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Liver fluke in rabbits


tazanimal
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hi all

having a war on the pesky bunnys in one of my friends horse fields but they all seem to have liver flukes and or tape worms

can we catch it from a cooked bunny?

shot a 1/2 size bunny to day and its liver was full of the white bits from the fluke

taz

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hi all

having a war on the pesky bunnys in one of my friends horse fields but they all seem to have liver flukes and or tape worms

can we catch it from a cooked bunny?

shot a 1/2 size bunny to day and its liver was full of the white bits from the fluke

taz

 

Its not likely as far as I can remember (Apache might give a definitive answer), how sure are you it fluke? There are other infection that cause liver damage which are more likely to pose a human health risk.

 

The real risk is uncooked meat, put this way, if we have a liver infested with fluke in the abbatoir the meat inspector will condeme it.

 

If you have lots of bunnies knocking around just choose the healthy ones if you're concerned.

 

Kyska

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Any mammal can get liver fluke including humans. The most common way people get it is from eating wild watercress.

 

If the meat was cooked thoroughly then there is no real risk. Would I eat an infected bunny? No I wouldn't. Just discard them. It's not worth it.

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I'm getting a good few of those too. Normally half grown as you state - and generally from the same area. Shot 8 rabbits Saturday morning - and the 2 I shot from a specific area once again had the white patches all over the liver. I discard them but it is disappointing as the rabbits appear in perfect health in all respects, both before and after death.

 

I remember the same last year and just afterwards myxamotis broke out in exactly the same spot - it left me wondering if the white livers were an early indicator.

 

Steve

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I'm getting a good few of those too. Normally half grown as you state - and generally from the same area. Shot 8 rabbits Saturday morning - and the 2 I shot from a specific area once again had the white patches all over the liver. I discard them but it is disappointing as the rabbits appear in perfect health in all respects, both before and after death.

 

I remember the same last year and just afterwards myxamotis broke out in exactly the same spot - it left me wondering if the white livers were an early indicator.

Steve

 

Yea, thats why I questioned whether it was liver fluke or not, most people won't know any difference between fluke and other infections. As apache and myself said, just keep the healthy ones...

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hi all

having a war on the pesky bunnys in one of my friends horse fields but they all seem to have liver flukes and or tape worms

can we catch it from a cooked bunny?

shot a 1/2 size bunny to day and its liver was full of the white bits from the fluke

taz

If you feel you need more help (ferreting) let me know as i have ferrets.

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I just pull the livers out before I give them to either my ferrets or my terrier,or before I cook them for myself. I reckon,they only get fluke when the weather gets wet,and now that it's wet and warm I'm expecting to see myxi break out.Have only seen one rabbit with myxi this spring/summer,and that was just a few days ago.

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I just pull the livers out before I give them to either my ferrets or my terrier,or before I cook them for myself. I reckon,they only get fluke when the weather gets wet,and now that it's wet and warm I'm expecting to see myxi break out.Have only seen one rabbit with myxi this spring/summer,and that was just a few days ago.

Fluke requires humidity and temperature >10°C. They can survive on river banks all summer, but are traditionally picked up spring and autumn.

 

Tapeworms can infect ferrets and dogs if the meat is fed uncooked. They can't catch the fluke from the rabbit, but as I said - I'd not be eating a diseased carcase, nor feeding it to my dog.

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I've no doubt you're right apache,but I've been doing it for donkies now and have never experienced any problems.The only rabbits I discard(and you can usually tell before you gut them)are those with tapeworm cysts under the skin.All my ferrets and my dog are checked out on a regular basis by a vet.They love the dog,but aren't too keen when they see me come in with the ferret box! :lol:

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Apache, some of the rabbbits I get,(appear healthy) have white dots/patches on the liver. Is this the liver fluke that everyone is on about? I just convince myself it is stores of fat :lol:

Post a pic and I can give you a better idea. A fluke is the size of a fingernail, but little white scars on the surface of the liver would be suggestive of fluke.

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I reckon liver fluke is a big killer of young rabbits but i just throw the livers away and feed them to the ferrets . Like rabbits having worms i think youv'e too many rabbits and need to thin them out hard .We had the same problem last year and we hit then hard now were back shooting them and getting nice clean rabbits not a worm or fluke in any of them

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You may be right Tom;can't say I've heard that one before.If we've been ferreting where sheep graze,any rabbits I'm gonna give to the ferrets are shoved in the fridge overnight first,so the ticks drop off.Ticks in a ferret run spread like the proverbial wildfire! :blink:

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