I'm looking for a little bit of advice for our pet rabbit Felix. He came to live with us two months ago - he was one of 3 school rabbits, but one day one of his friends was stolen overnight. A couple of days later his other friend was taken. Felix seemed very upset about all of this - almost depressed. The school bought more rabbits, but they attacked him quite viciously and when the cold weather hit I brought him home. Felix had been vaccinated last year. He was very happy, he got another friend, Snowdrop, who was fully vaccinated in April.
Last month, Snowdrop got a sore, scabby nose. The first vet we went to told us it was a skin complaint and gave us some cream for dogs which had no effect. Then two weeks ago, Felix developed the scab on his nose too. We went to a different vet last Tuesday who diagnosed them with dry myxomatosis. As they had both been vaccinated, the vet felt that there might be enough immunity to help them survive. The very next day, Felix's eyelids began to puff up and have got gradually worse. He's been getting anti-biotics every day, along with us bathing his eyes in salt water at least twice a day.
On Sunday I took him back to the vet. She felt (and I agreed) that whilst his eyes were very puffy that he was lively enough and eating enough to avoid putting him to sleep. This week he's been very much the same. His eyelids are very swollen, getting slightly worse each day. However, he's eating and moving around. I'm going to take him to the vet again tomorrow morning to get her opinion and I think that he will probably be put to sleep. However, I just wanted to know a few things from people whose rabbits had survived myxes.
Was there a point when you noticed the rabbit getting better?
Is it all worth it? My perspective is that if there is a chance of getting better then avoid having him put down; what do others think?
Is there anything else I can be doing or ask the vet about?
How bad do they get before they get better, or is there a point of no return? If so, how will I know when the battle is lost?
If we decide to have him put down, what advice does anyone have for Snowdrop? She's still got her scabby nose, but otherwise has no other symptoms.
Thanks in advance - any advice would be very much appreciated.
Last month, Snowdrop got a sore, scabby nose. The first vet we went to told us it was a skin complaint and gave us some cream for dogs which had no effect. Then two weeks ago, Felix developed the scab on his nose too. We went to a different vet last Tuesday who diagnosed them with dry myxomatosis. As they had both been vaccinated, the vet felt that there might be enough immunity to help them survive. The very next day, Felix's eyelids began to puff up and have got gradually worse. He's been getting anti-biotics every day, along with us bathing his eyes in salt water at least twice a day.
On Sunday I took him back to the vet. She felt (and I agreed) that whilst his eyes were very puffy that he was lively enough and eating enough to avoid putting him to sleep. This week he's been very much the same. His eyelids are very swollen, getting slightly worse each day. However, he's eating and moving around. I'm going to take him to the vet again tomorrow morning to get her opinion and I think that he will probably be put to sleep. However, I just wanted to know a few things from people whose rabbits had survived myxes.
Was there a point when you noticed the rabbit getting better?
Is it all worth it? My perspective is that if there is a chance of getting better then avoid having him put down; what do others think?
Is there anything else I can be doing or ask the vet about?
How bad do they get before they get better, or is there a point of no return? If so, how will I know when the battle is lost?
If we decide to have him put down, what advice does anyone have for Snowdrop? She's still got her scabby nose, but otherwise has no other symptoms.
Thanks in advance - any advice would be very much appreciated.
. Were your rabbits vaccinated within the last 12 months? 
