. I'd suggest treating both bunnies at the same time so they can't pass it back and forth, that will minimise the risk of a repeat. It can come back, but it's not common and repeating the injections will clear it up again. Your bunnies will be fine, apart from being a little mad at you for the vet trips

bunny syphilis

silverspider05

Warren Scout

elis-mum

Mama Doe

Santa

Wise Old Thumper

Tamsin

Administrator

Similar threads