Sunday 2 August 2009

Mixomawhat?


Photo Source: Wiki Commons

I can't believe it? My daughter's rabbits have got myxomatosis.

I've never heard of pet rabbits getting it and I thought that it had disappeared in the 'fifties. I remembered hearing about it when I was little and how 95% of the wild rabbit population was wiped out.

Well it hasn't disappeared which shows how much I know! I would have thought there would have been something on the news or in the countless animal care programmes we watch but I've never heard a whisper.

Apparently it's spread by fleas and mosquitoes so pet rabbits need to be vaccinated.

So why didn't the vet mention this? We had rabbits for years when my children were little and it was never mentioned. They're usually pretty quick on the uptake about vaccinations for pets.

The vet said they'd been very unlucky as it's quite rare for pet rabbits with no contact with wild ones to catch it. My daughter keeps an eye on them all the time so she knew immediately that one of them wasn't well, the second one had no symptoms but will obviously be infected.

It's still in the very early stages so the vet is treating the secondary infections as the virus itself isn't the killer. She said she doesn't normally see them with so few symptoms so it was worth trying to save them. However she said they could just decline quickly and they need to be watched a lot.

Just hope they are OK.

Post 110

17 comments:

  1. Do hope they will be OK Winifred. A x

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  2. Most vets have posters up and the RSPCA usually do TV promotions for vaccinating rabbits.
    I used to 'foster' rescue bunnies for the RSPCA so was always aware of it. They can catch it from fleas and ticks off wild birds as well as other wild bunnies and some years are worse than others.
    This is a horrible disease so I hope they get over it soon and the vet has caught it soon enough.
    Unfotunately we will never get rid off it now but a lot of rabbits do have natural resistance. It still culls wild populations of bunnies when they become overcrowded or there is environmental stresses of other kinds.

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  3. So sorry to hear this. When my children were young we had rabbits. Enjoyed them lot.
    Patsy

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  4. Winifred, I'm sorry to hear about your daughters poor little bunny, I had no idea that disease was still around. I hope the Vet is able to save the bunnies

    Australia had to destroy the rabbit population decades ago because of that disease which was bought over from England if I remember correctly.

    Best wishes, Marjorie

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  5. Thanks for your good wishes.

    I've had a look into this on Wiki. Apparently Australia first tested the virus in 1938 and we in the UK got it courtesy of France in 1953. So not guilty on this one Marjorie.

    It really is a horrible disease and shows what happens when we mess with nature. We just don't anticipate the consequences of our actions!

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  6. I have never heard of this disease and had to look it up. So I learned something today. I hope your rabbits will be OK or that they can get over the disease.

    Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  7. Wow, years ago my son had a pet rabbit and we never heard anything about that! Hope the bunnies do okay.

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  8. Hope all turns out ok for the bunnies.

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  9. oooh didn't know it was still a problem ....
    Hope all is OK with your bunny.

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  10. I hope the bunnies get better. We had a pet bunny for several years. We found him foraging for food in a city restaurant parking lot. He was all white so we knew he wasn't wild. We named him "Alice" b/c he looked like the white rabbit. When we realized it was a he, he became Mr. Alice.

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  11. Hi Winifred. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you continue to enjoy it. I see you've visited Rhodes which is very much like Malta. Both were home to the Knights of St John for many years, which explains the similarity. I hope your daughter's rabbits get well soon. I love bunnies. They have such a gentle nature.

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  12. Oh No....I wonder if it applies to hamsters also? And if pet rabbits bite like hamsters bite humans. Well, anyway I hope the bunny will get better. I had just heard of someone getting bitten by a pet hamster that had to get a tetanus shot because her arm swelled etc. I had never heard of that either, because we used to have lots of hamsters and I am sure they bit me, but don't remember having a reaction.

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  13. Sorry about y our daughter's rabbit Winnifred.
    It seems Miximitosis( Sp?) is rife. A friend who works on the land says it is very much around at the moment.

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  14. I am so sorry. I do hope they get well soon.

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  15. I'm sorry for the bunnies. Hope they get well soon and before the vet bills break you.

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  16. I do hope they get well! We are having bubonic plague wiping out our small animals right now here in New Mexico. Pretty scarey stuff! Yes, the Black Death still lives here.

    Carmon

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