Rocky Has Worms

[Kizza]

I went outside not long ago to inspect some fresh Rocky poop, as I do regularly to make sure they are good and proper poops. I has a look closely and there are little white worms all through its.

I have a quick check of the little man's little tray when I clean it every day, and today is the first time I have seen this.

I can't take him to the vet until tomorrow night, should I be worried? Does anyone know a bit about worms, as in different kinds and what it can do to him?

He is a dwarf lop, about 7 months old, acting mostly normal except he has wanted extra cuddles lately, I thought it was because he is moulting and its coming winter here is Aus. His cecals looked normal yesterday and he did an alright looking one today also.

The below link has a pic that looks exactly like it, on the 4th page, the 3 round poops.

Warning though, the 4th page also has a pic of organs, may not sit right with some people.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Parasitic_diseases/Nematodes.PDF

Just want to know how worried I should be and if there is anything I should know.

Also, could it be contagious to my dogs and myself?

 

[Kizza]

I forgot to say also, about 2-3 weeks ago he had a dose of revolution because I was worried he had mites on his ears, and the vet said it might also be fleas. So he has had 1 dose of revolution, which I thought it also a treatment for roundworm from what I have read. I a starting to freak.

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

go to tractor supply, get Ivermectin, its the cattle dewormer... they have a paste that tastes like Apples and give them a pea sized lick. The apple taste is just the easiest and they fight less with you over it.

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

and if you're worried about your cat and dog, and it has been past their schedualed time, they have wormer for them even at walmart.

 

[dragynflye]

ivermectin is great stuff. it treats and prevents all types of worms, prevents heartworms, and works for mites and mange, too. you have to be careful with the dosing, though, since it is a cattle dewormer, and rabbits are much smaller than cows!

 

[Luv Buns]

From a very ollld book that I read on rabbits- worms are contagious to humans also yes. Get the worm meds. and they will give you more info on the bottle. I believe you shouldnt hold or pet much for a couple days after giving it to your bun just to be safe.

Like I said, it was an OLD book and they have new knowledge now, but I think this is correct still today.

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

Ivermectin is fantastic stuff!!! I just wormed all my babies well not Thor I need another hand to worm him. He is too big for me to worm by myself. LOL. I worm with both the Ivermectin &
Piperazine/Wazine-for treatment of pin worms - off label use for rabbits on both.

 

[TinysMom]

First of all, I want to say that I am an ivermectin fan and I do use it with my rabbits.

HOWEVER - I want to warn people that with the paste it is possible to have problems.

WHY?

Because the paste is made to be used ALL AT ONCE on a large animal and it is possible to have concentrations of the ivermectin build up in certain parts of the tube.

We've had members use the paste and then wind up spending a lot of money trying to save a rabbit at the vet due to an overdose from the concentration.

Also - if your rabbit is dutch or carries the vienna gene (or is vienna marked) it is more likely to have a reaction to ivermectin and shouldn't have it.

As I said - I too use ivermectin and am a fan of it. But I have started using it from the bottle where I can get out the exact amount I need and use that.

Also - when responding to posts - its important to note where the original poster is from. In this case - the poster is from Australia - I don't know if they have Walmart or Tractor Supply there....



I highly recommend that you go to the vet and get an accurate dosage of whatever you need!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Walmart is worldwide--seen a couple in Russia and one in China as well as other locales around the world. Tractor Supply, however, might be a bit more local.

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

I too use the bottle to be able to dose more accuratly. I highly reccomend taking the bunners to the vet for the first dose just in case. This way you can be shown and in the event that there is an allergic reaction.

:biggrin:



I get mine form Barbi Browns Bunnies. Then again I get everything from her. from feed, my mini hay bales,cages meds, advice, etc etc......

http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/catalog.htm

 

[tonyshuman]

Ivermectin does not kill all species of rabbit intestinal worms. In particular, it does not kill Passalarus worms, which look like the ones you are describing your rabbits' look like. Please read this page for effective drugs against that species:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Parasitic_diseases/Pass/Pass_en.htm

I am one of the forum members whose rabbit had a bad reaction to ivermectin. I am no slouch when it comes to medical knowledge; in fact it is my career. I was unaware that Dutch rabbits often have a genetic susceptibility to ivermectin toxicity. The dose I gave my bunnies was about as small as you can get from the tubes made for livestock (pea-sized), but it was still at least 10x more than the required dose. I did the calculation in hindsight. Ivermectin normally has a wide safety range, meaning that the required dose is very far from the toxic dose--toxic dose is at least 100x more than the required dose, but if your rabbit has the genetic susceptibility to it, any dose can be fatal, and an overdose means it will take longer for the rabbit to recover if it does recover at all. One rabbit was fine--a Holland--and the other nearly died--a Dutch. Only by luck, an experimental treatment for toxin removal (my boyfriend and I drove to the human hospital pharmacy to get the medicine for this), 24-hour monitoring, oxygen-enriched incubator, and IV fluids by the emergency vet was he able to survive and I am thankful every day that he made it. We even expected long-term damage, including blindness or head tilt (he was tilting nose down), which he managed to avoid somehow.

It was a terrible experience (the emotional damage far outweighed the vet bill) and for that reason I CANNOT recommend that anyone use ivermectin unless it is prescribed by a vet. I have used ivermectin since the nearly fatal event, in a hamster, but that was prescribed by my vet and the doses were correct for his size. Liquid ivermectin is much better than the paste because it is easier to get the right dose. The reaction can take hours to show up--for my bunny it showed up about 6 hours after I gave him the ivermectin, so I had thought he was in the clear. Not so. He was at the emergency vet for around 4 days and took at least a week at home to fully recover.

In this case, something like panacur or piperazine would be more appropriate because of the species of worm you indicated you saw. We can help you determine how much to give of an over-the-counter product from the feed store. Revolution would not kill roundworms because it deals mostly with external parasites.

 

[tonyshuman]

I want to add that vienna marked and Dutch are more susceptible to ivermectin toxicity, as are blue-eyed and some albino rabbits. However, it has showed up in bunnies of all colors--you just don't know if it's going to be a problem. In dogs, herding breeds like collies also carry a similar mutation and some humans have this mutation as well. It's very interesting from a theoretical standpoint and I knew about it from the science end, but didn't know it occurred in Dutches.

 

[Kizza]

Thanks a lot for your response everyone.

I took him to the vest last night, I would never try to treat him myself as I do not have the knowledge to be able to do so safely. Good thing I didn't hesitate because it seemed to be a little on the more severe side, or getting that way. I feel so bad because I didn't know and didn't take him sooner.

He was treated with Fenbendazole measured out by the vet. She has 4 bunnies herself so that made me feel better about her knowledge. i have taken him to her before she is pretty good.

He is still a little bit off, I'm pretty sure he just doesn't feel too well, I know I wouldn't. And Australia does have Walmart stores, but I believe the closest is Melbourne which it a 14 hour drive away if you don't stop for breaks lol

We weighed him and he has lost 100 grams in the last 2 weeks as he hasn't been eating as much as usual. Any tips to get him eating more? or will that just come with time as he starts to feel better? I will get him to slurp on a little critical care anyway just to top him up with some fiber.

Also I have no idea what a vienna marked rabbit is, or what other mixes he might have in him as he didn't come from a proper breeder, mum got him at a pet shop. I would have liked to talk to them about where he came from.

Does anyone know what the life cycle of these worms are? I am interested, it will help me get an idea of where he might have got them from, as I believe I saw them the other night as they had just hatched. I read that they have a few stages to their life cycle and must have a first host before they infest in a bunny and hatch.

Thanks again for your responses, and if anyone has any tips on how to get him back to health and eating properly that would be great et:

 

[pamnock]

Did the vet confirm that they were rabbit pinworms? Different types of worms have very different life cycles, so we would need to know the specific species.

Rabbit pinworms are species specific, so there is no concern about contracting them from your rabbit. If your rabbit does indeed have pinworms, it is likely that it has always had them, you just didn't know. They are one of the most common parasites of rabbits.

 

[Kizza]

She didn't actually confirm what kind they were. I wish they gave you more info they never tell you anything unless you ask a million questions. They are good, but they don't tell you much they just 'do' things and say 'this will help'.

I didn't know there were 'rabbit' pinworms, which is good to know. The vet just asked if I had dogs. But they have been wormed I am pretty sure he didn't get them from my dogs, I think he had them when we got him.

I might see if I can find a more bunny savvy vet around here because I keep feeling like he isn't getting the best care when he is ill, it seems like the vets just take stabs in the dark until he gets better.

 

[Kizza]

on the same topic, is it normal that after you treat your bun for worms that they stop eating as much? For the last couple of days he hasn't eaten very much. I want to weigh him to make sure he isn't losing more weight but I haven't got scales. Does anyone know if it is normal that he would slow down on eating or do you think he might be unwell?

I need to read up on this stuff so I don't have to ask so many questions.

 

[CCWelch]

Has Rocky started eating properly again?
It is not unusual for a bunny or any other animal to feel ill after worming but it should only last a couple days. Is he drinking plenty of fluids?

 

[Kizza]

Hi! yes he is eating pretty well now. His poops are back to normal. He doesn't drink as much water as I would like though, although he never has.

He is due for his second treatment so hopefully he doesn't get too sick again. I haven't had him weighed so I am not sure if he has put weight back on, although I think he has.

After a few days of luxury sleeping in the lounge room and being smothered with TLC he was back to normal