Snuffles; the deadly common cold in rabbits. It is one of the most common and severe diseases in rabbits. There is no cure but there is a new preventative vaccine.
Snuffles is basically the common cold in rabbits. It is caused by Pasteurella Multocida. It resides in the naval cavity of rabbits. It can reside in a rabbit and not show signs, these rabbits would be carriers and can pass it along to others when bred or come in contact. It is rarely seen in pet rabbits unless you have more than one rabbit or it comes into contact with another rabbit. Snuffles is incredibly contagious. As soon as one rabbit gets it, said rabbit needs to immediately be taken away and put in quarantine. Any rabbit in close proximity to the ill animal needs to be watch very closely. As soon as any signs arise, said animal(s) should be removed quickly. I would also recommend if the infected rabbit had in the past week or two been in close contact (i.e. breeding) with another rabbit I would remove said rabbit(s) as well. Snuffles is NOT treatable. There are people who say otherwise and will treat with PenG. This will ONLY COVER UP AND MASK THE SYMPTOMS!!! So please, if you are buying a rabbit and the person says they use PenG for snuffles don't buy from them. Also, don't use it yourself. It only masks the symptoms, it does NOT cure it. There is no cure for pasteurella. The rabbits will still be carriers and are at risk of spreading it around if taken to a show or in contact with other rabbits. It also means that should the rabbit be stressed it can easily come out again. Poor husbandry, sanitation, stress, lactation, overcrowding, nutritional deficiencies, genetic predisposition and bacterial virulence are all causes of pasteurella. If a pregnant doe is ill, she will pass it along to her kits at birth. If they do not show signs, they WILL be carriers. It is an airborne illness though, so if one rabbit has snuffles it can spread like wild fire throughout the herd in the air. There are preventatives you can take to lower the chance of snuffles infecting your herd. Keep in mind, once one rabbit gets it; it spreads incredibly fast and can wipe out a whole herd with in days. Good husbandry is essential for any disease control. A clean, dry and well ventilated environment is required with no droughts. Rabbits are better in cold than heat and dramatic change in temperature can stress the rabbits. Sanitation is important. The ammonia isn't good for rabbits but regular cleaning can be very helpful. Regularly cleaning the walls and entire barn are useful. It's important that whenever you change rabbits around in different cages or sell a rabbit, always do a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all cages before hand. Disinfecting cages regularly is good and doesn't hurt. I use hot water and bleach and let them sun dry. Always do the same with nest boxes, water bottles and crocks/feed dishes as well. Stress is probably one of the worse and bigger causes for pasteurella. Taking a rabbit to a show is big and can be quite stressful and therefor a lot of breeders will quarantine rabbits after shows. Traveling, sudden change in environment, frightened, other animals, and even strangers in where you house your herd can be stressful to the rabbits. Keeping a calm and stress-free environment is very appreciated from the rabbits. Quarantine any new animals as a preventative. There is a new vaccine that you can inject your rabbits with as a preventative. I am still currently researching it but it seems to be a good preventative. It is used to prevent and strengthen the immune system and not as a treatment. There is no treatment to cure snuffles. The new treatment is called BunnyVac. http://pavlab.com/pavlab/bunnyvac/ I may look into trying it out. It doesn't hurt the rabbits and not something that needs to be done all the time. Breeding out poor immune systems is important in any herd. I know I personally don't want any animal with a poor immune system in my herd. I want strong, healthy immune systems that can be passes along. If your herd has good immune systems than this vaccine just strengthens them even more. (Gee, how many times can I say immune system in a small paragraph....) Any animals with snuffles or any signs/symptoms should be removed and put into isolation immediately. Culling is sadly the only option for rabbits with snuffles. It spreads like wildfire. If a rabbit in your herd gets pasteurella, you should put your entire barn into a 'quarantine' for a few weeks, I recommend six or eight weeks. This means absolutely NO selling, even if they aren't showing signs. The disease can live and hide for weeks before showing on a rabbit. It usually shows up before three or four weeks though, but can hide for months. I wouldn't recommend buying, however since I recommend quarantining any new rabbits anyway, as long as you keep any new animal(s) in isolation you should be OK. When you have animals in quarantine you need to make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before touching them and even change clothes. Like I said, it is an airborne illness as well, so the pasteurella can get on your hands or clothes and be passed along that way. Symptoms: The main symptom is respiratory, usually causing nasal discharge. Because the rabbit wipes it's snotty nose with its front paws, the fur usually becomes wet and matted. Sneezing is quite common as well because of the snot in the nose. Congestion and conjunctivitis are commonly seen also. The tear ducts (lacrimal ducts) can become clogged with dried discharge, causing excess tearing and subsequent scalding of the skin around the eyes and face. This usually is seen in more severe cases. Most reputable breeders cull any animal that shows signs immediately so that it can't get that far. I hope this can help should you encounter pasteurella. Please, be responsible and do not sell any rabbit that shows signs of snuffles or has the disease already. This blog post was written after doing research. There are some things that are solely my opinion listed here and thoughts.
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