I know most of us here already know about Myxi (and what happened to my Pepsi) but I finally got my OH's camera today with pictures on it, including those of Pepsi that DD took when we knew there was pretty much slim chances of him pulling through....

I thought I would post them, although they are still pretty hard to look at for me, so that those passing by or wondering about myxi can see what a vile desease it is...

for those that do not know, Pepsi was my house rabbit last year. I was told by a vet (wrongly so) that he did not need a Myxi jab. I found out here that he did need it, two days before he became ill. I treated him for two weeks with many medicines and drops until he could no longer see and two weeks to the day he had a seizure and died.

Although it is pretty tough looking at pictures and reading about it, if it persuades at least one person to get theoir bunny vacc'd it is worth it So excuse me whilst I quote....

What is it?
Myxomatosis is a severe viral disease of rabbits that decimated the wild rabbit population when it arrived in Britain 50 years ago.

How is it spread?
• Bites from mosquitoes carrying the Myxoma virus.
• Bites from fleas carrying the Myxoma virus (fleas can survive for many months in hay)
• Myxomatosis can also be spread by Cheyletiella fur mites

What happens when a rabbit catches myxomatosis?
Classic myxomatosis starts with runny eyes and in the very early stages can be confused with other causes of conjunctivitis. However, myxomatosis differs as the genitals are also swollen. It rapidly progresses to a severe conjunctivitis which causes blindness and is accompanied by lumpy (nodular) swellings on the head, plus lumps on the body. Excessive amounts of thick pus discharges from the nose and swollen eyes (which are often sealed shut). There are also two atypical forms of myxomatosis: one causes pneumonia and a snuffles-like illness; the other ("Nodular myxomatosis") mainly affects skin and carries a better prognosis.

If a vaccinated rabbit develops myxomatosis, the disease is usually much less severe.

Source: RWAF: Understanding Myxomatosis Please visit the site for the full article and further info


So that is the blurb, here are his pictures. apologise to those who may be a little sensitive, but I think it is a pretty justified and worthy course to put them up. The first is Pepsi prior to becoming ill so you can see how he looked.


Gorgeous wasn't he


Now below is Pepsi a few days before he died, you can see immedietly how myxi has affected him.



It started with his eyes, becoming red around the lids and swolling
His fur then started to fall out
eyes then started to weep and he developed a snuffle
eyes became worse and pretty much sealed up, genitals swelled
Within the last week his snuffling was so bad he couldn't breathe out his nose and he started to go off his food
in the last day-two days we think he lost his sight, blood started to seep from his eyes and his ears became infected and dropped back ( as you can see in the picture) and he started to wet himself as he couldn't find his litter tray
His nose then swelled with infection
Finally on the last day (two weeks to the day) he couldn't sit up properly so we decided to have one last night with him and to take him to the vets the next morning. Sadly he died of a seizure that night :cryng:

I hope this is informative and highlights the need for myxi jabs, indoor or outdoor bunny. It is not my intention to scare or upset anyone, but I hope that our loss will get owners thinking and acting.

oh, for those that are new/didn't know about Pepsi, I decided not to PTS as he was such a fighter, everyday he tried so hard to fight it so I gave him the chance he deserved until he could no longer hold on

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im so sorry for what happened with ur little bun its so upsetting but i just want to say thanku for posting this, hopefully it will make people who havent thought about vaccinating to do it.its just not worth the risk. wer trying to do the same thing at work with parvo so owners can see what there animal goes through when we admit them for treatment.

so sorry

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Becky

I am reasonably new, but I remember reading your post ,

My older bun Smokey never had any jabs because I thought he never needed them as I live in a flat and he doesn't get outside, but now he and the new bunny Magic have both had their jabs

Its so sad with what happened to your little bun he was a little fighter till the end

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Sorry to hear it but thank you for the warning x

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That made me cry looking at the pictures, he was such a goergeous boy. He changed colour with the illness or is that just the lighting/summer-winter coat? Its such a horrible disease.

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sorry to hear what happened to your beautiful bun.

Thankyou for posting this, it must be so hard for you to do. Its important for people to notice the symptoms and to be aware of the reason why we get our buns vaccinated.

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Bob the Chinese Hamster, Jamie the African Pygmy Hedgehog, Bugsy and Nelson the Guinea Pigs, and Stewie, Dora, Jessie and Billy the BunniesR.I.P My Beautiful Bridge Babies

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It also claimed my beautiful Autumn.

This video shows her from before catching it, during week by week, and a few days before her passing.

Tinks, I hope you do not mind me posting this, just to get more awareness with the shock factor

Autumn, My Darling. at One True Media - share slideshows, slide shows, Facebook slideshows, free video sharing, video montages.

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www.starlightsanimalboarding.co.uk

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Oh that's awful I'm so sorry this happend to your beautiful buns.
I will never understand how man could have made such a terrible virus, I don't care how many rabbits over populated there could have been millions for all I know but there's no excuse for creatig anything that is going to cause so much pain and suffering to any living creature.
Thank you for posting this, I know it must have been terrible for you to do, but for the well being of all our bunnys you still did it and I really appreciate that.
Clarexx