Brought Two Bunnies Home, Worried About RHDV2

[Rae]

Hi all,

Question: Do you think, situation considered, I should be worried that they are infected and have in turn infected Gus?

Background/Situation: I’ve been looking to get Gus a friend recently. We had a failed bonding attempt with a bunny from the closest shelter, Lily, who ended up bullying him into stasis and this shelter in particular offers a kind of program of “try this bun out, if it doesn’t work, try another”. When it all went down, I didn’t feel comfortable attempting to bond him with another rabbit whatsoever. It’s been a year now, and I don’t give Gus the socializing time he needs (in my opinion) to be the only bun in a home anymore. I didn’t want to go through that shelter again as they acted quite outwardly homophobic towards me – I had stated my partner and I were looking for a bunny and the woman went from very sweet to both extremely weirded out by and rude to me. So, I thought of the next best thing – save a bun from a bad situation. I’ve been looking for a few heartbreaking days, have reached out to a lot of people only to never get a response.

Until I found the worst I had seen in my ventures, and they responded within an hour. She was breeding rabbits for very saddening purposes, and to spare you some really nasty details – she kept them in horrible conditions. I instantly jumped, felt in my heart I needed to save as many as possible, and within a bout of impulsivity: one bunny became two.

I haven’t been active on this forum in a while, nor am I keen on social media so as far as I knew, RHDV2 had died down in 2021, or so I thought. Coming here tonight for advice led me to seeing an update and looking at the outbreak map. I found two cases that have happened in the last few months. One was about two months ago, a little less than 200 miles away in a neighboring state and the other about three months ago, just barely over 150 miles away. Both were domestic, house bunny cases, with no reports of wild bunnies being infected.

As I’m sure you could guess, two new buns (Marnie and Sophie, sisters named after the siblings in Halloweentown) were housed outside by the woman. RHDV2 wasn’t even on my mind, so I just set them up in an X-pen and covered the sides so nobody could see each other. Later on, I found Gus had poked his little head under the blanket and he was nearly touching noses with Sophie, seemed really buddy-buddy and the sight was heartwarming. Everyone had an overwhelming day and since there was no malice nor negative occurrences, I didn’t stop it. Even if I had, they’re still in the same room and with how it sounds, would have infected him anyways.

TLDR:

I brought home two bunnies from someone who kept them outside. The closest RHDV2 outbreak was 153 miles away, occurring in September of 2022, next to an outbreak in November about 200 miles away. No new cases anywhere near my home state, New Hampshire, have been listed on the map. My little guy, Gus, has already had -albeit very little- contact with the pair, certainly enough to infect him. Nobody is vaccinated as that isn’t an option at this point in time within my state. I know if the new buns have it, Gus does too, and it won’t end well. Gus is my whole world, and I can’t help but freak out…

[DanaNM]

Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry you had that experience at the rescue, how awful!

The short answer is I think you are probably fine! I’m in Massachusetts and have been tracking things pretty carefully. The rule of thumb is that if it’s within 150 miles to assume it’s in your area, so you are still good on that front, and realistically it’s probably more like 80 miles. The virus spreads a lot more quickly in arid climates, so it’s been spreading a lot faster in deserts and other dry places. I know there have been a handful of cases in the North East but nothing like they have had in the South West.

The incubation time for RHDV2 is super sort, so if it’s been more than 10 days you are definitely fine, and you would likely see symptoms within 4-5 days in most cases.

FYI if you do want to get your buns vaccinated, there are clinics in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and NY that have the vaccine. I got mine vaccinated at Peake Brook Veterinary Center in CT. They were running a vaccine clinic so it was a bit more affordable than I had seen at some places. If you can, I do recommend getting the vaccine because the virus can be transmitted through feed, and during the winter most of the greens come from outbreak areas (CA and Mex). I’m hoping it becomes available in MA before they are due to be boosted because that was a long drive!

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Rae]

Thank you so much for the response!

I’m a huge worry-wart when it comes to my buns, they just seem so tiny and fragile (though I will admit most of the time I’m more effected by things than they are 😛 ).

I’ll definitely be looking into getting them vaccinated, and thank you for letting me know it’s available in neighboring states. CT is absolutely a far drive – it kinda irks me a little bit that the current protocol only allows for it to be given if there is an outbreak in your state… Seems a smidge counterproductive.

[DanaNM]

Don’t even get me started on the current protocols…. 👿

The MA state vet is the same… they won’t approve it until it’s found in MA… even though neighboring states are less than 150 miles away! So infuriating.

For what it’s worth my 4 buns all handled the drive and the vaccine very well, for both the first shot and second shots.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Author]

Messages