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possible myxomatosis

22 10:49:20

Question
hi, first of all thank you so much for this service. i have a 5-6 year old lop earred male. he has had a sore eye that has not healed for the last two-three weeks. i have delayed going to the vet because it kept seeming to improve a little and i have tried treating it myself but now it seems to have also spread to his other eye. my vet has informed me that she thinks its myxo. she says he has a temperature. He is not vaccinated for the disease. he remains very lively and is eating normally. apart from his eyes (he is scratching them which does not help) he genuinely appears to be happy as usual. over the past fortnight/three weeks there has been no other development. does the disease usually take so long to progress? i would not let Fudge suffer, but i am prepared to do my best to help him. he has just started a course of on anti-biotics (baytril oral) and perscribed eye drops (tiacil).

Answer
Dear Lesley,

It is very unusual for an unvaccinated rabbit to show mild symptoms of this virus, if infected.  But it's not impossible.  It's possible that your rabbit has an unusually strong immune system, or that he had a very mild exposure to the virus that acted almost as if it were a vaccine.  It may also be that he was exposed to the virus as a baby, which would allow him to develop some degree of immunity.

If he's had these lesions for 2-3 weeks, you'd expect the disease to have progressed to a fatal stage by now:  it usually takes about a fortnight for an unvaccinated rabbit to succumb to the virus.  But if your bunny is acting normal at this time, he may be one of the rare, lucky rabbits with some naturally acquired immunity to the virus.

On the other hand, it might not be myxomatosis.  Rabbit syphilis also produces bumpy, scabby lesions around the mouth, nose, and/or genitals.  You can see a picture here:

http://www.rabbit.org/rabbit-center/news/hayward/hayward_rescue/hayward_graphics...

Rabbit syphilis (caused by the bacterium Treponema cuniculi) is treatable with *injectible* Penicillin-G Procaine, which is available in the UK.  

If it turns out that your rabbit does not have myxomatosis after all, I hope you'll consider this a scary lesson, and have him vaccinated against both myxo and VHD as soon as possible.

If you need a good vet for a second opinion, please try the list linked here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana