Expert: Dana Krempels, Ph.D. - 7/1/2006

Question
Hello - my grandchildren are exposed to much rabbit litter - feces and urine.  The rabbit is not kept in cage, but has the run of the house and there are literally large amounts of urine and rabbits throughout the house. There is an odor as well.  Are they in any danger of contracting a disease?  I am a nurse and I am concerned.

Answer
Dear Joan,

There are very few zoonotic diseases that can pass from rabbits to humans.  Of those, it is about as likely for a human to pass them to a rabbit as it is the other way around.  

You can find an exhaustive list here:

http://www.medirabbit.com/Zoonotic/Zoonotic_main.htm

of things that could *potentially* be transmitted from rabbits to humans (and vice versa), but note that all the pathogens on the list are NOT likely to be harbored by your domestic rabbits, and are more likely to be found in wild rabbits.  In addition, most of the pathogens on the list will not cause problems in a person with good overall health, but may cause disease in an immunocompromised person.

Addressing the hygiene issue, though...having a house filled with feces and urine is not healthy for the children *or* the rabbits!  I think that's more of a concern than the (vanishintly small) risk of the kids' contracting a disease from the rabbits.  

The bunnies can be litterbox trained:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/training.html

and the house regularly swept and mopped in the meantime.  All our rabbits are "free range," but our house is immaculate because we vacuum and bleach mop the floors every morning and evening.  This makes the house a much more pleasant place to live for everyone--bunnies included.  Rabbits are fastidiously clean animals, and they don't like living in mountains of waste any more than a human does. (Unlike a human, though, they cannot run a vacuum or a bleach mop, and these don't have access to an outdoor midden, as wild rabbits would.)

I think the problem is not so much the rabbits as it is the lack of cleaning up after them.  There should be no smell if the place is kept as clean as it should be.  Carpets can be a challenge, but if the floor is tile, wood, linoleum, etc., then it's easy to use vinegar and dilute bleach solution to keep things sanitary and smelling fine.

If you have carpet, let me know and I can offer some solutions for helping get rid of odor.

Hope this helps.

Dana