can rabbits get rabies?

[WannaBeFarmR]

So months back I was given a big white doe looked like a new zealand white with dark eyes well she was pretty aggressive so I decided not to breed her, she had a bad temper something would set her off and she would rip her feed bin off the cage and freak the other rabbits out big time and every now and then she would try and bite me when I had to open her cage, no grunts, thumping, stomping, or frightened aggressive posture. she'd just try and take a piece out of me when I wasn't on guard. well she pulled the feed bin of her cage and got out somehow squeezed through that narrow opening I would guess and got herself bred. she delivered a litter of all bucks except one doe who I kept for some reason, everyone else including the white doe went to freezer camp. Well months went by and the daughter was fine not friendly but ok. Then about a week ago she started squealing kind of like the sound of a guinea pig when anyone walked by her cage. Then she started lunging at people walking by trying to bite them through the cage. now she tries to bite me when I open the cage. I put a glove on a handle and put it inside the cage to see how she would react to a hand yesterday and she grabbed hold of it and curled around it trying to kick it at the same time with her back feet. She bit a hole through the leather glove with her first bite and tried to bite it multiple time before it left her cage. She is not next to any other rabbits but can see one across the barn from her and to her left and if they move she squeals and tries to lunge at them even though they are over 8 and 6 ft from her cage. She is not pregnant there is zero chance of that she hasn't been withing 8 feet of a buck since she was with her brothers which was months ago. She has no wounds doesn't seem to be in pain and looks really healthy, she eats drinks and poops and pees. She doesn't act sick or weird except for the extreme aggression and there is no drooling or foamy spit or anything. I did have a raccoon in the barn a while back so thats why I'm concerned about the possibility of rabies. Should I take her to get checked for them? who do I call for that? or do you think its just the aggressive gene amplified from her mothers bloodline? I didn't know if this was an illness or a behavior so I just picked this topic to post, it can be moved if it needs to be. I've never had a rabbit act like this in my life, so I'm really concerned.

 

[secuono]

Can you breed her and see if that calms her down?
I wouldn't think it's rabies, more just her genetics and/or she is becoming an adult and she is aggressive when not bred. I would not keep any rabbits that become aggressive, just not what you want to spread to the rest of the barn.

 

[WannaBeFarmR]

I don't think I could breed her with out someone getting hurt bad. She would bite or kill any buck I put her with and if I tried to hold her she might get a hold of me. I'm just not sure what to do with her, can't keep the babies if I breed her, can't eat her just in case she is sick, and to just kill her seems so sad and wasteful, but I can't keep her the way she is right now. I've never seen such aggression in a rabbit in my life, I've seen angry does being territorial, protecting their kits, and even two bucks fighting trying to kill each other and that doesn't even compare to this does aggression, its like pure blind rage but she some how is able to direct it at whatever is in her sights. Thats what makes me think of rabies, its like she doesn't want to kill you she wants to hurt you and inflict as much damage as she can before she kills you. I feel horrible about this whole thing, if anyone came in the barn they would think I beat the rabbit every time I went in there the way she's acting (the worst she's ever been handled was to flip her over to sex her as a kit and move her to a new cage, both of which went fine and uneventful), I won't even let someone in there right now because I'm afraid she will really hurt someone if they get too close to her cage and didn't realize. If I want to take her and have her checked for rabies (I know they kill them) just so I can feel better about the safety of my other rabbits and my own who do I call the local vet? or wildlife agency? Sheriff office? do they charge you anyone know how much?

 

[CochinBrahmaLover=)]

I was recently bit by a dog, and the dog was taken to the animal shelter, so you can ask the people there.

 

[Godsgrl]

I really doubt your rabbit has rabies. How long has she been this aggressive? With rabies, they usually die within a few days. Does she seem to have her wits about her? Can she move from her food to her water, to the shade, in a normal fashion? Is there anything around her that could be stressing her out?

I don't recommend you breed her, as you mentioned her dam was aggressive as well. That shows it is, to an extent, an inherited trait. Your best bet might be to have her euthanized to release her from her suffering. And if she is as aggressive as you say, then I would say she is truly suffering. Best of luck with your decision. You could also call a vet, and tell them you have an extremely aggressive rabbit, and what do they recommend? Or a 4-H leader even.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

from what you have said it sounds like you have an extremely aggressive rabbit on your hands, a rabbit that just is wild from not being handled enough or a intact doe that really wants bred. i don't think it is rabies either. however if you truely want her tested get a hold of your dept of agriculture or your state vet and they can help you. most tests done for disease are either free or cheaper than what a vet would cost you through them. if you know a poultry tech near you they also can submit specimens for rabies testing to the ag lab. i don't keep aggressive ones either and if her dam was aggressive too i'd not breed her as well because it is true they inherite that trait and pass it along the line.

 

[Bunnylady]

Animals with rabies generally die within a few days of developing symptoms. While I'm certainly no expert, I'd think it pretty odd for an animal to show one symptom (aggression) and not any other. You did say she's eating and drinking normally, I'd think an animal this sick would go off its feed. Due to paralysis of the throat muscles, the avoidance of water by rabid animals is infamous, which is the reason that "hydrophobia" used to be used as a synonym for rabies. Rabies messes up many types of nerve function, so rabid animals often show things like violent movement or partial paralysis.

I have had does that would growl, box, and try to bite me when I put my hands in their cages, even when they weren't bred. And while I've never had a doe this aggressive, I have had a couple of Netherland Dwarf bucks that would lunge from the back of the cage and rear up on the front wire, with the obvious intent of biting anyone that passed near their cages. As you can imagine, they voted themselves out of the gene pool by doing it!

Under no circumstances would I breed this doe. My opinion is that she is just a nasty customer. If she has been like this for, say, 2 weeks, with no other symptoms, I'd say you can put your mind to rest on the subject of rabies.

 

[terri9630]

Shes becoming mature and some rabbits start to get territorial/agressive at that time. I doubt she would kill or even seriously injure a buck but with that attitude I wouldn't breed or keep her. She'd be in the freezer.

 

[DianeS]

I did some research on this a few months ago, and learned that yes rabbits can get rabies - in the laboratory. There has never been an instance of a rabies affected rabbit outside the lab. Apparantly it takes a LOT of the virus to infect a rabbit, and any rabbit bitten/scratched enough to get infected is going to die from the wounds rather than live to actually get the rabies virus. Interesting information. So I would not consider your rabbit to be at risk of having rabies at all.

I'd chalk it up to inheritance of a horrible attitude. I had to put one of my rabbits down last week for that reason. I knew mom was nasty, but I kept her kits anyway, and had one that bit my husband twice with no warning. She was one year and eight months old, and the attitude just showed up about two months ago. Enough got to be enough after the second successful bite, and she was put down. You may want to consider that since she is not good, apparantly, for any use in your rabbitry.

And BTW, the only test for rabies that I am aware of requires the death of the animal before the test can be conducted. It is a test of fluid from the brain stem. If there is another way, it is not done by anyone I've ever heard of and so much either be much more difficult or much more expensive.