Pasteurellosis

Question
QUESTION: Dear Dana,
Good day!

It's a pleasure to talk to you again, I'm a member of Etherbun, I live in Greece, and your vast knowledge on rabbit ailments had literally saved the life of my bunny 3 years ago (a dwarf hotot with a severe GI stasis incident. My much-cherised bun is currently fine with no relapses, I'll always be grateful to you for your life-saving response!).  

The reason for contacting you again is that I'm thinking of rescuing a pet shop bunny suffering from pasteurella. It's a female dwarf lop about 1 month old, weighting abt. 500 kgr. I didn't hear her sneezing (at least during my two visits to check on her), but, when I first saw her, she had dried green discharge around both her nostriles. She has no snot in her pows, and the fur around  her nostriles is not wet.  I've read that especially the green color in the nasal discharge is an indication of pasteurella (along with white or clear discharge), contrary to the other upper respiratory system infections which produce only white and not green snot. I had the pet shop owner immediately separate her from the rest of the babies, and since this morning she's kept in her own cage, with clean water, good quality junior rabbit pellets and zithromax (I followed the 40 mg/kgr per day protocol, although it's very difficult to cut a pill of 250 mg in such small pieces and be sure of the exact quantity per piece).  
My question is twofold:
a) since, as I told you, I have another bunny at home, will it be 100% safe to take her, considering that, even if she recovers, she can be a permanent carrier of the pasteurella bacteria ? How can I protect my already existing bun? I have a spare separate room to put the sick baby, but will this be enough? Also, what kind of a  hand disinfection should I use after handling her? Would the use of soap/water and alcohol or betadine scrub be enough? Further, would clorine bleach be effective for killing the germs when cleaning her cage, bowls etc.? Can the bacteria be carried via my clothes to my healty bun, as I read in an article? This is my only consideration, the only reason I didn't take her home right away, as I really want to help her, but I don't want to risk the health of my existing bunny.

b) considering her very young age (1-month old) and the fact that the illness was detected at this very early stage, could the treatment with Zithromax eradicate the problem, i.e. is the age factor contributory to a possible complete cure instead of a mere suppress of the symptoms?

Your advice would be critical in order for me to take a decision.
Thank you deeply for your time and dedication,
Kindest regards,
Marietta

ANSWER: Dear Marietta,

Green snot is no guarantee of Pasteurella, as you can read here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html

Please have a look at that, and note that the best way to determine the pathogen and its specific antibiotic sensitivities is via culture and sensitivity testing:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

Respiratory pathogens are actually not terribly contagious among rabbits.  I have had many paired bunnies with one having chronic URI, and the partner never got it.  I even had a trio, each with his/her own bug:  Nuli had Bordetella, Slooby had Pasteurella, and Fala had Pseudomonas.  Repeated cultures year after year showed no change in their bacterial flora, even though they groomed each other, snotted on each other, and regularly shared space and contact.  I just don't worry too much about this any more.  It's not at all like dogs and "kennel cough" (Bordetella)

No way to know if Zithromax would kill her "bug"--but it might.  Please see the above article on culture and sensitivity for a full explanation.

Bottom line:  If this were my decision to make (and it's not, of course), I wouldn't worry about the possibility of my bunny catching anything.  Bunnies get sick and get well all the time.  And given the choice, I'll take in a sick bunny over a healthy one, especially in a pet store.  Her only chance at a normal life might be with you, someone who cares enough to try and get her well, instead of leaving her on her own.  (And you might tell the pet store people to just *give* her to you because she's sick.)

Good luck!

Dana


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Dana,

A million thanks for your answer!
Just to let you know, on Thursday I took the baby home,anyway. I thought exactly what you're telling me, i.e. that if she has a chance to live, this will be with me, considering that the pet shop would just let her die or feed her to the pythons they sell, that we have no rabbit savy vets here and that I've been reading, researching and educating myself on rabbits for over a decade now (I have no other choice, you see), so if not me, then who? It turned out to be a very fortunate decision for the bunny -which is a mini lop, not a dwarf- because, apart from her URI ailment (I know about culture&sensitivity tests and I've read your article, but I haven't found yet any vet/lab performing such tests for rabbit ailments), she also came to me with severe diarrhea (=soft stools AND yellow watery liquids smelling badly). You understand how life-threatening this situation would be for a dehydrated sick baby of only 6 weeks old - these are the results of pet shop breeders selling out their "merchandise" at a "cute" marketable age! Unfortunately, in Greece pet shops are the only sources to acquire a bunny, there are no shelters, rescues etc.). Anyway, I have her on Almora (electolytes for hydration), Beneflora (probiotic & prebiotic) and Questran since Friday morning and, though till yesterday I was not sure if she was going to make it or not, today I was extremely releaved to see that her but is completely dry and that she had normal poops (no mucus, no soft stools, no smell) for the first time! I'm so happy! This is also the first time the poor bun munched on timothy hay (I got her 3 different varieties) and baby alfalfa extruded high fibre pellets, reinforced with vitamin E & C, omega 3 & 6 and linseed(two brands, Selective Rabbit from Supreme Science and Care+ from Beaphar). As you may understand, since she could not eat her night droppings up to now, due to their ubnormal substance, she is awfully skinny, but we're taking care of this also. This morning she was hopping around my veranda and at the end she layed at her side, in a fully relaxed stance, and this was my biggest reward. I believe that my decision saved her life, at this early age she wouldn't make it without proper care, medical treatment and rehydration.

Anyway, for a change, this is an optimistic, happy story which I wanted to share with you and not only bother you with problems and troubles! You don't need to answer me, as I know you have very limited time. I take this opportunity to cordially thank you for everything you do for buns around the globe, for your kind heart, your dedication and determination to help these amazing creatures. I thank you for Etherbun, which is a huge contribution of knowledge and sharing in the rabbit parents circle and I thank you, also, for your very informative, yet simple to follow and practical articles, I have them all in my e-library. The world would, certainly, be much poorer without people like you.

I wish you all the best in your live,
With respect and admiration,
Marietta Kargakou,
Athens, Greece

Answer
Dear Marietta,

You are so kind with your words.  And you are also a hero for saving the little bun, especially with such limited resources.  She is lucky to have you, and I'm sure you'll have a rewarding life together with lots of love.

If you ever decide to take in any other sick babies with runny poop, this might help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf

But I hope you never need it.  Take care, and thank you for your kindness.  The world needs more wonderful bunny moms like you!

Dana