Very sad story - myxomatosis advice please

This is a very sad story but I'd appreciate any feedback and advice!

Late last night, my boyfriend and I were driving home from a party. We narrowly missed hitting a small rabbit which was sitting in the middle of the road. The rabbit didn't move, so I got out of the car to try to shoo him to the side of the road but he still didn't move. There was another car coming, so I scooped him up and took him to the side of the road. He looked absolutely terrible - all skin and bones, really laboured breathing and sticky eyes.

I didn't know what to do, so we called the emergency vet number. They told us that they'd speak to a vet and get back to us. 15 mins later we still hadn't heard anything so I decided (probably wrongly, i realise now) to take the bunny home and it sat, hardly moving, on my lap for the 20 minute journey home.

We tried calling the vet again, but the person on the other end of the line said they were sorry, they weren't able to get through to the vet. We tried another vet in the area, and this time we got straight through to a vet who asked us to describe the symptoms, then responded with "Is this what you've got me out of bed at 1am for? The rabbit's got myxomatosis" and instructed us to break his neck. In the end, we had to take the rabbit out to the road and ran him over with the car to end his suffering.

I'm still really upset about this, and angry with the vet. I'd happily have paid for her to put the bunny to sleep humanely, but she wouldn't come. What would anyone else have done in this situation?

The other thing is, I have two bunnies of my own. I put all the clothes I was wearing straight into the wash and had a really long shower, but I'm terrified of passing on the virus. My bunnies are vaccinated, but I know this isn't always effective. I haven't been out to feed them yet because I don't know if there's any risk of me infecting them. I'd really really appreciate words of wisdom on this!

i would have called the rspca and an officer would have come out and took the poor thing away and if it was myxi - put it to sleep humanley if nothing could be done .

I,m so sorry to say this as I know you meant well but I can,t get over how you could take it out and run it over , yes it was humane to put the poor thing out its misery but the way in which it was done I find barbaric .

I know some people may not agree with my reaction but I could never have lined it up on the road and then run it over .

hi

how awful for you to have to go through this - and for the poor bunny too

I'm not sure how contagious it is if you've washed everything - and as your bunnies are vaccinated anyway I can't see them catching it from you - I guess you'll have to hope for the best :?

hi

Gina sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind - it takes a lot of courage to do something like that if you don't have a handy hypodermic and drugs - I know I couldn't have put it out of its misery and it would have suffered for longer if I'd found it - I'm sure it died instantly

I know it doesn't seem like the best thing to do to have run it over, but the vet wouldn't help so we felt like we were on our own in the middle of the night. I couldn't break his neck the way we were told, I'd have been too scared of getting it wrong and leaving him in pain. Running him over seemed like the only way of ending it quickly.

Thanks elve, we did agonise over it and I'm sure it died instantly. Neither of us thought about the RSPCA - we just assumed that the vet would give us the right advice albeit in a not so nice way.

everyone has their own way of dealing with things and I understand why it was done but I find it distressing that the last thing this poor bunny saw was a car charging at it . I could not have done that as there is always a risk that it would not have died first time and been in even more agony . Again - I could not have broken its neck either but I would have phoned round several vets or the rspca .
Yes cruel to be kind is sometimes the way it has to be , what if it had not died first time tho ?? :shock:

The bunny couldn't see the car - he couldn't see anything. I feel absolutely terrible about it two, but at the time it seemed like the better option than holding its back legs up and pressing down on its neck like we were instructed. If I had to go back and do it again I'd ring the RSPCA for advice.

hi

no they can't see much at all with myxi - their eyes are swollen up and it most likely would have had pneumonia too, so would have been semi-conscious - I think it's unfair to criticise in such a difficult situation - In the small hours of the morning things look a lot different than in the day when there's help around and lots of options - I'm sure you would have got no joy off the RSPCA either at that time of night, so please don't feel bad about trying to do your best for this bunny :?

I think you're right, he was barely conscious. We tried to tempt him with hay, water and pellets but he made no move at all. He just sat wherever I put him down and didn't struggle when I picked him up.

I've just read that myxomatosis is not usually spread from rabbit to rabbit, and I think that it's as safe as it can be for me to go and handle my bunnies. If anyone thinks differently, please let me know - the last thing I want is to put my bunnies in any danger.

OH WHAT AN AWFUL THING TO HAVE TO DO . IN A SITUATION LIKE THAT WE WOULD ALL REACT IN DIFFERENT WAYS I COULDNT HAVE DONE WHAT YOU DID BUT NEITHER COULD I HAVE KILLED IT ANY OTHER WAY.

WHAT AN AWFUL DECISION YOU MUST FEEL REALY BAD .AT LEAST YOU TRIED TO GET HELP FOR THE POOR LITTLE THING.

I CANT BELIEVE THE VETS CALLOUS ATTITUDE. OBVIOUSLY NOT A BUNNY LOVER.
ANGIE

MYXI IS SPREAD BY BITING INSECTS

hi

found this on myxi - it says rabbit to rabbit contact is a rare cause of myxi, but if your rabbits are vaccd they are unlikely to get full blown myxi even if they were in with the sick bunny, although they could get a mild reaction.
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rwf/articles/understanding_myxo.htm

greybunny said:

The bunny couldn't see the car - he couldn't see anything. I feel absolutely terrible about it two, but at the time it seemed like the better option than holding its back legs up and pressing down on its neck like we were instructed. If I had to go back and do it again I'd ring the RSPCA for advice.

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I know it would have been hard for you but its something that I would not have done , it really upset me reading your post . I never say much here as I hate disagreeing with anyone but it did really upset me .
The vet you rang sounds terrible , what an attitude to take .

bunnies like that with myxamotosis dont really have much of a clue whats going on anyway, that is why it didnt run out of the way of the car in the first place, or even try to run away from you. most wild bunnies in this situation will end up being run over by a car, eaten by a predator or die a slow death on their own anyway, given those options i think the being run over by a car is the quickest way to go. the other option would have been to turn up at a vets and have it put to sleep but is that always the right option? it would have probably stressed the rabbit out more by being taken to the vets and being euthanased than it would to have died a sudden death by being hit by a car in its natural environment outdoors.
i do really admire you for being able to do that for the rabbit, it takes a lot of guts to be able to do something that is so hard but that is the right thing to do. i dont think i would have been able to do the right thing.

Thank you hunnybunnykins, I just wanted the bunny not to suffer any more. It was obviously using all its energy and effort to breathe, and was taking long, gasping breaths - it was a terrible sound.

gina paul, I appreciate your input although it's making me feel much worse. I'm not saying I did the right thing, but we really did feel alone and out of our depth and the only advice we'd had from someone who should know what they're doing was to break its neck. It wasn't a decision taken lightly, and it's going to take a long while to get over.

i wouldnt have been able to stand the feeling of running over a rabbit :-\ i agree the vet sounded irresponsible, especially the comment about being woken up - isn't that what a emergency vet is for? its a difficult situation, and its only because you saw the rabbit that it was an issue.. There are hundreds of rabbits around in the wild with myxi, nobody thinks of putting them out of their misery. you must feel awful but i don't think you did the right OR wrong thing, you only did what you thought was best at the time and the main point is that the rabbit is now happier where it is now than it was before, and just focus on that

greybunny , I feel very strongly about putting an animal out its misery but I now have an image in my head like i,m sure you do and I understand its upsetting . If I hurt you then i,m sorry but I could not have done it that way .
Several years ago me and my fiance came across an injured badger on the road . We stopped and john (my fiance) who is a farmer could have put the poor thing out its misery there and then as he knows what to do (ie break its neck) but he didn,t , he could have run it over but he didn,t . Instead we phoned the rspca and they came to us and took the animal away . The rspca officer said that the badger may have a had a chance so he took it back to the wildlife centre . I believe that an animal wild or not has the right to die with respect if possible and although I know that you done this to stop its suffering (and I have no doubt at all that you would never have hurt any animal intentionally and love animals) - I feel so upset that this poor rabbit was just squashed . I thought I was over reacting so I was telling my other half about this post and he has the same feeling as me about it . I never speak up on this forum when things upset me but this hit a nerve . If people don,t agree with me then thats fine but I just have to voice my opinions on this .
I see your point obviously but I have my own as well . There is not an easy way for me to put my opinion over without hurting you and for that I,m really sorry . I know it would not have been easy for you .

I want to add that as I mentioned - my fiance is a farmer and we see many rabbits on the farm with myxi , john has shot them to end their suffering and I know many people will say that its just the same as running a bunny over - its not , john has had a gun licence and been shooting for 20 years . He ensures that the first shot ends its suffering and is an excellent marksman . Running over a rabbit may not kill the rabbit first time .

Well this is such an emotive topic. I can see exactly both points of view, and indeed I am not sure if I could have killed a rabbit whatever method was to be used.
I do however have a lot of experience of being in really shi**y situations in the middle of the night. I am a sister on neonatal intensive care, and it seems to be the general rule that sick babies get sicker at 3am, and that well babies become desperately sick at 4am. At that time of the night, even though you have some support around, it is nowhere near what is availbale in the day, and if you need further help you have to wake up someone to give you that help. You feel very alone, islolated and totally responsible for whatever happens. It is horrible and scary and sometimes you have to make a decision at night that would not have been made in the daytime. The next day you have to justify your actions, and like Gina, many people feel very strongly that you have not made the best decision. At the end of the day, as the sister in charge I have to be able to give a reasoned arguement for my decisions, and unless what I have decided is way,way off mark, then by and large it is respected. Only you Greybunny (& partner) know whether there was anything different you could have done at the time with the knowledge that you had at that time.
Hind sight is always 20/20 vision :?

I am sorry that you found yourself in such a position, the only thing to do now is to use the experiecne to help you make a more informed decision if something similar occurs :?

OMG how awful for you, and it sounds like you were pretty desperate to take the course of action you did. I couldn't have done it, but would have felt desperately sorry for this poor bunny. I saw a bunny on the side of the road the other day, and as I passed saw that it looked poorly. I couldn't stop, and to be honest, I don't think I would have. I'm too much of a coward.
I can see both sides fo the argument here, and I agree with what Sally says, that at night and on your own, things are very different and the course of action you take, may well not be one you would have taken in the light of day.
Please don't feel bad. It's over and done and that bunny is now at peace.