Any Rabbit folks here...? Think my daughters is sick....

[redneckmedic]

Long and short of it....

This is an outside rabbit, about 3 yrs old, male. Yesterday it knocked its heat lamp off the post, into the straw and almost caught the house on fire (his and ours). (I was at the firehouse when this happened... Poetic isn't it?) so my wife brought him inside, put him in a large cooler, with the lid open and a baby gate on top with food water and newspaper.

I fixed the lamp issue and when we went to put him back in, we noticed some genital swelling.... anyone know what this might be?

My fear is myxomatosis, but not sure. Since the cooler had a solid bottom and no drainage, he sat in a bit of a mess all night and this AM. Otherwise he seems to be asymptomatic. Anyone got a shoebox I can have ?

 

[Hoosierdood]

I know this is a serious question, but seriously I just can't stop laughing that you posted a pic of your rabbit's genitals on INGO.


Ok, carry on.....

 

[42769vette]

ingo is a family friendly site, im not sure this pic is appropriate for ingo.

 

[Benny]

I can't even tell what I was looking at.

 

[Steelman]

Should this disease pass from the rabbit to you - please resist the urge to post photos.

 

[sonofagun]

I know this is a serious question, but seriously I just can't stop laughing that you posted a pic of your rabbit's genitals on INGO.


Ok, carry on.....

Ooohh...they're the rabbit's!

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I had a boy bunny try to have his way with one of my girl kitties once... Do take him to a vet and find out for sure. May just be from insufficiently cleaned litter or such. Clean up, a little antibiotic maybe.

 

[Dead Duck]

OUCH

 

[indyjohn]

I believe you're asking if the rabbit will survive. I hope so, and I hope your daughter will survive the trauma as well. I have no knowledge on this animal, so all I can offer you is my prayers.

Okiegirl took one look and pronounced: "Ugh!".

 

[7th Stepper]

Long and short of it....

This is an outside rabbit, about 3 yrs old, male. Yesterday it knocked its heat lamp off the post, into the straw and almost caught the house on fire (his and ours). (I was at the firehouse when this happened... Poetic isn't it?) so my wife brought him inside, put him in a large cooler, with the lid open and a baby gate on top with food water and newspaper.

I fixed the lamp issue and when we went to put him back in, we noticed some genital swelling.... anyone know what this might be?

My fear is myxomatosis, but not sure. Since the cooler had a solid bottom and no drainage, he sat in a bit of a mess all night and this AM. Otherwise he seems to be asymptomatic. Anyone got a shoebox I can have ?

Ok, I'll be the first one to admit that I'm WAY out of my comfort zone here, but if I had an animal with a sore/inflammation/open spot like that, my first thought would be to clean it out as best I could (hydrogen peroxide) then check it for any open sores, viscus fluid, bloody discharge, or any and all of the above. Once I got it cleaned up and could get a better look, I could assess the situation much better, but from the picture that you posted, my inclination would be to hot foot it to the vet, PRONTO!

Tomorrow is Sunday, so if it's at all possible, wait until Monday and take it to your regular vet, if you have one. But in the meantime, keep it clean, VERY clean, and see if you can prevent it from licking itself. If you have one, use an Elizabethen (sp?) Collar to prevent the animal from getting to the sore spot. And clean it no less than every 3 to 4 hours with the Peroxide, with soft cotton if possible, and apply antibiotic ointment to the affected area after each cleaning. Otherwise there's always the Purdue Small Animal Hospital, they're not that expensive, but MAKE SURE you talk to the vet and explore your options. When we had Benji there last Spring I was NOT impressed with the care he was given, and had our own vet not been as good as she was, we'd have lost him to Pancreatitis. Even under her care we almost did. It took a solid week of intensive care, some major antibiotics and pain killers, and even so he was on deaths door for a very scary few days. You know your animals sick when they have a Fentanyl patch glued to a shaved spot on his back between his shoulder blades due to the pain he was in, and an IV on a wide open running drip in 2 of their legs. He was on clear IV liquids for several days, and then my own concoction of baby food and finely minced/pureed lean roast beef, cottage cheese, and cooked, bland oatmeal 1/2 oz every hour or so until he could keep it down, and then have it stay down. It was touch and go, and it was a joint effort between our vet, our daughter and myself that finally pulled him thru. Our daughter and I practically lived there thru the ordeal, and finger fed him to get him to finally begin to eat.

I've really never seen anything like this on a rabbit, but we had neighbors that had a Shar-pei that looked originally like she'd been shot with a BB gun, but instead of healing it ulcerated to the point of the skin sloughing off and gave off a very distinctive and totally putrid odor. I saw the dog in the beginning and told them to keep an eye on it, keep it clean, and if anything changed, to call me. I meant call me RIGHT AWAY, not a month down the line when it had developed into something that looked like a medical experiment gone horribly wrong!

I advised them to take her to the vet, where they operated immediately due to the fact that it was a very aggressive cancerous growth, and it was so bad that the dog never made it off the operating table. It was heartbreaking for them, but their poor dog must have gone thru hell and back again, just from the pain alone!

Granted these people were/are stupid when it comes to animals, but NO ONE can be THAT stupid as to miss something like what the dog ended up looking like when they called me back in to see her. Had they not lost her on the table, the cancer had metastasized to the point where it had invaded not only all the surrounding soft tissue, it has gone to the bone and her brain as well. I'd say it was a case of animal cruelty, but they honestly didn't know any better. This was a case of "stupidity", but NO ONE can possibly be that totally oblivious to the point where they didn't know that it hurt the dog! They had no business owning an animal that they couldn't take care of, and even under my directions, they still neglected to follow even the most basic instructions I gave them! They got a pup about a week later, and no sooner did they turn it loose in the back yard (no leash, no fence), then it ran into the middle of 900 and was hit by a van, killing it instantly.

I don't mean to be an alarmist, but this poor bunny looks very sick in my opinion, and the vet is the only one who can tell you what's really going on. They'll probably want to do blood work, a metabolic panel, tissue sampling, and possibly xrays. DO please check it out, that really doesn't look healthy in the slightest possible way.

Best of luck,
7th Stepper

 

[Benny]

Ok, I'll be the first one to admit that I'm WAY out of my comfort zone here

I was out of my comfort zone the second I looked at the picture and I still don't know what I was looking at.

It looks like two hoohoos with a pair of berries in between them.



I'd probably put that wabbit out of it's misery.

 

[Mosinguy]

Swollen genitals? Isn't that like "blue balls"?

 

[singlestacksig]

rabbits can get syphilis , not the human form, from wild ones..
it can look like that..

 

[HandK]

Just from the picture alone you need to kill it before it morphs into something that ate the world or worse if you catch my drift!!

 

[gunbunny]

Myxomatosis hasn't gained much of a foothold in the USA.
My first thought is that he has an extremely infected anal scent gland, which would be located in that area. It's hard to tell in the image - is that an abscess formed near the gland?

(Second thought is, did he burn himself when the heat lamp fell over? Not to make light of the situation, but there is shockingly little an un-neutered male rabbit won't attempt to mount.)

If it's an anal scent gland, a vet can clean it, give him a round of rabbit safe antibiotics (probably sulfa) and a shot for pain. That looks miserable. He's not 100% well by a long shot; if you can keep him indoors for a bit, his chances would be better. (I have rabbits who use a litter box filled with pine shavings; they know where it is, what it's for, and they like a clean floor as much as I do.)

I would send you links on how to help the little guy out by cleaning his scent glands, but he looks like he needs a bit more than routine maintenance.

There are some parasites that specifically proliferate in the testicular region, but that's usually more of a summer problem.

 

[gunbunny]

The Avian and Exotic vet clinic in Indianapolis is closer than Purdue, and they have a very good reputation: 317-879-8633.

If it's possible to keep him indoors overnight, then you can place a towel in the bottom of the sink (or bathtub) and gently lean him backwards and rinse his lil' bunny bum off with cupfuls of warm water. Warm. Not hot; not cold - if you wouldn't pour it over your own cabbages and carrot, don't pour it on his. No soap - their skin is very thin and sensitive. Then just let him air-dry in a space free from drafts.

I can't imagine what that could be, shy of an abcess. I'll check my copy of rabbit dermatology textbook - since I happen to have one lying around here somewhere.

 

[sepe]

rabbits can get syphilis , not the human form, from wild ones..
it can look like that..

Thanks for clarifying that it is not the human form. For a second I thought I may have gotten a hold of that rabbit.

If you're going to eat that bunny, I'd avoid that general region. Doesn't look too tasty.