Can a rabbit with pasturella live with another rabbit?

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Hi! I used to be part of this forum whenever I first got my rabbits and used to be pretty active, but faded out. I have a complicated situation and I remembered this being a good resource for experienced bun owner’s opinions.
Long story short, Eve and Theo had been together since they were 3/4 months old. They were supposed to have turned 2 yesterday, but Theo passed incredibly unexpectedly a couple days earlier. He was fine, then he had a harder time eating lettuce on Friday so we scheduled a vet appt for Monday, on Sunday evening he started breathing very labored and no emergency vet would take him, and he passed Sunday night. We took Eve to get checked on Monday, and they took their time and did a wonderful job examining her and said she was in top-notch condition. We were going to wait a full 2 weeks after Theo’s passing to adopt her a friend just to really make sure she didn’t catch anything from Theo.
Today, Thursday, Eve had some dried, dark-colored mucus on her nose (we have a vet appt tomorrow morning). It was pointed out to me that she very well could have had dormant pasturella her entire life, may have passed it to Theo and something triggered it in him after 2 years, and his passing has triggered her pasturella.
I don’t know if that is the case, but after hours of reading it seems the most likely to me. We’ll find out tomorrow hopefully.

So the real question: if that is the case, and she has pasturella, would we still be able to adopt another bun to bond with her ever? Or will she forever be a single bunny? It breaks my heart to think that she could never have another partner after losing Theo, who she had a VERY close bond with. Is there anything I can do for her if we can’t ever put another bunny with her? She likes us, but has never loved us quite like she loved Theo.

[jerseygirl]

I’m sorry about the loss of your boy. That is incredibly frustrating to be turned away by the e-vets.

Binky Free, Theo.

It was pointed out to me that she very well could have had dormant pasturella her entire life, may have passed it to Theo and something triggered it in him after 2 years, and his passing has triggered her pasturella.

I suppose that scenario could be the case, but it could also be that Theo was a carrier and passed it to Eve and her symptoms only presented due to the stress of losing her bond mate. Or it could be that both carried it as it is thought most are exposed to the bacteria at a young age. Or perhaps Theo’s death was not related to this at all, despite your having seen some respiratory distress. There are just so many potential scenarios.

Take things one step at a time and chat with her vet also. You have a good opportunity currently to manage Eve’s current resp. condition and it would then be less infectious (if bacterial) if you do decide to get her a new friend.

I believe there is a vaccine for pasteurella also, although I don’t know how widely available it is. Something to ask the vet about?  If it gave you peace of mind, you could look into getting a new rabbit vaccinated…

That said, there are a lot of other bacteria that can cause same respiratory symptoms. Or even non-bacterial causes. 

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Thank you for your very helpful response! Eve was checked out today and they gave her enough antibiotics for 2 weeks and said we likely caught whatever’s going wrong early enough that she’ll be okay. I forgot to ask about whether it’s safe to get her a friend, but they’re calling to check up on her in a few days and I’ll ask then. They were pretty laid back about the whole thing though and reassured me she’ll be back to 100% healthy soon and they weren’t worried, so hopefully that means they’ll give the clear.

[LBJ10]

It should be fine to get her a friend.

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