I'm writing this because I don't know how else to deal with the impending doom.
On the 25th of August 2022, I brought home a 2-month old bunny. Because she did not come from the cleanest place, I brought her to vet on 2nd of September just to make sure everything checked out. Everything was normal but I was told she might be younger than the seller told me she was and that she was too small and underweight. I asked about rabies and was told bunnies don't get rabies. On the morning of September 8th, my bunny did not run up to me for pets like she normally would every morning since I got her. She was spaced out and wobbly. She was still eating though. I brought her to the vet's office immediately and an hour later, she got very lethargic. 30 minutes later, she was partially paralyzed and an hour later, she passed away. The vet blamed the death on a parasite called E. Cuniculi but no tests were performed. I was so heartbroken to think about tests and whatnot. We even had her cremated.
On the eve of September 18th, I was researching bunny care because I would love to open my home to another bunny again in a couple of months and came across an article on rabbits and rabies. It turns out that while it's unlikely, it's entirely possible. What's more is my bunny's symptoms had some similarities to rabies symptoms in bunnies - lethargy, paralysis. I remembered that while "playing" with my bunny, I've received scratches on my arms and legs from her long nails when she crawled / jumped around on me. (She was very affectionate and playful like a puppy and I loved that about her.) None of these scratches visibly bled but they were there, marked on my skin for a few days up until my bunny's death. On September 19th, 11 AM, I made an appointment with a clinic to get the rabies vaccine on September 20th because if I were to take the vaccine on the 19th, day 3 would fall on a day when an out-of-town work trip was scheduled and I'd miss the day 3 dose.
When I got home from the clinic on the 19th, I started feeling pain in my arms, chest, and collar bone. I know muscle pain and weakness are symptoms of early rabies onset. I couldn't ball my hands into a fist properly. Couldn't concentrate on work. So I immediately went to the ER to get the vaccine. My temperate was 37.2C. So close to a fever. When I got home, I felt a little nausea. That's a symptom too.
I've been vaccinated in 2017 (Verorab - 4 rounds) and again in 2018 (Rabipur - 5 rounds) because of paranoia. I was hoping these 2 vaccines were still giving me immunity but was told by the ER resident that these vaccines are no longer offering me any sort of protection. I'm also hoping that my bunny did die of E. Cuniculi like the vet said. I'm hoping that she's too young she would not have survived a bite from a rabid animal and if she had been scratched by a rabid animal in the dirty pet store in the dirty market, the scratch would be visible. I groomed her everyday since the second day I brought her home. I would've seen a scratch, right? Or maybe not. I don't know.
I wish I considered rabies sooner because I would spare no expense for the full round. I was so confident in the vet, in online articles saying rabbits do not transmit rabies, how rabbit bites and scratches do not warrant the vaccine thus I've allowed this virus to fester in me for nearly a month. It will take 7 days for my body to "remember" to make antibodies to attack this virus so it's probably too late now.
I'm typing this right now, feeling chilly. It's raining so I must be cold from that but I don't know because my temperature is 37.4C. Work is calling and I am unable to answer because if I'm going to die within the next 10 days, what's the point? Rabies isn't the way I want to reunite with my baby bunny on the rainbow bridge.
On the 25th of August 2022, I brought home a 2-month old bunny. Because she did not come from the cleanest place, I brought her to vet on 2nd of September just to make sure everything checked out. Everything was normal but I was told she might be younger than the seller told me she was and that she was too small and underweight. I asked about rabies and was told bunnies don't get rabies. On the morning of September 8th, my bunny did not run up to me for pets like she normally would every morning since I got her. She was spaced out and wobbly. She was still eating though. I brought her to the vet's office immediately and an hour later, she got very lethargic. 30 minutes later, she was partially paralyzed and an hour later, she passed away. The vet blamed the death on a parasite called E. Cuniculi but no tests were performed. I was so heartbroken to think about tests and whatnot. We even had her cremated.
On the eve of September 18th, I was researching bunny care because I would love to open my home to another bunny again in a couple of months and came across an article on rabbits and rabies. It turns out that while it's unlikely, it's entirely possible. What's more is my bunny's symptoms had some similarities to rabies symptoms in bunnies - lethargy, paralysis. I remembered that while "playing" with my bunny, I've received scratches on my arms and legs from her long nails when she crawled / jumped around on me. (She was very affectionate and playful like a puppy and I loved that about her.) None of these scratches visibly bled but they were there, marked on my skin for a few days up until my bunny's death. On September 19th, 11 AM, I made an appointment with a clinic to get the rabies vaccine on September 20th because if I were to take the vaccine on the 19th, day 3 would fall on a day when an out-of-town work trip was scheduled and I'd miss the day 3 dose.
When I got home from the clinic on the 19th, I started feeling pain in my arms, chest, and collar bone. I know muscle pain and weakness are symptoms of early rabies onset. I couldn't ball my hands into a fist properly. Couldn't concentrate on work. So I immediately went to the ER to get the vaccine. My temperate was 37.2C. So close to a fever. When I got home, I felt a little nausea. That's a symptom too.
I've been vaccinated in 2017 (Verorab - 4 rounds) and again in 2018 (Rabipur - 5 rounds) because of paranoia. I was hoping these 2 vaccines were still giving me immunity but was told by the ER resident that these vaccines are no longer offering me any sort of protection. I'm also hoping that my bunny did die of E. Cuniculi like the vet said. I'm hoping that she's too young she would not have survived a bite from a rabid animal and if she had been scratched by a rabid animal in the dirty pet store in the dirty market, the scratch would be visible. I groomed her everyday since the second day I brought her home. I would've seen a scratch, right? Or maybe not. I don't know.
I wish I considered rabies sooner because I would spare no expense for the full round. I was so confident in the vet, in online articles saying rabbits do not transmit rabies, how rabbit bites and scratches do not warrant the vaccine thus I've allowed this virus to fester in me for nearly a month. It will take 7 days for my body to "remember" to make antibodies to attack this virus so it's probably too late now.
I'm typing this right now, feeling chilly. It's raining so I must be cold from that but I don't know because my temperature is 37.4C. Work is calling and I am unable to answer because if I'm going to die within the next 10 days, what's the point? Rabies isn't the way I want to reunite with my baby bunny on the rainbow bridge.
