By Mark Waffel
Vets in Northampton are urging pet owners to have their rabbits vaccinated against a deadly disease, as wet weather this summer could cause an outbreak.
Heavy downpours this summer have already lead to flash floods, swarms of mosquitoes and an explosion in slug numbers.
And now the wet weather could lead to a rise in myxomatosis, a virus spread by biting insects, which have thrived this summer.
County animal charities and vets are now urging rabbit owners to get their pets vaccinated, as the disease is most prevalent in the autumn.
Annette Shanahan, who runs Rabbit Rescue & Boarding in Ashton, near Towcester, said: "It always increases in September, October and November – that's the time it really flares up.
"That's why we're saying to owners, even if you live in the middle of the town, it's worth doing it. For the sake of a small amount of money you could save yourself a lot of heartbreak."
Myxomatosis, which nearly wiped out the entire population of wild rabbits in the UK in the 1950s, is usually spread by fleas and mosquitoes, but it can be passed on by contact with infected animals.
Simon Maddock, a veterinary surgeon at the Cat & Rabbit Care Clinic in Limehurst Square, Northampton, said an outbreak was more likely this year.
He said: "I think it's quite likely that this year there will be an increase because of the wet weather. There are quite a lot of mosquitoes around and we had a bad fly season this year."
Mr Maddock, whose clinic last week treated its first few cases of the year, said the number of animals infected varies each autumn, depending on viral strains and the size of the wild rabbit population.
The veterinary surgeon's clinic offers a health check and the myxomatosis vaccine for £26 which, although does not prevent the illness in every rabbit, does weaken the symptoms in infected animals.
For more information on the illness visit www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk
Vets in Northampton are urging pet owners to have their rabbits vaccinated against a deadly disease, as wet weather this summer could cause an outbreak.
Heavy downpours this summer have already lead to flash floods, swarms of mosquitoes and an explosion in slug numbers.
And now the wet weather could lead to a rise in myxomatosis, a virus spread by biting insects, which have thrived this summer.
County animal charities and vets are now urging rabbit owners to get their pets vaccinated, as the disease is most prevalent in the autumn.
Annette Shanahan, who runs Rabbit Rescue & Boarding in Ashton, near Towcester, said: "It always increases in September, October and November – that's the time it really flares up.
"That's why we're saying to owners, even if you live in the middle of the town, it's worth doing it. For the sake of a small amount of money you could save yourself a lot of heartbreak."
Myxomatosis, which nearly wiped out the entire population of wild rabbits in the UK in the 1950s, is usually spread by fleas and mosquitoes, but it can be passed on by contact with infected animals.
Simon Maddock, a veterinary surgeon at the Cat & Rabbit Care Clinic in Limehurst Square, Northampton, said an outbreak was more likely this year.
He said: "I think it's quite likely that this year there will be an increase because of the wet weather. There are quite a lot of mosquitoes around and we had a bad fly season this year."
Mr Maddock, whose clinic last week treated its first few cases of the year, said the number of animals infected varies each autumn, depending on viral strains and the size of the wild rabbit population.
The veterinary surgeon's clinic offers a health check and the myxomatosis vaccine for £26 which, although does not prevent the illness in every rabbit, does weaken the symptoms in infected animals.
For more information on the illness visit www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk
Reference:northamptonchron
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