E.Cuniculi and Pasteurella Abscess

Question
I have a 5 yr old French Lop who has tested positive with E.Cuniculi (hind leg weakness) and was also found to have a large marble sized abscess under her ear. This all happened a week after I brought in two 5 mo. other young buns I rescued from a family not caring from them. They all live in my guest bedroom. At first they were right next to each other so I fear I exposed the young buns to both of these diseases because urine was sprayed and they were so close. They also shared toys...I didn't know I should disinfect them and I just feel horrible. However, I can only keep them about 1 foot apart from each other because the room is small so I don't know what to do. I also don't think I can afford the extensive treatment for the abcess.....sounds like a long term problem. This is all very distressing. Can you give me any suggestions on how to house them in the 12x12 room to keep them safest from getting sick from my French Lop Mandy? I'm afriad it's too late anyways because it's been a month, but I want to take some precautions if I can. I don't know what to do about treatment for my Mandy though....her prognosis doesn't sound promising. I a cat, dog and care for my disabled father so I don't have a lot of extra time to care for a disable bunny. She's getting urine all over her bottom and legs daily and it's like cement. I just cared for my 17 yr old Pekingese doing hospice for 9 months and she passed away 2 weeks ago....I don't know if I have it in me. Any suggestions on keeping the bunnies safe in such a small room and easy care for Mandy?

Answer
Dear Nanci,

It sounds as if you will need the help of a good rabbit vet for the multiple problems Mandy has, and you can find one here if you don't already have one:

www.rabbit.org/vets

The abscess is probably an ear abscess, and these are definitely not easy to treat.  But the first step should be a culture and sensitivity test:

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

to see what rabbit-safe antibiotics might clear up the abscess without resorting to surgery (resection of the ear canal is a recent development that seems to help resolve ear infections in many cases).

The urine problem sounds like serious sludge, and you can read about this here:

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

The E. cuniculi problem can be treated/controlled with Panacur (fenbendazole), which is not expensive and/or Ponazuril, which *is* expensive.  Please see:

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

Finally, I would not worry too much about transmission of bacteria to the new bunnies.  To tell the truth, bacteria do *NOT* generally pass easily among rabbits, and whatever they have they probably already brought with them.

The E. cuniculi *might* be a concern, so I would ask the vet about treating all three with Panacur to arrest any further infection.  It's believed that the condition is no longer infectious three weeks after initial infection, so if you keep the rabbits on the meds for at least 28 days, and also completely clean and disinfect their room, you should have no further problems with this--hypothetically.

I hope this helps.

Dana