Full title: 'What's Up, Doc?': More than 100 rabbits confiscated from a Brooklyn building diagnosed with the STD syphilis
Posted on 01/30/2015 1:57:02 AM PST by Slings and Arrows
The question “What’s up, Doc” finally has an answer.
Days after cops seized a warren of rabbits outside of a Brooklyn building, ASPCA veterinarians on Thursday diagnosed more than 100 of their fluffy friends with syphilis.
-snip-
The bunnies’ owner was not immediately charged.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Full title: 'What's Up, Doc?': More than 100 rabbits confiscated from a Brooklyn building diagnosed with the STD syphilis
What, they're not sure he gave it to them?
I wouldn’t want to live in a building with syphilis.
LOL. I am up too early this morning.
Well, when you balance the rent vs the penicillin shots...
I hope you pay better attention to your hunting licenses.
Now we know the answer.
Right. I guess it depends on whether it’s duck season or “wabbi” season, too!
Weird rabbit news ...
Oh LOL What a photo to go with the post...Laugh of the day!
I’m thinking that it’s more a case of weird building news. Those poor rabbits were being kept in a building that had contracted syphilis.
Best graphic ever!
Could the rabbits gotten infected from the old rabbit tests from my grandmother’s day?
Damn those rabbit ovaries!
Oh, good point. Early morning - I wasn’t reading carefully!
Motive, means, and opportunity, all in one image.
I don’t wanna know the “back” story.
Excerpt from Medirabbit.com:
Rabbit syphilis is a bacterial disease caused by the spirochete Treponema cuniculi. The bacterium is universal and found all over the world. It infests wild and domestic or pet rabbits. The transmission of the bacterium is not well understood. It may be
· Direct, between adult rabbits during mating; · Indirect, passed through the milk from an infected doe to her offspring.
Other modes of transmission cannot be excluded since active syphilis infections have found in pet rabbits that were living individually, without contact with other rabbits.
Incubation time for the disease is long, 3 to 16 weeks. Treponema cuniculi can be dormant for a long period of time. A rabbit can thus remain asymptomatic during several years. A stressful event or suppression of the immune system can trigger the onset of the bacterial disease.
The incidence of syphilis in house rabbits is not known, but it is likely more common than previously thought. The disease is not zoonotic, and cannot be passed from rabbits to other animals and humans.
Administration of the narrow spectrum antibiotic penicillin G (benzathine/procaine: 42.000 - 84.000 UI/kg, SC, IM), 4-6 repeats at intervals of 5 to 7 days, is the treatment of choice against rabbit syphilis. (Rabbits should NEVER be administered penicillin orally; it can lead to severe diarrhea). Most other antibiotics will not cure the infection. Mostly, healing of the skin lesions is observed during the treatment, but relapse will occur as soon as the treatment is stopped as the Treponema cuniculi bacterium is not killed. This is particularly the case of fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Clinical signs and skin lesions develop rapidly after the treatment is stopped, often in a more severe form than before.
If the rabbit is in pain, analgesics can be administrated (e.g. meloxicam). It is imperative to monitor the rabbit's eating during the treatment. Indeed, dying bacteria release toxins inside the rabbit's body and blood circulation and appetite may be affected. Inappetence can last 2-3 days, but the rabbit usually begins eating again on its own. It is essential that the antibiotic is not stopped to avoid onset of bacterial resistance. The rabbit should be encouraged to eat by its own and drink. If this is not the case, force feeding food with a syringe and subcutaneous fluid administration is necessary.
Get ready for the “Removals van”.
:)
Very sad for the rabbits. I hope they weren’t being used for the restaurant market. My aunt, a real estate agent in Southern California, told some interesting stories about cats and dogs being bred (in houses!) for restaurant use.
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