How dangerous are pinworms?

[Imbrium]

hygiene hypothesis or not, I don't want squirmy wormies in me, lol!

I'm a good girl about not messing around with antibiotics, for me or for pets, and always finishing the full course because resistant strains are freaking scary... and I make it a point to not buy "antibacterial" everything because a) I have an immune system for a reason, b) with proper hand washing techniques, non-antibacterial soap kills germs just as well and c) I'm well aware of what happens with the .01% that few people ever think about when they see that something kills "99.9%" of germs... but I draw the line at worms. let my immune system stay busy taking care of things that are invisible to the naked eye and give me drugs to kill the crap out of anything big enough for me to see!

 

[majorv]

Do you have flies in the house? Sometimes flies will lay eggs in the poop, especially if it gets soft from urine. The resulting worms/maggots are small and white. It doesn't necessarily mean your rabbit has worms though. Look at fresh poop and check in it for worms, and if so, then you may need to get it checked out.

If you do need fenbendazole, Safeguard also comes in a 10% suspension liquid for goats, and at our local feed store costs $20. It works for rabbits also and the vet would be able to calculate the dosage.

 

[Cirlin-rah]

Flies should be coming along any day now. We've finally started to have lovely weather, yay! We went to the vet, they were indeed pinworms. I'm so glad they weren't maggots-- had an experience with myiasis that left suffering & emotional scars. Got some medicine called 'Panacur'. 2 doses was $10.90. I'm amazed it was that cheap.

 

[Imbrium]

oh, wow, that IS cheap! that's excellent news - he should be back in good shape in no time

if flies are going to be showing up soon, then given his digestion issues, I strongly recommend that you do a "bootie check" 1-2x a day - make sure his bottom is clean and dry at all times so that flies won't have any interest in him! fly strike is a horrible thing to have to deal with ><

 

[Cirlin-rah]

I had never heard of megacolon. Thankfully he doesn't have that. The vet was satisfied with the ratio of large to small & also said that the sample I brought in was a very healthy one. She also thoroughly examined his tummy, but of course he wasn't gurgling at all when we went in. Thanks, Harrow, that's very unhelpful.

Does megacolon influence other areas of the rabbit's life like playtime?

I will take your diet advice as soon as I procure some hay! Thank you! It sounds obvious but I'm not very good at thinking of obvious things. He's 6 & 1/2 lbs so he'd get 1/4 cup & ...unlimited?... hay?

 

[Cirlin-rah]

Yes! The whole visit was $74. For a thorough exam, meds & smear. I was concerned that it might be several hundred, but $74 doesn't require me to pay in installments.

Also a resounding yes on the bootie check. I'm a pretty laid-back person in general, but I'm very overprotective about this one aspect of his life. Because never again do I want to go through that.

 

[Cirlin-rah]

That's what the vet said too, but I can't wrap my mind around something as prolific a breeder/feeder as worms being asymptomatic. Apparently most people buy the treatment for their own peace of mind; it has nothing to do with the rabbit's health, as you said. & this may not eradicate them but it should significantly decimate the population. I'm ok with that, every little bit helps.

'can't wrap my mind around it'... that's bad logic, there. Just because I can't conceive it doesn't mean it's false. But... eh.

 

[Cirlin-rah]

Good to know about the papaya. I do see poo strung together with hair, but few & far between & I'm brushing him regularly. I will indeed switch to Oxbow. I think I saw some in the store the other day.

Goodness, really?! I'd be comfortable PMing you, certainly. Your generosity astounds me, though! Is there anything I can send in return? Thank you for the offer of macrobiotics as well, but those are unnecessary.

I've printed out your & JBun's diet advice & tucked it under his food-tub for quick reference. I am one happy puppy right now.

 

[Imbrium]

Also a resounding yes on the bootie check. I'm a pretty laid-back person in general, but I'm very overprotective about this one aspect of his life. Because never again do I want to go through that.

have you had to deal with flystrike before? If so, I'm sorry to hear that - it can be VERY scary! I'm paranoid about it as well... had a couple flies get in the house and I killed those little b*stards asap but I've been doing bootie checks 2-3x a day even though my vet assures me that flies won't bother my babies if they're clean and dry.

I had a bunny when I was nine that got a cut on his shoulder... maybe an inch long and not very deep, so we didn't take him to the vet or anything - we just put plain neosporin on it a couple times a day. I guess we were still letting him in the back yard for daily exercise even with the cut. one evening, a few hours after he'd been outside, we noticed the cut turning black and looking horrible... mom rushed him to an emergency vet and it turned out a fly had laid eggs in his cut, the poor guy! they said he probably would've died if she hadn't brought him in that night. luckily, the vets fixed him up and gave us some ointment and stuff and he was all better after the cut finished healing.

and yes, unlimited hay... ideally, a bunny should eat an amount of hay equal to or larger than the volume of their own body each day.

 

[missyscove]

There are actually quite a few parasites that are species specific. It's awkward to explain to someone that no, they did not get lice from their dog because dogs get a different parasite than we do.

If you want to reply to one specific person, use the "quote" button to quote them or use their name rather than just posting several times in succession, it'll make it more clear that you're responding to a specific post.

 

[Cirlin-rah]

Missycove- I can understand species-specific parasites, after all, there are species-specific viruses, but it baffles me that somehow these things are not harmful.

And thanks for the tip! Sorry about being confusing.

 

[Imbrium]

ok, I hope I didn't procrastinate too long and miss the mailman showing up today, since I put in a request for a package pick-up and have the box on the porch now... he comes somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30 I think and I got it out there around 9:50. if I missed him, I'll just go to the mini post-office a couple blocks away.

you are getting samples of TWELVE different hays, because that's how freaking many I had to go through to finally find one that my stupid adorable bunnies would actually eat (now that I've gathered all of them up and actually counted them, I'm remembering what an ordeal we went through over hay and shaking my fist at the damn bunnies). if he won't eat anything in that box, then I dunno what to tell you.

oh, and as a heads-up... I may be nice enough to send hay samples, but I'm NOT nice enough to sit there and pick all of the damn oats out of the damn oat hay, lol. you'll have to do that before you feed it (I wrote a reminder on the bags, too).

with the probiotic, one tube = one dose. give two doses, three days apart (package should be there monday, so one dose monday and one dose thursday). there's four doses in there total, so you can give another a week from thursday and then a week after that if you think it's helping/he needs a booster dose.

 

[Imbrium]

oh, and your best bet is probably the sierra valley hays, which I've found are fresher than Oxbow... and a lot cheaper, too. the orchard/alfalfa blend (80%/20%) is what my brats eat. rabbits over 7 mos aren't really supposed to have alfalfa 'cause of the calories and such, but it's only 20% and that is literally the ONLY hay mine will eat - try to get him to eat one of the other kinds before you resort to that stuff (though if you have success with another kind, you can give him a little of the orchard/alfalfa as a treat from time to time to use it up if he likes it).

here's the site for sierra valley - http://www.sierravalleyhay.com/
unfortunately, you live in one of the states where it's more expensive ><

if you strike out with everything I sent, the one hay I never got around to trying is bluegrass... http://www.kmshayloft.com/hay/ sells it

 

[Imbrium]

sweet! the package disappeared and now I don't have to go to the post office

 

[Cirlin-rah]

I'm glad your little bun got better. Mine didn't.

I had a mini rex (Jessie), a Himalayan mix (Snuggles) & a mini lop (Pancakes). All were indoor rabbits, but we had a hutch so they could get some sun in the springtime. Snuggles went off her food... Pan was always a bubbly, happy-go-lucky one. All that changed. Ater Snug died Pan became angry, cold. Combative. Nothing I did could get through to her. It was as if she'd had a meltdown & snapped.

Snuggles died in winter (ground was too frozen, we couldn't bury her so she stayed in the garage for a few months). In spring, we put Pan in the hutch. Maybe the fresh air would do her some good.

One day I went out there to feed her & noticed her back legs wouldn't work. I think she was trembling. I picked her up &... so many maggots. So much rotting flesh. Ran to the hose, got a few of them off of her while she sat quietly. She'd given up long before they paralyzed her, I think. But they wouldn't die, they just kept coming off her, squirming, & when 10 would come off, 10 would crawl out of her & take their place.

Less than an hour later we came home from the vet's with a dead Pan in a box. She was euthanized in my arms. & those maggots were still alive.

I am to blame for both their deaths. Death does not disturb me, actually. Suffering while dying disturbs me. Both of them suffered horribly because of my neglect & I had no other friends at the time. I had killed my two best friends.

I became angry, then I became depressed in the genuine sense of the word. I thought myself worthless, useless, a failure, a murderer. I fasted a lot, thinking myself undeserving of food because I had done this horrible thing. I wasted days by sleeping.

I promised myself I wouldn't get another rabbit because I didn't deserve that happiness. Then years passed & my coworker told me she had a buck that needed a home & I couldn't say no. Because I knew I could love him well & not make the same mistakes.

...I'm doing a lot better now, the depression is pretty much gone but I'm still struggling with no self esteem & residual bad habits/thought patterns. No matter how worthless one seems, there's Potential inside of them & they can do really good things. & no matter how stupid I think I am, I can always give myself credit for raising this rabbit in a good home.

So yes, I've dealt with fly strike before. The silver lining is that I understand a lot now.

 

[Cirlin-rah]

12 different hays, holy cow! I'm amazed that any rabbits would be that picky. They're grazers, I would have thought they'd eat anything! Goodness, though, I'm certainly glad to reap the benefits of your search.

Hah, oats! Thanks for writing reminders. I like doing stuff with my hands, no matter how inane, so I don't mind taking the oats out. I'm planning on keeping it in my room but I hope no one here is allergic to it.

& meds too? Goodness. I'll be posting a picture of Happy!Harrow sometime soon, I think. & happy me along with him!

:happyrabbit:

 

[Imbrium]

I'm glad your little bun got better. Mine didn't...

I'm so sorry your experience had such a tragic ending! I realize it's very easy to beat yourself up and almost impossible to grant yourself forgiveness... but please strive to consider your experiences with your new bunny a way of redeeming yourself for what you feel are personal failures in your past!

you can beat yourself up from now until forever over your previous mistakes and shortcomings... but NO amount of personal suffering is ever going to change the past. trust me, I've beaten my head against that wall more than enough in my lifetime to confirm that it's both painful and immovable. the past is what it is - set in stone and fully indifferent to your search for atonement. the only thing you have any hope of altering is the future... and the best way to do that is by striving to put more good out into the world than you feel you caused harm in the past. everyone has regrets, makes mistakes, sometimes causes harm when they didn't mean to - what makes someone a good person or a bad person is the big picture, not those moments where you let yourself down.

I really hope that sharing your past experience with fly strike has been somehow cathartic... and that your new bunny can eventually help you to put that time in your life behind you.

12 different hays, holy cow! I'm amazed that any rabbits would be that picky. They're grazers, I would have thought they'd eat anything! Goodness, though, I'm certainly glad to reap the benefits of your search.

yeah, you'd THINK that... but apparently, not so much. damn adorable bunns.

I like doing stuff with my hands, no matter how inane, so I don't mind taking the oats out.

oh, really? wanna come to my house and pick all of the oats out of the rest of my stash of oat hay?