# (Pet) rabbit inside contributing to sickness (in us)?



## Guest (Mar 29, 2012)

Ok so my thread title may not have come across as well as I'd hoped. I'm in bed with pneumonia, after having had the flu 2 weeks ago, and my kids and I have been sick off and on since the week before Christmas, which is HIGHLY unusual for us. I was chalking it up to the enormous amount of stress we've been under since before we moved (background: "stressful situation" started early November; we moved into this house the week after Thanksgiving, and we've been sick since shortly before Christmas). 

A friend of ours, though, has expressed concern that my dd12's pet rabbit, in a cage on a table in the living room, could be the reason we've been sick so much. I have doubted that, as we've had the rabbit for two (?) years or so now, and she's always been in the house (though previously in the dd's bedroom and not in the living room), and it was not a problem before. 

But in the interest of being "teachable", I thought I'd ask: does anyone here have any thoughts on this? The sicknesses I'm talking about are "creeping crud"-type stuff, like what I hear is "going around" and "is really bad this year"; and I KNOW the flu was the flu that couple of weeks ago. I don't see how a rabbit being inside could cause us to be more susceptible to normal, human illnesses, but I want to check anyway. 

Thanks. I hope I've made some sense, here. :huh:


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## trimpy (Mar 30, 2011)

Besides herpes simplex and rabies, human can't get viral infections from rabbits. As for the pneumonia, which is usually bacterial, can be caused by many other things (including viruses, fungus, and parasites). My guess is that there is no causal relationship.

Medirabbit

My wife always gets sick when she gets really stressed out. Excessive stress (physical and mental) can have a detrimental effect on the immune system.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

The rabbit isn't causing you to be sick. Rabbits don't get human colds, flu or pneumonia.

Stress can weaken your immune system and mold or fungus growing in or under the house could too. I would suspect something in the house before suspecting the rabbit. 

Is your house on a slab or does it have a crawlspace or basement? Is there moisture under the house? Have you checked for leaking pipes or leaky roof? How old is the carpet? Did you buy new upholstered furniture when you moved? New mattresses or box springs? How old are your pillows? Just trying to help pinpoint the problem. You don't have to answer, those are just some things to consider.


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## bowbuild (Aug 2, 2008)

I am a pest control operater by trade. Have you been to the doctor to confirm what you have??? New house?? Is the condition of the home top notch? Is there by chance a rodent problem?? Bats?? *****? Farfetched I know, but not out of the question. How about mold inside?

Bowbuild


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## giraffe_baby (Oct 15, 2005)

How about UNSEEN blackmold?? since its a new house ect...


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Actually, many bacterial infections that animals get, people can get. Though they can infect animals differently that humans, most bacteria that do infect animals can use humans as a host. But if the rabbit is not sick, and you are - perhaps you're more a risk to the rabbit than the rabbit is to you. 

Honestly to blame the rabbit is rather silly, IMO. Now, I'm not sure it's sanitary to have her on the table if you eat at the table... but that would still probably not cause pneumonia. 

For a pet rabbit in good health that you've had for 2 years and (I'm assuming) has not been around other livestock/rabbits or transported to shows etc, she is probably least likely to be a cause of your sickness. If anything, anything she 'has', your body would have built an immunity to it by now.  I would first blame any place in public that you venture, or perhaps your own living environment, before her. 

If your rabbit had the common rabbit 'pneumonia' known as snuffles - it's causative agent would likely be a type of Pasteurella multocida. And it would be VERY obvious from her running snotty nose, running/snotting eyes, degenerating health, and eventually large bodily abscesses if she lived long enough.


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## Wildfire_Jewel (Nov 5, 2006)

Have you changed the type of bedding you use in the cage? My husband has HORRIBLE allergies and they only calmed down once the guinea pig was moved to her own room (kept sealed from the rest of the house) and I kicked all the rabbits out to the barn. I have chicks in the house right now on the same shavings we used for the rabbits and he has been miserable since they arrived. Allergies can weaken your immune system and make you more suseptible to other secondary infections. 

I would check the house for infestations of rodents or bats and for mold.....those can lead to really nasty infections.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Pneumonia could pass between animals and humans since it is often a secondary bacterial infection to a virus. However odds are you'd give it to the rabbit not the other way around. Unless the rabbit showed respiratory symptoms before you got sick then you didn't get it there. I've got 4 permanent house rabbits, 8 juniors, and 3 kits right now and I just sold 4 and moved 1 to the stable and we are perfectly fine even when one of the juniors did get a respiratory infection.

You are picking up illnesses somewhere else. Most likely you are getting them from other people but something in your house or environment may be making you more susceptible to getting it.


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## a7736100 (Jun 4, 2009)

Just a thought here. I noticed my fan grill is loaded with rabbit hair. This means the hairs are floating in the air even though I don't see it or notice. Also floating in the air are fecal and other waste matter rabbits kick up when they dig. You are probably breathing in a lot of junk without knowing it.


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## countryfied2011 (Jul 5, 2011)

Do you have gas in your home..I have read about people having a very tiny gas leak and it make the family sick off and on. There was one story that came out several years ago that a woman went for a year or two being sick and they/doctors couldn't find any reason for her illnesses until one day she saw something on TV, called the Gas company and sure enough that is what it was,, a pinpoint leak that slowly came up through the vents. Her family would occasionally get sick but they were gone during the day and one son was away to college...because she was at home 24/7 she would get the brunt of it. The woman almost died. 

Just throwing an idea out there, especially since this has been happening since you moved. Hope you get it figured out.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Better than a cat and less hair than a dog. Waaay better than a bird. Birds put out a ton of dust and people with a lot of birds are known to have respiratory problems. Rabbits and rodents are pretty low on the list for causing problems from hair or fecal matter. Their fecal matter even contains much less dangerous bacteria than our other pets and you could probably eat it and be fine. People put it straight on their vegetable gardens sometimes.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

Sounds like "something going around" as you said. However, almost any animal has "dander", flakes of dried skin that come off and get into the air. A few people are allergic to this dander (and possibly the "fur fuzz") which might cause a problem or exacerbate a bronchial condition you already have. A very few people, who spend their much of their lives in close proximity to birds and poultry, can actually get a lung affliction from the dander.

If the rabbit has been around for a while and didn't give you trouble before, it is doubtful that it is a contributing factor now.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Usually dander from small animals does not cause allergies or bother people. It can happen but more often it's actually the proteins in the urine that make them break out or have respiratory problems when dust from the bedding with urine proteins gets kicked up. However even more common is a hay or bedding allergy than an allergy to the small animal. Often changing those solves the respiratory problems.


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