Hi everyone, after a rather gruesome walk with my dogs, where the following happened, does anyone know of any implications to dogs with the miximatosis (sp!) virus? I just wondered as my dogs have been subject to the fleas that were living on the rabbit in question, for the short time that they got a free lunch from my weims, would they pass on any ill effects?

Otto and Molly flushed out this rabbit that was on its last legs with mixi, blind and emaciated etc. Otto snatched it off Molly and brought it to me, I made him drop it which he did on the 2nd command (not bad!) the rabbit before he dropped it was screaming like a child, I had to look over my shoulder because it was so loud it sounded like someone else was doing it. So anyway, he dropped the rabbit which then proceeded to drag its back end away and it was so pitiful and there was nothing around for me to whack it with so the only thing that I could do was tell Otto to get it again, (Molly was hanging back because the screaming had made her wary) which he did and it was awful, how do you tell a dog to 'make it quick! Well, he was just running around in circles with this poor little rabbit, it was in such distress that I couldn't look, then, thank God, it died in his mouth. Well, I called him back to me, which he did, but would he let go this time, NO. I tried everything, he just clamped his jaws tighter, I bet he thought, no, you said I could have it now you're not having it back! This went on for about 3-4 minutes and I had him by the collar with his head pushed down on the ground, I even blocked his nose so that he had to let go to breath, nightmare! Anyway, while all this is happening, all of the fleas and things were flocking off the dead rabbit onto Otto's face, it was disgusting! They don't have fleas (never have actually!) so I don't have any flea spray in the house or anything, so by the time I managed to get him to let go he must have had about a hundred on his face, so then I had to try and get them off, luckily I had a baseball type cap on so used that to brush as many off as I could before they disappeared into his fur, YUK!

I have since treated both my dogs and bedding etc, any ideas of anything more sinister being passed on? (sorry for long post!)
Nina.

Nina, your dog will not suffer any ill effects from picking up a myxi rabbit. Flea's can be treated, so no problem there either :-)

To get your dog to release something that he has in his mouth, hold his muzzle and place your index and middle fingers just below his nostrils and just above his lip. Apply firm pressure,whilst gently pulling his head back towards his spine. At the same time, using your other hand, take hold of his bottom jaw and pull in a downwards direction.

If you look at the side of your dogs mouth/teeth/jaw, you will see that there are natural 'finger sized' gap either side of his jaw. Both top and bottom. If you are giving a tablet, you would only need to use these gaps to open his jaw. But if he is holding something that he really doesn't want to give up, then I have found the above method works well :-)

It saves a lot of time and aggro if you just teach your dog a 'dead' or 'drop' command ;-)

Leigh

Hate to disagree but Al will share with you the horror of discovering that a mixi rabbit had made Tinker really ill. It was coming out of both ends and she ended up with a course of anti-biotics.

He still has nightmares about the floor. :D No lasting damage to dog or floor though.

9th

Poor Al :D

We had a similar experience when our cocker decided that it would be fun to drink sea water. That was years ago, but I can still hear me muttering in the early hours of the morning "your dog is being sick". God, was he ill.

Did Tinker eat any of it Kate?
I can honestly say that you are the first person I have ever heard that has had a problem. When we mentioned that our dogs kept picking up and occassionally killing myxi wabbits, our vet said that it wasn't a problem. Only the flea migration would need to be dealt with pronto and then he tried to sell me some frontline :rolleyes:

Oh yes. She ate it. She gives them a wide berth now. Strangely the vet never said anything about a danger from fleas.

She is a like a mechanical shredder, she'll eat anything and far too quickly for you to get it out of her mouth. Cowpats are a fave - NOT that I'd have anything to do with her mouth whilst she was eating them. :p

And it wasn't just sick :(

Neither was the cocker ;-)

I used to give my ferrets myxied rabbits and had no problems.

Can't remember if it was Brian Plumber or someone else that said they were fine. Like Leigh, your the first person I've heard of that has had problems.

Helen

Hi Nina,

What a horrible experience for you. I can't offer any advice, but I hope Otto is ok.

Fiona

I wish I'd read this before I made my lunch - I would have saved my salmon for tomorrow!!!

Hi Leigh and Fiona, thanks for the replies...sorry didn't mean to put you off your lunch LOL!!

I will try that tip you gave me Leigh next time (errr, not sure I want a next time - so better work on the release bit!) I was however, VERY reluctant to put my fingers anywhere near that bit in his mouth - on account of the festering rabbit! ;o)

Nina xx

Oh the joys of owning gundogs :rolleyes:

At least you had the sense to put the wabbit out of its misery Nina.

I was walking the dogs at my usual dog walk and Harvey (gwp) ran out of the bush with a huge cockeral! Over the wall is a few stables with a few chickens kicking around. It had obviously died and the owner had just chucked it over the wall. Harvey being Harvey, ran to me and gave me the perfect retrieve! Only problem, what do I do with a cockeral - I slung it back over the wall!

Helen

Well a cockeral is nearly 'Game' Helen ... a vast improvement on knickers anyway :D

LOL, don't remind me! He's still doing it you know. He ate my decent pair of longjohns last week! Had to pull it out the other end and then he puked some more up the next day. He's till fondly referred to as Harvey Knickers!

Ah, well. He's a good worker!

Helen

LOL@Helen ..... to much information! :D

Funny though eh:D My friend lives next door to a house full of young lads- her Rottie kept or should I say keeps stealing her knickers off the radiators and running into their house with them:O :D

Myxi only affects rabbits, and even eating it shouldn't cause him anymore than upset tummy.

If you ever have this situation again. The best way to kill a rabbit is to hold it by its back legs and lay it along your leg, then apply a sharp blow downwards with the side of your hand right behind the ears. rabbits have all the sensitive bits close to the surface there!

If there is a piece of wood handy then all the better, but wild rabbits are quite small and you should be able to do this with the edge of your hand!

I used to breed rabbits to show, and ate the surplus!

I again have never heard of dogs catching anything from myxomatosis. I can’t help wondering if there was any other reason for your trouble. As a coincidence, there was a question in this weeks Shooting Times about when myxomatosis first reached this country. 1956. I remember it well. I would also like to say that it did not "First Reach" this country, it was deliberately introduced to reduce the rabbit population. These days the perpetrators of this act prefer us to think that it was an accident of nature! Not true!!!!

John

You must remember that rabbits arent native to britain either!

John,
By saying that you read & remembered this from 1956, you do realize you're showing your age? (tongue firmly planted in cheek).

On the somber note, I had never heard of this disease until I started reading these posts. How this was started is absolutely horrible to know, but it doesn't surprise me too much. Especially after the mess that happened in Australia --- hares for hunting, foxes for killing the hares...now after a century or two.....chaos.

What a horrible way to die. I read Watership Down as a child (memorized most of it) and the various ways that the rabbits/hares died really come to mind now that you've been discussing this Mxt...
toodles

As Bec pointed out, Rabbits are not indigenous and of course the old saying “Breeding like rabbits applies! In the 50’s the rabbit population was very high and it is true that they were doing an awful lot of damage both on farms and in the domestic garden. At that time I used to be out with my school friends playing in the fields after school. We often found dead rabbits and for that matter other animals and boys being boys would pick them up to see what they died of, often to carry on playing, possibly finding Crab Apples to eat (All without washing our hands!) When it was announced in the papers that myxomatosis had been introduced to “Curb” the population explosion, I can remember being told by my mother not to touch a dead rabbit again. When it reached our area the boys and I used to go out “Rabbit spotting” and count 20 to 30 dead rabbits laying in the field EACH DAY! I remember thinking at the time that it was the end of the rabbit and being horrified at the thought of never being able to pick one up again! And even at that age I would have happily strung those people responsible up!
As time went bye, the rabbit population was decimated but a few survived and it would appear that, rather like Parvo, some sort of immunity built up which would last for several generations until gradually that immunity would reduce and Mixy rabbits would again be in evidence.
I still feel bitter about it. My thoughts then as it is now, is that boys had lost their heritage, the right to play amongst the rabbits as I did as a boy.

Remind me not to look backwards! John

That's a sad story John, pity it's the truth :-(

I know myxi is a terrible disease and the rabbits suffer hurendously but I just hope my dogs never find one dying because although it would be for the best I would find it very hard to put the rabbit out of it's misery. I'm too soft but would hope I could overcome this if necessary :-(

John you scruff- playing with dead rabbits:D I know what you mean though about boys not being able to boys- it's a shame:( I've got a four year old son who continues to go from strength to strength- shocking me with some of the things he does- it may just be me though since I had a daughter first;) When we moved we brought our shed up as it was fairly new- anyway it had been left for a while un assembled in the garden here- when we came to put it together a huge toad jumped out- thinking we'd leave it (the garden's very secure) and catch it in a bit to take back to some natural ponds over the meadows- thinking nothing more of it- until Kane (my boy) came walking up to us carrying the bloody thing! On a hike back home after walking over the meadows last summer- there was a dead fox (already WELL into the stages of decompsition) by the side of the railway (you have to cross the 2 tracks)- we found Kane poking at it with a stick curiously and our Daughter screaming her head off:D I often wonder just how far he'll go with his discusting habits! And wonder if he'll grow out of them soon- or continue and get worse since he's only four now :D :D :D :D

We get worse as we get older Kash! Or I have anyway!

Hiya I have only just read rabbits and dogs.
I have Weimaraners also, and in our garden we have
wild rabbits. Last year one bitch caught one with mixi,
After telling her to drop it, she had killed it. But she
was not ill afterwards. Even my cat will catch them and
he has not suffered any ill effects only fleas which die
anyway as he is fronline treated like all the dogs.
Nutkin