Please help! Accidentally kissed rabbit on the nose with a cold sore

[LeilaBinkySunshine]

There’s no exotic doctors available in my state currently all I can do is leave a message for when they come back. I’m insanely worried and I’m shaking. I found out the human virus can be deadly to rabbits. I never knew this information! Out of all my years of owning rabbits no one has ever told me to not kiss my rabbit (on the head and nose). I never knew cold sores in humans were deadly to buns. I mindlessly kissed her while she was playing and I was like oh my god I wonder if that’s harmful to her and it is… very. My heart is racing I’m so scared I love my bun I never meant to spread anything to her. I forgot I even had the cold sore. I don’t know if it helps much but I kissed her very quickly, the cold sore is a scab currently,I used abreva(Before I kissed her, but not the same day to get the abreva on her fur), and there was no saliva or anything. I’m so scared I could’ve transmitted something to her. I’m going to watch her like a hawk the next few days. I know they can get a brain infection which is horrifying to hear after I just gave my bun a loving little kiss not knowing it could be deadly. I’m sobbing. If anything, I’m not sure if it’s how this virus works but if you can catch it in the beginning you can prevent the nastier symptoms/death, hopefully I pray. Please tell me there’s a way out and I didn’t potentially kill my bunny. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for sores,sneezing,eye discharge, head tilt etc. will get in contact with exotic vet doctors asap, I am only writing this here as my last resort so please don’t tell me to take her to the vet. There are no vets available. please help me. Please remember not everyone has access to the vet especially in states that exotic doctors are very limited. This is just for my own peace of mind and will contact a vet as soon as available. Also, can we please spread awareness about kissing your bunnies and how deadly it can truly be ?!? My whole life I never knew this and now I’m terrified. I’m heartbroken. Please help😭(I’m also all alone with no family or people close to vent to so I’m really freaking out)

[Hazel]

I’m sorry, this must be so stressful. 🙁  Don’t blame yourself, it could have happened to anyone. I don’t have any helpful info for you unfortunately, but I hope your bun will be fine. Please let us know what the vet says.

[Wick & Fable]

At this point, aside from vet assessment, all you can probably do is just monitor. While I know it is hard and easier said than done, but remember overwhelming yourself with stress and anxiety is not helpful for yourself or your rabbit at this time. I think raising awareness is really important, as I was not aware of this.

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.

[LBJ10]

First of all… breathe. I know this is causing you a lot anxiety, but try not to freak out. Rabbits are susceptible to Herpes simplex 1. But here is the important part – This is in a lab controlled setting. Naturally occurring infections (human to rabbit transmission) have been documented, but they are extremely rare. Think about how common cold sores are in humans. Now think about how often you hear about a rabbit actually getting the virus from their owner. If this was a huge problem, you would be hearing about it happening all the time. Did you kissing your rabbit on the nose while having an active cold sore potentially infect them? It’s possible… but my guess is that it’s unlikely. I agree with the others. All you can do it watch him for symptoms… which in rabbits, is neurological. And, of course, try to be more careful in the future when you have a cold sore. 🙂

[LBJ10]

Here is an article that documents 2 cases: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1040638714545111

Also in the article:

“Considering rabbits’ susceptibility to experimental HHV encephalitis, high prevalence of disease in people, and the popularity of domestic rabbits as pets and laboratory animals, a higher incidence of spontaneous disease would be expected. The relative low incidence of clinical disease could be due to several factors, including rare occurrence of transmission from human beings to rabbits, infection followed by complete recovery or development of latent infection, and/or low virulence of the human virus.”

[snowballsmomma]

LeilaBinkySunshine,

First of all, you are NOT alone!  I also did the same thing 2 weeks into having my first foster bun (a year ago), and when I started reading into it, I freaked out and sobbed to my family so much they said maybe I wasn’t ready to have a rabbit.  Lol.  Well nothing happened.

Two things: First, I also read the article that LBJ10 posted and did a lot of research myself online, and I agree, it seems that while it is possible (and should honestly be communicated to rabbit owners better), it is unlikely.  Very few reports have been recorded about this.  Second of all, I contacted two rabbit-savvy vets about this when I was freaking out, and one said it was very rare and I shouldn’t worry, and the other said that you only need to worry if your rabbit has an open wound of some kind.  Also, there is no test for this, so going to a rabbit-savvy vet now wouldn’t do anything to help.

Fingers crossed everything is okay.  I know how scary these things can be mainly because we love our buns so much <3

[LeilaBinkySunshine]

thank you every bunny for your helpful and kind advice. I have problems w my own anxiety as a human lol. Anyway I’ve been watching her daily and so far no symptoms just a happy bunny. Earlier she hiccuped for the first time, which was very scary for me due to this incident I was scared it was a head tilt episode! but I looked up bunny hiccups and it was a completely normal hiccup and no muscle contraction. Her head was just moving weird so I got so scared, just bunny hiccups. I was wondering, I’ve been scared to death to even like touch her Incase I’ve touched my mouth do you think it’s safe to ever even kiss her again when it’s healed ? Also how long do you think I should watch for symptoms until I can have a big sigh of relief ? Thank you again🥺

[LBJ10]

In lab experiments, symptoms can manifest in as little as two days. I would say you should be “safe” if a week or so goes by and there are no symptoms. I think it would be very difficult for you to pass the virus onto your bunny simply by touching your cold sore and then touching your bunny. I wouldn’t be too worried about it. But if you are, it doesn’t hurt to wash your hands before interacting with her. As for the kissing, it’s still not very likely… but I would avoid kissing if you have a cold sore just to be on the safe side.

[cushfuddled]

This site is the best; I was just panicking about my bun and now these comments have helped me feel better. Thank you guys!! Maybe sharing my situation will help me calm down further. I still feel like I’ve created the worst-case scenario.

My rabbit (Leila) gets eye crusties sometimes. Tonight she had a dried one that took a bit of time and work to tease out of her fur. I dabbed a tissue with my tongue once or twice and combed at the eye crust, then plucked it away with my fingers.

(So my saliva was right next to her eye, if not straight-up touching her tear duct!!)

It somehow completely slipped my mind that my mouth is Cold Sore City. I had some pineapple this past week, and whether due to allergies (MCAS) or the bromelain enzyme, my mouth has been a cold sore nightmare for ~4 days now. Sores all along my lips and tongue.

Worse news: Leila checks all the boxes for the most at-risk categories. She’s a young (2 years old) female rex bunny.

I can’t believe I’ve done this to her. The previous comments have helped me remember to breathe enough that I might be able to sleep tonight, but I’m still terrified and wracked with guilt. I can’t believe I was so careless. Any thoughts on my situation??

[cushfuddled]

Update: It’s been five days now and Leila has shown no signs of illness! Her eyes are normal and her appetite hasn’t changed. No strange head tilts or otherwise unusual behavior. I’ll add another update if Leila starts to exhibit any symptoms, but I’m now confident that I didn’t pass on my HSV-1. Just wanted to say as much for any future bunny parents who may become panic-stricken over cold sore contact and come across this thread. Like I said in my first post, I feel like I created the worst-case scenario for myself and my bun, and Leila still turned out perfectly fine.

I agree with the folks who’ve pointed out that, despite claims that HSV-1 transfer is commonplace, studies only ever seem to cite the same 2-3 sample cases. I wonder whether this is a case of banana phone, where someone got the wrong takeaway from those studies, and then bunny health sites parroted that takeaway in good (but misplaced) faith.

In short: You can keep an eye on your bun for the next couple days, but there’s no need to panic!

[LBJ10]

I’m glad your bunny is doing OK. Yes, it would appear that transmission from owner to rabbit is extremely rare. Otherwise, we would be hearing about a lot more documented cases.

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