Pacific Northwesterners: Any area-specific bunny issues I should be aware of?

[Q8bunny]

My “retirement” plans have changed and Chewie and I might be moving out there. Anything I should know/think about/plan for?

[Hazel]

Well, if you’re gonna move to that area, you might have to have “The Talk” with Chewie.

 

Great choice by the way. The hubby and I have been playing with the idea of moving to Colorado or Oregon in a few years. It’s so beautiful there!  I don’t think there’s anything in particular you would have to be worried about with Chewie.

[Q8bunny]

We would be in or near Victoria, on Vancouver Island.

The move is still two years away, but I wasn’t sure if there are diseases or parasites or something I should prep for. Not an obssessive bunny mommy or anything. Although in my defense, preparing for anything while in Kuwait seems to take ten times longer than it should.

I was watching The Goonies last night and kept thinking how stoked Chewie would be to discover a pirate treasure ship. I wouldn’t care that much, but Chewie would be really excited.

[jerseygirl]

No specific advice from me, sorry.
Just wanted to share this link for a Rescue based in Vancouver. Maybe there’s some things re Vancouver Island on their site, perhaps in the VRRA News tab.
http://www.vrra.org/wp-beta1/

[Q8bunny]

Thanks, JG.

Hazel: The vid just loaded. I laughed so hard I could barely breathe. ???

[jerseygirl]

They didn’t really say “does your rabbit seem constantly hungry?” Oh wait….

[Hazel]

I always thought them being constantly hungry was a rabbit thing, but now I’m afraid there might be something more sinister behind it…

[MimzMum]

Hi all! -waves- The MimzMum posting dry spell has ebbed once again! lol…..

I’ll be heading to Oregon (I keep typing Ogreon by mistake! -eyeroll- ) from Interior Alaska in about a month. Looks like that’s a favored destination for many. I hope we don’t tip the country on it’s end! 0_0

I was wondering if there is still any worry about the milder myxomatosis in the Pacific Northwest? I’ve heard it is not as potentially deadly as the UK or Australian forms of the disease, but can still make a bunny very sick. I’m not getting any info from my vet as to if or when I need my bunnies inoculated, since they will be spending some time out of doors, so I’m a bit confused as to whether I need to do anything.

Is Monkeybun still around? I think she lives in Oregon and had some info on this topic?

[Q8bunny]

That’s the kind of thing I wanted to know. Chewie goes outside every weekend when it’s nice out, and I’m pretty sure that will become more frequent once we relocate. Here in Kuwait, we don’t even have access to the Myxo vaccine.

You excited about the move?

[Bam]

If your buns are outside in a cage, use mosquito netting. Myxo is spread by mosquitos and other biting insects. It can be spread via feces and body fluids on forage and of course via direct contact between wild rabbits and domestic rabbits, but biting insects are a major source or the disease. You can also avoid letting the bun out during the hours when mosquitoes are most active.

Q8, it’s good that Chewie hasn’t had the myxo vaccine in Kuwait because you can’t bring a rabbit that has had that vaccine into Canada.

I’d expect deer tics to be a problem in both Oregon and on Vancouver Island. They are carried by birds, so they spread to islands. The ixodes ticks (“deer ticks”) are not sensitive to Revolution (selamectin). Rabbits are not sensitive to Lyme Disease, but ticks can carry myxo + a variety of other nasty bugs. My Yohio got a deer tick earlier this summer. He was fine though, my vet wasn’t worried.

[Q8bunny]

No way! The ignorant pigheaded man I talked to about bringing Chewie over didn’t even mention it! Oh man…

[Bam]

There might be some vaccine that is ok, but the type mostly used in Europe is a live vaccine against both myxo and RVHD, and rabbits vaccinated with the live vaccine aren’t allowed into Canada. We recently had a post about that, a person who wans going to move to Canada from the UK with her buns but her buns had had the vaccine.
Are there wild European rabbits in Canada?

[Q8bunny]

I imagine so, because my mom keeps saying that bunnies are using my dad’s veg garden as a buffet.

[Monkeybun]

Myxo is definitely still present in the PNW. So do keep your fluffs indoors, if you want outdoor time, make sure it isn’t during mosquito season

[MimzMum]

Hey MB! *waves*
Jeez, that is disappointing and terrifying. I understand there is no vaccine for rabbits against myxo in the PNW. And I take it that it’s the deadly variant, not the milder one. That really stinks. It’s not like the situation in Australia, is it? I’m scared to death to bring Mimzy, Pip and Fiver down there now. I don’t suppose if there’s any chance I could get them inoculated here that they would not be allowed into the state, would they? (I highly doubt my vets could secure the vaccine anyway.)

Q8bunny, well, excited isn’t probably the word I’d use…more like extremely anxious. And this news just made that worse. I have to keep my rabbits outdoors for the first time in their lives. They are all around ten years old. If anything is going to go wrong, it will be due to something like this.

MB, is there anything else I can do to help them? I am really upset now. :'(

[Reesebun]

you should go all across the country and live by me! lol

[Reesebun]

Am I supposed to get Reese vaccinated? I’ve only taken her to the vet once to get fixed…

[Monkeybun]

They will still let them here if vaccinated, if you can swing it. If your outdoor habitat can be made mosquito proof with being our something, that would help. That said, my vet hasn’t seen any local serious cases in awhile.

[MimzMum]

Thanks, MB. I did check with my vet and he said there is no vaccine. I think that’s criminal. He suggested in the strongest possible terms that they be allowed to live indoors, but it’s not up to me. This will be solely my OH’s house and he doesn’t want them inside.

I’m glad there haven’t been any cases. I don’t want to think that my bunnies would end their days in such a way.

ReeseBun, I love your signature! <3

[Reesebun]

Thanks!

[Bam]

Mosquito netting is the best option and an extra fence or barrier outside their cage/hutch/run so wild rabbits are kept from contacting your buns directly. There’s no really bunny safe mosquito-repellant, but there are mosquito nets treated with permethrin that could perhaps be used. The bunnies should not be in direct contact with the netting anyway, they could chew holes in it and mosquitos and flies could get in.

[MimzMum]

Thanks, bam!
Well when I checked with my vet he said the best thing I could do was not take them to rabbit shows (duh!) and to keep them indoors. (double duh!)

OH also mentioned when I talked to him today that the drive we have to make from where we land with the pets to our house after a four hour flight is stupid long and he kind of hinted at not bringing them all (i.e. Mimzy who is my former head tilt bunny and always looks so ill…even though he’s not.)

I told him the vet said he was flight worthy, so we’re just going to have to see what happens. I can’t leave him here (no one re-homes rabbits, they just eat them) and I won’t just have him euthanized for everyone else’s convenience. >

Of course I would also not put my rabbits through anything I would consider too much for them. I just have to hope we all make it down there.
Haven’t there been members here before who have taken their rabbits on cross country moves? I think longhairmike was one, wasn’t he? And they drove from Chicago to Arizona?
Surely my three can go on one plane trip and one 6 hour car ride?

[Q8bunny]

Chewie and I will be traveling for nearly 24 hours (two flights plus a several-hour layover).

[Odette]

Mimzmum, sorry to barge in, but I took my bunny on many a long trip. I went to college eight hours from home and had to take my (now passed) bunny, Manon, back and forth with me when I traveled home. She never traveled on a plane, but she did fine on those long drives. The only time I ever had a problem was when I tried to put my then tiny kitten in the carrier with her. She wouldn’t have that and I stopped to get a second carrier– which I should have done anyway. Otherwise, no problems.

[MimzMum]

Thank you, Odette. I know they will probably be okay, it’s just the under-seat carriers are so small. I really need to send their larger ones down by mail so my OH (who is meeting us when we land) can have those ready to transfer them, that way they have more room to be comfy.

My eldest kitty is also a big worry, he hasn’t been anywhere but where we live and he hates just going to the vet 30 minutes away. He’s going to be a stressball, medication or no.

Q8bunny, goodness, that is a long time! But at least you only have Chewie to worry about. I hope they will let him travel in cabin all that way. I’ve got the three bunnies (cabin), two cats (cargo) and two dogs (one cargo, one cabin) and my two kids (cabin of course…lol) who, although are adult age, may as well be teenagers or younger! (eyeroll)

Argh…do NOT want to do this again. I despise moving house!

[Q8bunny]

May the Force be with you all, Mimz. ((( )))

[jerseygirl]

Surely my three can go on one plane trip and one 6 hour car ride?

A.B.S.O.L.U.T.E.L.Y.

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