Pinworms in cecals?

[eskaisbell]

Ok I'm freaking out a bit, upon my morning check on everyone I found large cecals in Mom's hutch with what looks like worms! I did some googling and they look like pinworms? I called the only rabbit vet near me and they're booked for 2 weeks, but the lady on the phone said you can get dewormer from IFA.
Would this be enough or does she need an exam? I'm also really confused how she got it! Online searches said you have to come into direct contact with infected rabbit feces - the only new addition to my house is Honey.
We brought her home on March 15. When I was cleaning out everyones pens yesterday, I placed Honey in mom's hutch so I could clean Honey's. Well I didn't pick up the few poos she made while in there.
I haven't noticed any symptoms in Honey or seen any worms in poop. So I'm confused.
I'm also really nervous how this could affect the babies!
@JBun I know you're the medical expert here, any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Oh no! I wouldn't know how to treat a rabbit for worms, but I do know @ArtistChibi recently had a bunny with pinworms.
Here is the thread: Rabbits can have worms?

 

[ArtistChibi]

That's a LOT of pinworms! Get them to a rabbit savvy vet! They can assist with this situation.

 

[ArtistChibi]

Oh. Just read the rest. I know one of the ways to help flush them is constant hay. Yes. I learned that Tu Shen had pin worms, but it was caught early enough to not be that heavy. I, also, recommend keeping an eye on all poops in the hutch. Remove any and all poops and just throw them away. Avoid letting them reingesting them and cause re-infestation. I got a vacuum specifically because of it.

 

[eskaisbell]

That's a LOT of pinworms! Get them to a rabbit savvy vet! They can assist with this situation.

I know right?? Weirdest thing! I've been monitoring her poop and it's looked so healthy. Round and dry. And then all of a sudden this morning - boom! I'm worried about the babies since I was putting some of mom's poos in their pen.
She's got an appointment tomorrow morning.
I'm stressed about how she could have got them. Vet tech on the phone said they can get infected from food too? So maybe her fresh greens? Or just the Timothy hay?
All my buns eat the same hay and greens so I'm really stressed now...

 

[ArtistChibi]

They could have already had them and you didn't know about it. As long as it doesn't get horrible like that consistently, it should be fine.

 

[JBun]

Usually they will be exposed from being on the ground outdoors, fed forage from outdoors, or from being around other rabbits that have them. She could have already had them when you got her. They won't always show up in the poop even though they are present in the digestive tract. So you can have a rabbit showing symptoms of a possible worm load, without ever seeing worms in the poop.

Pinworms are usually treated with fenbendazole. The vet will likely give Panacur, or the same med can be bought as Safeguard liquid goat dewormer(not the paste) online or at farm stores like IFA. I'm comfortable treating this kind of thing on my own without a vet appointment, but if you aren't comfortable calculating dosages and administering meds, it's best to leave it to your vet.

Medirabbit: pinworms

 

[eskaisbell]

I'm guessing I'll have to treat all 10 rabbits. Vet said the youngest are too young for meds but will get it through mom's milk.
I'm daunted by trying to make sure all the poop is constantly cleaned out and removed. She'll eat it directly from herself anyway so it feels impossible.
I'll ask the vet about all of this tomorrow if course. Just venting

 

[zuppa]

This is lots of pinworms can you see that amount every time or just after you feed her particular food? Pinworms are very visible after carrot, they are coming out in bunches. If you have 10 rabbits (is that including babies?) it is very likely that other your rabbits also have them. They can get eggs through you so when you clean it is best using vacuum to make sure there's no dust and eggs in their environment. Also you should reduce toys and remove anything where there can be eggs. All toys, blankets etc you use wash in hot water, what you cannot wash you can possibly steam, like wooden toys etc to kill the eggs.

When you use dewormer first time it will kill pinworms inside of your rabbits but won't kill eggs, the eggs will hatch in 7 days and you need to use dewormer again to kill new worms before they lay eggs.

Medical flotation test not always shows pinworms even when your rabbit is heavily infested, so deworming all your rabbits would be probably a good idea.

You can also try a simple carrot test on each of your rabbit individually to find out if they have pinworms. Place one rabbit at a time in a clean area without old poos around and feed a good piece of a carrot, then inspect fresh poos with a magnifier or take clear photos on high zoom and inspect very carefully if there's any worms. Poos can be also covered with mucus or misshaped. Poos must be fresh as pinworms will dry out 15-20 mins after so you won't be able to see them. Even if there are no pinworms in your other rabbits they can have eggs already so they will hatch in 7 days so maybe repeat the test and keep all your rabbits separately in very clean environment and don't groom or take out for petting during this time so you can't transfer eggs to them through your clothes etc.

Babies will definitely have them because they eat mother's poos.

Here's some more information on pinworms, don't open this link if you don't like images of heavily infested rabbit's cecum. Here's a short summary what to do to prevent your rabbit from getting pinworms in case you don't want to see those images

MediRabbit

>>In order to prevent worm invasion in a house rabbit, it is essential that:

· forage not be gathered in areas where there are numerous dogs, cats, rodents,

· fresh greens and vegetables be washed carefully with running water,

· hay and straw used as litter be changed regularly (this avoids attracting flies too),

· hay that cannot be changed daily be given on a feed rack, where it cannot be soiled with feces or urine,

· the litter boxes themselves be cleaned daily with hot running water, acetic acid, or chlorine.

If a worm infestation appears in a house rabbit, it can easily be eliminated with the appropriate medication. A veterinarian should always be consulted prior to treatment, in order to determine which kind of worms affects the rabbit. The prescribed timing for the medication must be strictly applied.

 

[zuppa]

· the litter boxes themselves be cleaned daily with hot running water, acetic acid, or chlorine.

>>Acetic acid or chlorine used for cleaning.

I just wanted to comment on this.
Medirabbits are talking about more like commercial rabbits when you need to clean really 100% to stop or prevent spread because there's many rabbits and all so they often must use heavy chemicals for cleaning to be 100% sure.
I wouldn't use chlorine around rabbits or would wash really well after using it. Vinegar is acetic acid and min concentration of 4% so if you are using 5% vinegar for your regular cleaning that would be enough. You can use vacuum for getting all dust with eggs to be sure as well.

 

[eskaisbell]

I appreciate all the info. This is the first and only poo I can see any worms. It's really freaked me out that all of a sudden there's this many in one bunch with no previous signs. I'm anxious for her visit in the morning.
I'll be asking about meds for everyone.

 

[eskaisbell]

We're at the vet now. Poor mama has poopy butt this morning too! Praying we figure this out and get her healthy!

 

[eskaisbell]

Ok so they prescribed fenbendazole for the worms and a probiotic for her poopy bum. I bought safeguard liquid for goats (like @JBun previously suggested) for the other buns.
They gave me pre-dosed .5 ml syringes for 5 days, and I have to repeat in 2 weeks and 4 weeks.
So Mama is 4 pounds, is that .125 ml per pound I should be doing for the others as well?
What have you guys found the best way to weigh your buns? Especially the 7 week old babies, they're so light.
Thanks again in advance

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Glad you were able to get her to the vet! I hope she gets better soon!

For weighing the babies it would probably be best to buy a baby scale since they are used for weighing small animals. Another option would be weighing yourself, then weighing yourself again while holding the rabbit. To get the rabbit's weight you will need to subtract your weight from the weight of you holding the rabbit.

 

[eskaisbell]

Glad you were able to get her to the vet! I hope she gets better soon!

For weighing the babies it would probably be best to buy a baby scale since they are used for weighing small animals. Another option would be weighing yourself, then weighing yourself again while holding the rabbit. To get the rabbit's weight you will need to subtract your weight from the weight of you holding the rabbit.

I thought about this method, I'm just worried it wont be precise enough, especially if the babies don't even weigh a pound yet

 

[JBun]

Does the prescription info from the vet, give a mg per ml for the medication? It may be a different concentration than what you bought, though it's probably the same. Usually the dosage for fenbendazole is 20mg/kg, though I know of some instances vets have prescribed up to 40mg/kg. At 20mg/kg, a 4 lb rabbit would be getting about 0.4 of the 100mg/ml suspension. 0.5ml is a little more than normal, but not too excessive. For a 1 lb baby I wouldn't give more than 0.1ml of the 100mg/ml suspension. Make sure to shake the bottle up first, before drawing the medication up.

Use a postage or food scale to weight the babies. Put them in a small plastic bin or box. First put the bin on there, then zero it out, or subtract the weight of the bin from the total weight after weighing with the baby in it.

 

[eskaisbell]

Does the prescription info from the vet, give a mg per ml for the medication? It may be a different concentration than what you bought, though it's probably the same. Usually the dosage for fenbendazole is 20mg/kg, though I know of some instances vets have prescribed up to 40mg/kg. At 20mg/kg, a 4 lb rabbit would be getting about 0.4 of the 100mg/ml suspension. 0.5ml is a little more than normal, but not too excessive. For a 1 lb baby I wouldn't give more than 0.1ml of the 100mg/ml suspension. Make sure to shake the bottle up first, before drawing the medication up.

Use a postage or food scale to weight the babies. Put them in a small plastic bin or box. First put the bin on there, then zero it out, or subtract the weight of the bin from the total weight after weighing with the baby in it.

You're a life saver. I used my food scale and just put them in a little bin and subtracted the weight of the bin! I did everyone's first round of medication today. They all did so well!
Thanks everyone for your help