yaretzi
Wise Old Thumper
A friend of mine is having problems at a place she works. They have a large group of female rabbits and then males are kept singly in hutches. Two rabbits have died in the last few weeks of suspected pasteurella.
Obviously the usual first line of treatment should always be a vet. Unfortunately the owner of the place has almost no funds dedicated to veterinary care. I've said I'll go over tomorrow to help check the existing rabbits (14 as far as I know) and weigh them.
What would be the best way to deal with this situation in terms of minimising infection to existing rabbits?
Is it best to identify any rabbits with symptoms and isolate them away from the ones without any symptoms? And then, if possible, move all the healthy ones to a new enclosure (since pasteurella can live for a while in wet/damp conditions, and it'd be very hard to clean the enclosure to a standard good enough to ensure it's free from infection)? Plus try to ensure the enclosure is as dry as possible? I think it's in a building so it should be weatherproof, I think it's more the wee from the rabbits which is acting as an easy way to transmit infection.
My friend has isolated some animals before and they've just been put back in with the population, so these measures may not even work. Just trying to see what she can do to try and help.
I'm sure my friend is trying as hard as she can to get the rabbits seen by a vet. Perhaps once we identify who is visibly ill we may be able to get them seen to. I'm not sure, I've never been there.
Obviously the usual first line of treatment should always be a vet. Unfortunately the owner of the place has almost no funds dedicated to veterinary care. I've said I'll go over tomorrow to help check the existing rabbits (14 as far as I know) and weigh them.
What would be the best way to deal with this situation in terms of minimising infection to existing rabbits?
Is it best to identify any rabbits with symptoms and isolate them away from the ones without any symptoms? And then, if possible, move all the healthy ones to a new enclosure (since pasteurella can live for a while in wet/damp conditions, and it'd be very hard to clean the enclosure to a standard good enough to ensure it's free from infection)? Plus try to ensure the enclosure is as dry as possible? I think it's in a building so it should be weatherproof, I think it's more the wee from the rabbits which is acting as an easy way to transmit infection.
My friend has isolated some animals before and they've just been put back in with the population, so these measures may not even work. Just trying to see what she can do to try and help.
I'm sure my friend is trying as hard as she can to get the rabbits seen by a vet. Perhaps once we identify who is visibly ill we may be able to get them seen to. I'm not sure, I've never been there.