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Pets at home rabbit (on behalf of a friend)

**Bonnie**

Mama Doe
Hi all,

My friend and I went to Pets at Home the other day and she ended up buying a white lionhead (Rosie) that no one wanted, Rosie had been in there for 4 weeks and my friend took pity on her and got her.

She got her home and Rosie started sneezing, she has quite clearly got the snuffles (not surprising coming from Pets at Home).

Question: She already has a male (Sunny) that is in full health, their hutches are next to each other until he gets neauted, is it possible that he could catch this without having any contact with her?

Thanks alot!
 
Hi!
Depending on the type of snuffles it can be passed from rabbit to rabbit without any contact - I think the germs can travel about 6ft, so I'd keep them some distance apart to be on the safe side.

Its believed some types of snuffles are possibly not infectious, and some bunnys (possibly most) can carry it but aren't neccesarily affected by it.

I would be very cautious and keep them as far apart as possible, wash hands and change clothes between handling them. The vet can do a culture and sensitivity test which may possibly help find out if the snuffles is infectious and help decide which drug is best to treat it. Sneezing isn't always an indication of snuffles: it could be a tooth problem which is causing the bun to sneeze.

Take the vets advice: I wouldn't have thought the 2 buns could be kept together but s/he should be able to give you good advice.

I would report to the shop that the animal is ill, if it is snuffles it is likely the other bunny's they are selling have it too. If your friend is lucky, they will give her money back, or some money towards vet treatment. Certainly write a letter of complaint to the store, the more people who complain, the more likely there is to be changes. You could also probably complain to trading standards or your local council.

Sorry for going on, my bun has snuffles too; I got him when he was around 6 months old but I know he was originally bought from a different store/ garden centre, he was sneezing in the shop. The girl who bought him didn't know anything about rabbits, and asked about his sneeze, and was told that it wasn't anything to worry about :evil: so it went untreated until he came to live with me. By then I felt it was too late to complain to the store and I had no proof (like reciepts) that he came from there, but I was very angry that they had sold an obviously ill rabbit and gave its new owner poor advice about its care. That particular store no longer sells livestock, apparently largely due to campaigns about their poor care and selling of reptiles, which I am very glad of.
 
Hi Kate,

Thanks for your advice.

She is taking Rosie to the vets on Wednesday, my bun Alfie has snuffles and the symptoms are very similar!

I will get her to speak to the store when she has seen the vet.

A couple of other buns were sneezing and i said to the girl that i think they have snuffles - typically, she blamed it on the sawdust!! shockign that place..

Kate, out of interest, does your bun still have snuffles & how are you treating it?? Alfie has it too and antibiotics arn't really doing the trick, he has another weeks lot to take..

thanks
 
hi

'snuffles' is usually but not always, caused by pasteurella organism - it is highly contagious and very difficult to shift once they have it - Your vet needs to do a swab of the snot to analyse and see which organism is responsible (most vets just say it's pasteurella and prescibe baytril - not always the best antibiotic if it's a different bug)

Apparently most rabbits can test positive for pasteurella, so it's in their system, but they don't always get snuffly - it's down to their immune system and other factors too.
 
A few years ago ARC had some rabbits with snuffles, I became the isolation home for these and all my well fostered buns were shifted elsewhere. I was recommended to put them on additional vitamin C and we gave them 2 drops of echinacea each day to try and booth / maintain their immune system.

Janice
 
You can get that from most chemists, all health food shops, even tesco's sell it.

Lorna at Greenfields Rescue has her own rabbit who lives indoors with another bun who is unaffected, she gives hers Echinasea and Cranberry tea which she sprinkles on its food, I am not too sure on the quantities, I do know that it was a tea bagged version which she emptied, I remember she said that it had a lot of bladder sludge which is why she used the one with cranberry :lol:

You could always email her, her website is http://www.greenfieldsrescue.co.uk

Janice
 
Alfie kennedy said:
Kate, out of interest, does your bun still have snuffles & how are you treating it?? Alfie has it too and antibiotics arn't really doing the trick, he has another weeks lot to take..

Hi :D

My bun is still occasionally snuffly, he gets put on a course of baytril every now and again when it gets bad. He has also had penicillin injections in the past, which seemed to help more quickly than the baytril.

I do think the baytril is quite effective though, but it does seem to take a while to take effect - I guess its the same as antibiotics for humans, you have to take the whole course for them to be truly effective? Hopefully you'll see improvement in Alfie after another week on antibiotics! :D :D

The vet also suggested soaking his hay to get rid of any dust which could aggravate his symptoms, I didn't find this helped a great deal but I did find his symptoms lessened slightly when I switched to a more expensive (and virtually dust free) timothy hay.
 
Thanks for your advice kate..

May get some dust free hay and see how i go with that - you are right re antibiotics and having to finish the course, i guess im being impatient!!
 
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