Rabbit Wound

[snuggle97]

I need some assistance; I have a rescue bun who comes and goes as he pleases. He has access to food, hay, shelter, and protection from the elements. He's approximately a year old, is a Netherland Dwarf, and is very skittish. I was able to catch him about two months ago to get him fixed. That wasn't a very easy feat.

About two weeks ago, I noticed a pink spot on his hind quarter. Thinking he got bitten or into a fight, I just made a note to look again the next time I saw him. Last week, it looked red. I was thinking of trying to catch him and take him back to the vet, but it was night, and he's much faster than I.

Today, it looks black and odd. I was able to coax him with food close enough to snap a picture (see below). Before I put this poor animal through another stressful event, will someone look at this to see if they know what this is? I just had a wolf worm parasite lanced out of my cat. My cat is still recovering from this procedure and is very much not himself; not to mention, has a gapping hole in his side. I don't want to assume this is also a wolf worm.

Please let me know if anyone knows what this is. He's eating very well, is still very active, and his coat is still beautiful. He's a very strong little bun.

[MissDolittle]

I have no clue what that is, but it reminds me of 2 things: mast cell tumors and Histiocytoma. Check out this thread on the latter one. My dog had it on his ear and it fell off after a month or so: on it's own:

http://www.petsandwildlifeforum.com/...read.php?t=178

Could it be roundworm too? Since it's so perfectly round....dunno.

[snuggle97]

I wanted to post an update on how my bun is doing so if this happens to someone else, they may be able to take care of this on their own. It's been nearly 5 weeks since I found out what my bun had...it was indeed a wolf worm parasite. My cat had one the first week of November; I took him to the vet to have it removed. Between the stress of the parasite, the sedative, the constant trips to the vet, my cat very nearly died. But that's an entirely different story.

As for my bun; after I posted the above thread to get some answers, I also posted a question at www.justanswer.com. I was connected to a vet who had 20 yrs experience who told me to capture the little guy, poor olive oil over the site, and pull the worm out with tweezers. But we had to be careful not to break it and cause sepsis. (The black part you see is the worm; it creates a hole in the skin to breathe. So the olive oil suffocates it. It comes to the surface and you can grab it.)

Anywho, we did this and pulled it out with little problem. It was the most disgusting thing I've had to do to in my adult life. We kept my bun inside for a week to ensure there would be no infection. He healed up very quickly and after a week was back outside running around as he always did.

Today, he's still very healthy and comes up every day (he's a pet, but he's basically cage free). We burned the woodpile we believe held this parasite. We haven't had any other infections, thank goodness! Just wanted everyone to know what to do if you have a wolf worm.

[MissDolittle]

OMG how disgusting! I had no idea these things exist...like a horror movie, huh? The worst I ever did was pull maggots out of a busted kitten eye...naaa thank you very much.

Wolf worm huh? Never heard of it. Have to look it up!

And I'm glad you got the sucker out!

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I was gonna say it looked like a worm all curled up in there. Gross! Glad you got it taken care of.

A white bunny like him isn't going to do very well outside in the wild, even with shelter from the elements. They are easy to spot by predators and easy targets. Domestics don't have the natural fear that cottontails have either. I hope you have caught him and given him a permenant home.