testing for pasturella?

Some of you may remember me posting in the middle of january with sad news that my baby Gabriel had passed away the emergency vet suspected pasturella(as he had lots of mucus coming from his nose and had trouble breathing) but unfortunately we couldnt get a post mortem done to be sure.

Gabriel was living with Stumpy and i have two other rabbits that shared the same room as Gabriel so the same out space and had contact with him through the bars. i brought Stumpy for his vacs not long after losing Gabriel but because i was concerned about him the vet didnt do them and told me to keep an eye on him for a while. he has been absolutely fine since then(other then poopy problems but hes had this on and off since i got him) so im wanting to bring him for his vacs in the next couple of weeks. the other 2 bunnies have been absolutely fine also(have been watching all 3 like a hawk since losing Gabriel)

the thing is, Stumpy needs a friend. he absolutely adored Gabriel and whenever hes out he spends most of his time lying next to Timmy and Errols cage. ive tried bonding him with the other two but Errol just wont have it(i never thought he would anyway) i want to get him a new friend as soon as possible, but obviously dont want to put any potential new buns at risk of getting ill, and even worse any other bunnies that he way come in to contact if i bring him to a rescue.

so i wondered, is there any tests i can have done to make sure he is ok to start looking for a new friend for him? it really does kill me watching him all alone in his cage, especially when he rarely ever left Gabriels side its not so bad when hes out as he doesnt mind the cats keeping him company but when hes in for the night he must get lonely any help or advice is appreciated.

has he ever shown any signs? sneezing, mucous?

Hi

I posted a few weeks ago as we had our rabbit tested for pasturella (he has had the snuffles for a while now). The vet took a good swab inside the nose, but the results came back completly negative. I then found out that the pasturella bacteria is either very very difficult to culture or that the pasturella bacteria can be evident with no symtoms. The next step for us is GA and xrays etc to see if there are any underlying causes of pasturella. It may mean that any tests done on Stumpy may come back positive, but he isn't poorly or the test comes back negative and pasturella is in his system but cannot be cultured. It's a tricky situation and it might be best to talk everything over with your vet.

Good luck and I hope Stumpy gets a lovely friend soon!

As I understand it (unqualified interpretation) the tests for Pasteurella- nasal swabs and ELISA blood test, often gives a false negative as the bacteria get destroyed in transit to the Lab. Also, I think a positive ELISA only indicates contact with the bacteria and not that it is an active infection. With the nasal swabs the site of infection may be very deep thus not accessable from a conscious Rabbit.

If Stumpy is asymptomatic then perhaps you could approach a Rescue and ask if they have any Does with a previous history of Snuffles.
I believe that is what AlisonA did when getting a friend for her Snuffly Santa

Most Rabbits will harbor Pasteurella and never become ill. Some may only become symptomatic at times of stress or concurrent illness.
Good luck in finding a friend for Stumpy

Janex

To be honest while there are some tests (one is using a swab from the rabbit's nose, another is ELISA which is a blood test) for pasteurella they can often give misleading results and while a rabbit may test positive it may not show any signs of pasteurella itself but may just be a carrier rabbit.

The only way that a vet can ve sure that pasteurella is present is through culture and sensitivity test which can take a while to get the results. Unfortunately very few vets carry out this and provide treatment on a "best guess" basis - however the only 100% way to find out if pasteurella is present is via a culture.

Obviously for someone in your situation it is not practical to screen every potential bunny friend - most vest agree that as many as 80% of rabbits may have the pasteurella virus so it is really one of these decisions that you will have to make by weighing up all the options. In my opinion (for what it is worth) I think a lot of vets over diagnose pasteurella in rabbits because it is a quick fix diagnosis and are often missing other respiratory illnesses. This can cause problems (as we see with humans) as the over prescribing of certain antibiotics may result in the actual pasteurella virus becoming immune.

There are steps you yourself can take to reduce your bunnies chance of developing pasteurella should you decide to get a new friend. Obviously you would choose a rabbit that is showing no signs of pasteurella. Also to reduce chances of pasteurella provide a nice, large, and clean hutch and feed your bun quality food, hay and provide plety water (all steps which I am sure you currently do)

In addition treat any injuries eg cuts etc early and make sure any teeth problems are dealt with quickly.

I hope that given you this balanced view and with the advice from other members you have the information to make an informed decision. AGain (and this is just my opinion) I would go ahead and get your bun a new friend

thankyou for all the replies, they are really helpful.

As for Stumpys health, the night before taking him for his vacs i had him on my lap and thought his breathing sounded noisey for a minute so i paniced. i told my vet about this which is why she said to keep an eye on him. i havnt heard him sneezing, no mucus, no nothing to be honest. since that one night i havnt heard any more noisey breathing.

so the tests wouldnt really be worth getting done then? would it just be better to inform any rescue that i might bring him to, about what happened to Gabriel and let them decide if they want to risk me bringing him?

i was going to get in touch with Jane(of Janes rabbit rescue in warwickshire) as this is where i got Timmy and Errol from and i would love to get another bunny from them. i havnt been in touch with her for quite some time so thought i should check and make sure she is still up and running-does anyone know? i will try emailing the addy i have this week and see whats what and let her know about Stumpy and see what she thinks.

i will definately be getting him vacc'd before even thinking about bringing him to any rescue so obviously will atleast get him checked over.