WHITEY BIT ME!

Today, we planned to transfer Whitey to Brownie’s cage because her bunnies are going out of the wooden box and may fall off the floor of her cage. Her cage shall be cleaned too and get new steel matting because the old one was already torn in some places. My nephew started by transferring Brownie to the small steel cage then he cleaned Brownie’s cage first. But when it was Whitey’s babies turn to be transferred, I offered some kangkong to Whitey to distract her but she ended up biting me on the finger. It wasn’t very deep but it still bled and so I washed it thoroughly with soap and water and it was my nephew who handled the transfer of Whitey and her bunnies to the smaller cage.

It was only much later when I searched the internet and learned that it is rare for rabbits to have rabies and much more so to pass it on to a human or animal it bites. This is because the rabies virus can kill the rabbit and so it has no chance at all to pass it on to another being. Here’s an article I read from EHOW…

Rabies is a virus that affects the central nervous system in mammals. There is no documented case of a rabbit giving rabies to a person in the United States. Bites from rabbits rarely require treatment, according to the Center for Disease Control. However, even though it is rare, rabbits can get rabies. Rabies causes swelling of the brain and death. Death usually occurs only a few days after symptoms appear. (Rabbits & Rabies eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_6022147_rabbits-rabies.html#ixzz267A8tR9v)

So I guess I felt more or less assured that I would not need anti-rabies shots (whew! Thank God!) I just need to keep the wound clean so it won’t get infected. Meanwhile, here are some more pics of Whitey and her cute bunnies at more than two weeks.