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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BEHAVIOR I need help.

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    • jocelynkayla
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        We have a one year old dwarf holland lop boy named augustus that has been netured for over 5 months and he has always been so sweet and loving. He is free range and gets plenty of fresh hay, water, playtime, love, and greens in his life. We love him so much, he has free run of our home, which is all one story. It’s bunny proofed and he flops very often. His whole life he’s had health problems. When we first got him, he got e cuniculli, we rushed him to the vet and he was cured. Now he has been battling rabbit syphillus around his mouth for months. We take him to a rabbit savy vet once a month or more for this, but he doesn’t seem to get better. It comes and goes in cycles, where the crusts form and then fall off over & over again. We’ve tried two strains of penicillin through injection. and although he’s been acting normal (eating, pooping, drinking, playing, flopping) he has been having a lot of accidents. We give him some of the old bones treats from the BB store when he goes in his litter boxes. He has plenty of boxes. They are cleaned regularly. Sometimes we wake up to pee spots and poops everywhere. I know he knows where his boxes are, he has good days where he uses them like a pro, but sometimes he just pees a few feet from them. Then today he bit my husband when he reached for some loose poops lying on the floor and drew blood. I was really surprised, we both were. He’s never done anything like this before. 

        The love we have for him is mutual. My husband loves him as much as I do. I just don’t know what we’re doing wrong. We have him enclosed in an x pen until I can figure out what’s going on with him. Normally when we’ve done this in the past, he pees and poops everywhere (seemingly out of distaste for the dumb see-through fence I have enclosed his highness in) Any help would be really appreciated. I’m just so worried. 


      • Sarita
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          He sure is cute…what a trooper he is too have so many illnesses – poor little guy.

          Are you concerned about the lack of litter box skills? I’m just trying to understand exactly what your concerns are or the fact that he bit your husband? I would say as for the bite that I wouldn’t take a one time incident as anything other than a one time incident if that is your concern.

          If it’s the litter box, then you may have to start all over and confine him until he learns again to use the litter box – unfortunately not all rabbits do well free roam and have to be confined (in some way) to a smaller area.


        • Bam
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            I’m guessing his infection is making him feel under the weather. A chronic (persistent) bacterial infection can result in behavioral changes/quirks. I don’t think you are doing anything wrong. Sometimes the bacteria that are killed by penicillin may have a (temporary) toxic effect on the patient.This could contribute to him not feeling well.

            Is he treated with penicillin G?

            You’ve perhaps already read this, but I’m posting the link anyway:
            http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Syph_gen.html

            I’m sorry that he’s had so many problems. He looks so adorable. I hope you’ll get this sorted.


          • JackRabbit
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              Maybe Little Lion Head can offer some suggestions, having experience with bunny syphillus and any litterbox side effects. If she doesn’t see your post, you could pm her and I’m sure she’d help any way she can.


            • Sarita
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                How often were you getting the pen-g shots?


              • Little Lion Head
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                  Oh, wow your little guy is so adorable!! Sorry he’s having issues!

                  I agree that he may have bit your husband due to his discomfort with the symptoms of syphilis!

                  Our Pumpkin had syphilis when we brought her home from the rescue (we didn’t know for about a month or so). Her sores showed up on her privates and a few spots on her nose. We were lucky they didn’t spread to her mouth or eyes. She was treated with three rounds of peng shots. I couldn’t tell you exactly which penecillians, but it was a combo. She got three shots, each exactly one week apart.

                  Unfortunately that didn’t get it all and blood work showed the syphilis was back and levels were rising. We did the shots again, this time four shots, each one week apart. This seems to have done the trick.

                  While Pumpkin had her symptoms, she had many “accidents” on the couch. Now I’m not sure if these two things were related, but once she was treated and the symptoms went away, the accidents stopped as well.

                  Syphilis is very treatable and curable. What does your vet say about his symptoms? I’m sure your vet is working hard to get your little guy healthy.

                  It stinks when our babies are sick and we feel so helpless!! You are doing everything right and he knows how loved he is! Try not to get too discouraged; I’m sure the biting and litter box issues will diminish when the syphilis is cured!


                • LBJ10
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                    I agree, his behavior could be related to his health problems. And, like LLH suggested, he may need a longer round of shots. Sometimes these infections can be stubborn and if they aren’t treated long enough then there is still some left to make a comeback.


                  • Kokaneeandkahlua
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                      Oh he’s adorable! Sounds like he has a wonderful life!

                      I agree-I wouldn’t’ worry about the bite -and I think we have a member here who had a rabbit with syphilis who could offer some experience!


                    • jocelynkayla
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                        Thank you all so much for your kind words and support. He has had months, and I’m talking months of penicillin injections, we tried a week apart for five weeks, and did like three rounds of that. 2 different types of pen. including pen g. We even got a biopsy done when the infection wasn’t responding to treatment so we could be sure we were treating him correctly.  Now, we give him an injection at home every other day that he takes like a little champ. I just feel so helpless. I made an appt. with a different vet on monday to see if I can get some answers. He’s so tiny and fragile I just feel like I’m failing him. This sounds nuts, but he is like a child to us. We’re not really concerned about the bite, we would never just write him off because of a little thing like that, he’s noramlly SO sweet and loving but I’m just worried that I’m missing something. The litter habbits have been a struggle. When we confine him, he goes all over his enclosed area, even if he has several litterboxes. Other days, he’s really good with his litter habbits. He seems happy and normal acts totally Augustus. He loves being held. He chases us and stands on his back feet until we pick him up. Which I know is like crazy rare. Here he is with my husband while he brushes his teeth haha. Thank you all, again. I’ll keep you posted to what the vet says on Monday. 

                         


                      • gingerg
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                          I don’t have any experience with rabbit syphilis, but just wanted to say thanks for sticking with your little guy. He’s incredibly cute, and it sounds like he’s had a lot of bad luck. I hope his treatment starts working soon. I do agree with the advice others have given about restricting his roaming a bit until he is using the litter box more consistently; a lot of people have had good experiences with that technique.


                        • Bam
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                            That picture is beyond adorable.

                            You seem to love each other very much, all three of you. Again, I so hope you’ll get through this.


                          • Little Lion Head
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                              Oh wow thats a great pic! That’s so cool that he likes to be picked up. Please keep us posted after the next vet visit. You’re not alone in your bunny being your baby. Ours are definitely our children; I think a lot of members can relate. Good luck and sending lots of (((((((healing vibes)))))))))))))).


                            • LBJ10
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                                What is the dosage your vet is using?

                                Syphilis bacteria will only be killed with injected penicillin G (benzathine/procaine: 42.000 – 84.000 UI/kg), at intervals of 5 to 7 days, continued 4 – 5 weeks. The importance of injected administration must be emphasized here: rabbits should NEVER be administered penicillin orally.

                                This says up to 84.000 UI/kg.
                                http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/syphilis.shtml


                              • jocelynkayla
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                                  I will call my vet and double check the dosage. Thank you very much for the info. We do love each other! Thanks everyone. He’s currently in his x pen because he keeps pottying a few feet from his litterboxes… Ugh. I hate having him enclosed but it seems like he need to for now anyway. The second vet I went to last monday gave me no new information so back to square one. I’ll keep you all updated.

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                              Forum BEHAVIOR I need help.