myxomatosis in my unvaccinated pet rabbit

Question
Please please help me. I have owned my 13 month rabbit for 2 weeks who was unvaccinated when i received him. I was due to take him to the vets this Friday so he would be checked over and full vaccines administrated. I have noticed over the past couple of days that his eyes looked red but this afternoon i noticed his eyes were swollen and white pus present. I contacted an emergency vet who confirmed it was myxomatosis, his lips are slightly swollen, his genitals are swollen along with his eyes but did not have a temperature. The vet said there was nothing he could do for him but gave me 2 packets of Supreme science recovery liquid and said if he stops eating give him. He has not touched any food i have laid down for him, so i Stringed him some and water. He is now in my house and i just want him to survive, i have read from some of your answers that Equimune IV designed for horses can sometimes be a success. I just want to say also he looks very tired but he does have bursts of energy especially tonight after i fed him. Please i hope you answer back soon because i feel I'm running out of time. PS i am going to go to the vet my mother uses this time because after I've read up on the Internet the vet i have seen didn't offer me an antibiotics and he seen how upset i was.

Answer
Dear Ceri,

The only hope for your bunny is intense supportive care, and I hope your vet might be willing to try the Equimune IV.  I am appending below the entire email exchange I received from Dr. Linda Dykes of the Rabbit Welfare Association (U.K.) along with the email from the Australian vet who claims to have saved the lives of unvaccinated rabbits who had contracted myxomatosis by administering Equimune IV.  It is certainly worth a try.

Dr. Barbara Matheson's email is in the original post, but I am hesitant to publish it here.  If your vet would like to contact her, please write back and I will send you her email address privately.

I hope this helps.

Dana
*****

Hi Dana

I'm forwarding this to you (with the author's permission), as it just might
be something to keep on file should you hear of anyone in Australia or
California who have a rabbit with myxi who is not vaccinated (the product
referred to is not on the market in the UK, so it doesn't really help the
UK)

It may be sonething, may be nothing, but it is an interesting observation,
and might be useful if anyone did want to try treating a non vaccinated
bunny with myxi.... our vets usually recommend euthanasia as soon as the
diagnosis is made, as results are so poor despite intensive treatment and
suffering great alog the way, but opinions differ.

Do pass it to anyone who may find it interesting.

Lots of love
Linda

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From: "B.StC.Matheson"
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 2002 12:55:43 +1000
To: Linda Dykes
Subject: Vetrepharm Equimune IV  and Myxi

Deaqr Linda,
I am a vet in Australia. I am writing to tell you of an interesting success
I have had in treating my bunnies that caught myxi.

I had three bunnies and a 12month old hare that I reared.  One bunny I
euthanased after 13days with Myxi symptoms, the hare died.  The second bunny
that had symptoms, Littlebunny,  I was nursing and dosing 3-4 times daily
with a witches brew of vits,antioxidants, immune stimulants etc and giving
subcut fluids and antibiotics. He lost significant weight and was having to
mouth breathe (making it too risky to orally medicate anymore) by three
weeks into the disease. He was a mass of lesions distorting eyes and nares
and his body and genitals were covered in lesions. At this time my third
bunny,Bigbunny, had symptoms for 4 days - swollen reddened eyes with a
number of lesions on lid margins and ears.

At this point I thought of trying the Vetrepharm product, Equimune IV, a
bacterial cell wall fraction immunostimulant registered in Australia for
treatment of Equine Respiratory Tract Infections of viral origin but used
off label here for things like FIV, demodex, parvo, prostate cancer, bladder
tumours, and other debilitating conditions in small animals.

I gave my bunnies 0.25ml IV into lateral ear vein once weekly.  Littlebunny
was pretty debilitated at the start of this treatment but while not showing
any improvement, he remained in good spirits, continued to eat and did not
lose any more weight. I did continue his Baytril s/c in courses of 10days
broken by 5-7days. He required no other time consuming nursing apart from
cleaning and medicating eyes bid.  Today he is 10-11weeks with the disease
and in the last 10 days the lesions have been shrinking and falling off
eyelids. He has gained a little weight and despite still being a bit
snuffly, I think is on the mend. I believe with out Equimune I would have
had to euthanase him before end of 4th week.

Bigbunny is the big excitement- there was no progression of symptoms from
the commencement of treatment with Equimune. His eyelesions may have
reddened  a little some days but for the most settled down and certainly
there was no spread. He never skipped a beat and was a happy unaffected fat
bunny throughout - maybe a few sniffly days but pretty much a walk in the
park. By 4-5th week his eye lesions were resolving and he was a normal
bunny.

Neither of my bunnies have been vaccinated for myxi - the vax not avail in
Australia.  It is no scientific trial by any means but it would appear that
caught early with Equimune,  Bigbunny didnt develop full blown symptoms.
And I know Littlebunny would not be alive without those weekly injections.
The Vetrepharm rep tells me injections at 10 day intervals would have been
sufficient and probably only 4 injections necessary. I guess I will still
continue the injections for Littlebunny until all lesions and respiratory
signs are gone.

Vetrepharm is a Canadian company - you can find it on the web and get info
on their products: Regressin-V, Immunoboost, Equimune IV.  We only have the
Equimune in Australia I think.  The rep tells me they have cured Bladder
tumours in dogs  infusing it by urinary catheter, cured prostate cancer in
dogs, cured a doberman with a malignant melanoma in the chest, cured a cat
with FIV. I have had good results in a pup with parvo. I think the website
:www.bioniche.com will give distributor info in UK. I think it is worth
trying and considering there was no intensive nursing necessary - just good
housing and food, it is a cheap treatment, especially if my bunnies are now
with good immunity to meet future challenge as good or better than being
vaxd. In my funny way of thinking- if this success (Bigbunny's experience)
is repeatable it might be better to take bunnies to a myxi party and treat
with equimune  than annual vaxs - like my mother did with us as kids to get
things like chickenpox and measles.  I only have 2 bunnies and pet bunnies
are prohibited in my State so I cant call for other bunnies with myxi to do
a proper trial. And i would never deliberately infect bunnies with myxi for
experiment anyway.  I might be able to get a vet in another state to call
for bunnies with myxi to test this treatment.

Just thought you might be interested in this treatment.

regards, Barb Matheson.