Worms!?

[Malp_15]

So I was steam cleaning the carpet just now and of cours Tait needed to re-mark it with poops and as I was picking them up bare-handed I saw they had worms in them!!! I emptied and checked his litter boxes right away too and couldn’t see anything so I think he just started to pass them. I work tomorrow at 8am so I’m gunna bring him and samples in with him to get checked out.

Just wondering if any of you have dealt with this or know how he got them??

Ickkkk

[tobyluv]

One of the bunnies that I have now was found on the side of the road and she had worms and intestinal coccidia. The worms were either tapeworms or pinworms. One condition was treated by placing some liquid in her water and the other was treated by an injection, but it’s been a few years and I don’t remember which was which. I think it was Droncit that was given for the worms. I assume that she got worms by eating grass or vegetation where other animals (dogs and cats) had used the bathroom. Not all of her poop showed the worms. The first samples that I took with her to the vet did not show any worms. Then the next day I saw poop with what I assumed was worms and took that in, where it was confirmed. The treatments she received cleared up both problems very quickly.

[avarismom1]

Praziquantel is the wormer that goes under the brand names Droncit and Drontal there are a few different varieties but basically they are a full spectrum de-wormer. If he hasn’t been outside eating grass where animals have defecated – I’d worry about fleas too – I can’t think of another way he would have gotten them inside.

[littlemissflip]

We found pinworms in Capt. Danger’s poos a few weeks after we adopted him (he was 7 months old at the time). We were horrified and grossed out, but the vets told us they were pretty much harmless and that treatments were more for “aesthetic purposes” (as in, for the humans who don’t want to see nasty worms wriggling around in the poos!). So we opted not to treat Captain Danger. He went through one more cycle, a week or two later, and he’s never had them in the year+ since. (Thank goodness!)

[Malp_15]

So it was pinworms like I thought. We’re guessing he has had them since I got him 5 months ago because he has had no bunny to bunny interaction since then. We gave him some Panacur and he will get more in two weeks. The vet who saw him said the same thing, that they don’t really need to be treated. I did it, cuz I don’t want him dropping any wormy poos in or under my bed

He had a pretty good time at work today everyone was totally in love with him haha. He got pets almost all day. I weighed him today too and he’s only 3lbs! He also got his nails trimmed. It was a full day for him

[KatnipCrzy]

littlemissflip- I have not researched this topic- but I find it unusual NOT to treatment for intestinal worms- as they are a parasite and they feed/take nutrients from their host. There is absolutely no benefit for a bunny to have intestinal or external parasites so I find it more likely that having intestinal parasites would take away nutrients from the what the rabbit is eating adn could result in a poor hair coat, bloated belly, etc. It is probably one of the least harmful intestinal parasites to have but I am baffled that your vet thought treatment was unnecessary.

[Sarita]

Weird…I would always treat for intestinal worms. I’ve treated a rabbit for pinworms, my vet never mentioned that it wasn’t needed so I’m guessing it should be treated as well. The treatment was successful.

[Beka27]

I also find that bizarre. While the worms may not cause much harm to a young, healthy rabbit, my guess would be that the slightest sign of illness/poor immunity may be enough to allow them to start overpowering the system, and may make the rabbit sicker faster. I agree that it’s not an emergency situation, the vet won’t say “Oh my goodness, get him/her in to see me immediately!!!” But I’d be making an appointment to receive treatment at my earliest convenience.

[littlemissflip]

Obviously if the pinworms are causing problems (weight loss, etc.), you would most definitely want to treat them! But if, as in our case, the rabbit is otherwise healthy and can clear them on their own, then it isn’t unreasonable to opt not to medicate unnecessarily–it’s your call. Captain Danger was young, healthy, and a good weight. The pinworms came and went on their own within a few weeks, and he never had any adverse symptoms. Obviously if there were any suggestion that they were causing him harm, or if he had any other compromising health issues that pinworms might exacerbate, we would have opted to treat him without hesitation!

Our vets have always been very thorough and rabbit-savvy. We were surprised as well that the pinworms didn’t necessarily require treatment, but we have every reason to trust our vets, based on our 8 years of experience with them. I did a fair amount of reading about pinworms online as well, and while I don’t recall the specifics (this was over a year ago), here are some websites that indicate that pinworms are generally not clinically problematic/pathalogical in rabbits:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Parasitic_diseases/Passalurus.PDF
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/171336.htm
http://www.petmd.com/rabbit/conditions/parasitic/c_rb_pinworms
http://www.radil.missouri.edu/info/dora/RABBPAGE/par.htm
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/smanimal/rabbit.html

Hope this helps!

[Sarita]

Interesting…thanks for the info. I guess I never studied it much because the one rabbit with pinworms that I had, my vet just treated him. He came from an animal shelter so I have no idea how he contracted it.

[tobyluv]

I thought that any case of worms should be treated. The poor bunny that I found outside was malnourished and constantly licking her rectum. I assume that was because of the squirmy feel of the worms as they exited. She was also having very runny poop/diarrhea, which was probably due to the intestinal coccidia. I found her on a Saturday night and as there was no emergency vet to take her to, had to wait until Monday morning to get her to the vet. But after treatment for both conditions, she bounced back beautifully almost immediately.

[LBJ10]

If pinworms in rabbits is anything like pinworms in humans, then their butt would be extremely itchy. The female pinworms go out through the anus to lay eggs. You can thank one of my professors for that. LOL
I suppose that would explain the licking.

[KatnipCrzy]

So I read thru those links and it sounds as though pinworms are very unlikely to cause side effects that could kill a rabbit and they are not transmittable to humans. But…

Pinworms may cause moderate to severe itching, skin inflammation, and redness, especially in the genital and anal areas. And although rare, poor hair coat, weight loss, and rectal prolapse is possible with heavy worm infestation. 
 And an impations of the worms can result in GI stasis.

So pinworms are not  public health threat to humans and they don’t always cause the above symptoms- but are they comparing to house bunnies that can live to 12 years or to rabbits kept as livestock.  If you do not treat your bunny for pinworms it will just get a larger infestation as it continues to ingest the eggs and the cycle continues.  Obviously if you are not comfortable medicating your rabbit-  then that is a concern- but if your rabbit becomes ill one of the first things they might want to check for is the pinworm infestation causing a problem.

 

[littlemissflip]

Yes. So if they were causing any of those symptoms, I would definitely choose to have them treated! Since they weren’t, in Capt. Danger’s case, there wasn’t any reason to medicate. I would have felt selfish medicating him for something that wasn’t causing him harm, just because I found it “icky”. Know what I mean? We have lots of organisms in our bodies, getting nourished from our bodies, and they aren’t all causing clinical harm… We generally only treat the microrganisms in our bodies when they are causing harm.

Please know that I am NOT someone who withholds vet care from my pets. I think we personally keep our vets in business, because we’re in there so often with our cats and our bunny! They know us very, very well there. At the slightest hint that something’s wrong with any of my pets, I drop everything bring them in. I’m not anti-medication, either, nor would I ever advise someone not to go to the vet and get their opinion. I was just sharing my experiences with pinworm in the hopes that it would be comforting, helpful, and informative to Malp, or anyone else who found nasty worms in their bunny’s poo.

Saying they were “basically harmless” (or whatever terminology I used) might have been too broad of a statement, but I wrote the response quickly without reviewing all the websites I’d saved, and that was my general recollection of the take-home message from my vet. And again, I don’t remember verbatim what they told me, but my impression was that in the majority of cases they see, the rabbits with pinworms had no adverse symptoms. I didn’t mean it to sound like people shouldn’t bother taking them to the vet and getting their opinion; just that if it WAS pinworms, they didn’t necessarily need to worry about it being something really serious.

Sorry if I sound a little defensive… I’m just trying to clarify my original post. I should have elaborated more in my original response, I guess.

[Malp_15]

When the vet was looking at Tait she was showing me the section in a textbook about rabbits with pinworms (she is constantly teaching me things at work, love it ). Anyway in it, it says that unless a rabbit is passing them in the stool then pinworms are fine being left in a healthy, non-breeding rabbit. Its example of that was during surgery they discover them. I chose to treat because according my vet it should be treated once being passed, but what I got from the book, it was up to interpretation. And it’s so easy to treat .2cc of Panacur orally and once more in two weeks.

[littlemissflip]

Oh interesting! Well, if the pinworms ever come back, I’ll certainly inquire further with our vets…

You know, the funny thing is that Capt. Danger was on Panacur for 6 months when he was treated for E. cuniculi several months AFTER the pinworm episode. So… if there were stilll pinworms hanging out in his system, sounds like we probably knocked them out anyway! Bonus!

[Malp_15]

Lol sounds like they were probably annihilated then

[KatnipCrzy]

I read thru the links and I just wonder if the “no need to treat” attitude comes from a livestock point of view- since the worms can’t hurt humans, rarely could cause death in a rabbit, do not affect the usefulness of a livestock rabbit with a shorter lifespan than a house rabbit and can be difficult to clear up without repeat dosing.
No doubt your Panacur treatment zapped those pinworms dead- and eliminated any chance of recontamination by killing all lifecycles of the pinworm.

And I was not doubting your level of care for Capt Danger- just perplexed by the “conflicting” info found in the links (even on the same page!).

[BinkyBunny]

I have learned alot myself and thank you for all the links. I read through those myself and one of the things that most of the articles said was that in rabbits, re-infestation is common because they do eat their own poos. Now, whether or not pinworms get into the cecum or not and infect that part too, I do not know, but some of the articles did say it re-infestation is common, so it’s good that you will be continuing to watch for them.

Hopefully. the panacur treatment you used worked. Like you said that definitely was a bonus and may prevent re-infestation. 

Keep us updated as wec an all learn from your experience.

[Beka27]

This has all been interesting info! Haven’t had to deal with this myself, so it’s good to know!

[littlemissflip]

I’m glad it was helpful

[BunnymomKS]

I was shocked and distressed when I saw pinworms on Shamrock’s poops about 3 weeks ago. He’s had 2 doses of Panacur with one more to go, and I treated Frosty too since they had been running together.

They love to run out on the yard in their chicken wire pen (I always supervise, of course). But there are wild bunnies and Shamrock might have caught the worms from the wild buns. Right now it’s too beastly hot for outdoor play anyway. My vet said if they really enjoy their outdoor play don’t deprive them of it, just re-treat if worms reoccur.

They are gross little buggers, those pinworms, but I’m thankful it wasn’t something really scary like fly strike.

[Bostonbunny]

I just joined this site to find out more on pinworms as i was FREAKING out after i found them in my rabbits poo, i tried to stay calm and not just think he’s sick as he ate all his food and veggies in a heartbeat ( like the little food-loving rabbit he is :3! ) and is eating hay and drinking like normal, i mean he is even flopped over as i say this! so i’m not going to go to the vets unless this gets bad or he stops eating etc. but for now he is healthy and thanks to all of you guys for making me less stressed and helping my bun!

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