Right- talk sense to me about myxi

[seeker]

Our fabulous rabbit developed myxi and was PTS yesterday. (ds mqde her a headstonewith "Pearl- a lovely bunny" written on it) She was vaccinated but the vet said that it is by no means 100% effective.

We inherited a hutch from a neighbour two weeks ago. It hadn't been used for a year (I know that for a fact because I've seen it empty in their garden for that time.) And we disinfected it thoroughly with special animal stuff before we put her in it.

Could there still have been fleas or the virus in the hutch? And should I, as my instinct says, burn the hutch and not, as Dp suggests, keep it til next Spring, when we will certainly be getting another rabbit or two? It is a particulqrly fabulous, enormous custom made hutch- if it was just an ordinary one I would bin it without a secon thought, but it really is a rabbit palace so I would like to keep it if possible. Any thought from experienced bunnybpeople?

No rabbit experts about?

Taking my rabbit to vet tonight, think he has this also. I have no idea, what did the vet say?

I'm no expert, but try treating the hutch with cedar oil.

how sad what are the symptoms of myxi?

AFAIAW it's spread by biting insects such as mosquitos, not by air, so it's unlikely to be the hutch that's the issue. Unfortunately I've read that it's becoming far more common for vaccinated buns to get myxi but that it's meant to make the virus much less potent but it can still be a killer :( Vaccinations are needed every 6 months also without gaps - not sure if this was the case with your bun?

I would, if you wanted to be safe (as it's possible your rabbit ended up with secondary infections due to the myxi like respiratory infections etc), keep the hutch, disinfect it to within an inch of it's life with something like Jeyes disinfectant (or a commercial livestock disinfectant) and then leave it for a couple of months, then disinfect again before you use it again.

notjustme is right AFAIK. If you live in rural areas or somewhere there are a lot of lakes etc. then there will be more mozzies, my sister's buns succumbed also. Not much you can do beyond vaccinations I think, I'm afraid. Fleas etc. would be noticeable on a bunny, and they can't live without a host, so an empty hutch should pose no problem.