Rabbit Syphilis

Question
Hello,

We have two rabbits; one spayed female and one neutered male. Both are rescues from local shelters.

We brought the female home a few months back and found out she had gotten out with her previous owner and contracted rabbit syphilis. She had lesions on her privates and nose. She was treated with penG shots.

We brought the male home a few weeks ago and started the bonding process (it is going well).

Well follow-up bloodwork has revealed that our female may still have syphilis. She has not shown any sign of the disease (no lesions on her privates or nose) in at least 6 weeks. The vet thinks it's possible her bloodwork is testing as a non-contagious positive.

My question is; is it possible she may have passed the disease on to our male rabbit? When the two met, the female had gone through a full round of penG treatments (two different penicillins in a shot form three weeks in a row). She has since started the penG shots again and has two left. Also as I mentioned, she hadn't shown any outward signs of the disease for at least 6 weeks before the two met.

Thanks for your help!

Answer
Julie,

I don't believe your bun can pass it along as there are two methods of transmission - by birth and during mating, and both your buns are fixed. She may still have the bacteria and it may be lying dormant since she's not under as much stress as she once was. Here are some links that might help explain further:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Syph_gen.html

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/syphilis.shtml

Hope this puts your mind at ease somewhat. Best of luck in treatment for your little girl.

Christine