Dislocated hip and FHO surgery-Mindspring.com
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It is very important to check your rabbit daily for ANY signs of sickness. Common signs include going off feed and or water, diarrhea or loose stools, discharge from nose or eyes, listlessness, decrease in fecal droppings or imbedded hair, any abnormal behavior in your rabbit. A rabbit can become sick very quickly and if treatment isn't provided immediately they could die. Find a qualified veterinarian BEFORE there is a problem! Be sure to ask a perspective vet questions about their experience in treating rabbits and get references, you may want to contact local rabbit breeders for their recommendations, and check under "exotics" in the phone book too. Listed below are some common diseases and treatments, please use this as a guide for spotting trouble but get help immediately, from a qualified vet, if it is anything serious.
Rabbits in the US do not need any vaccinations.
Bucky's Bunny Barn click here if you're looking for a Netherland Dwarf rabbit
ARBA click here if you're looking for another breed of rabbit
Abscesses *
Allergies Allerpet Allergy Information Page Rabbits
Anesthesia
Antibiotics
Bladder Stones*
Broken Bones*
Buck Teeth or Dental Disease*
Calcivirus
Coccidiosis*
common medical supplies for rabbits- Island Gems Rabbitry
Death Pet Cremation Urns and Grave Markers
Debris in Eyes*
Diarrhea*
Disease, General Information Articles & web sites:
Diseases and Treatments from Island Gems rabbitry
Diseases of Laboratory Rabbits Prepared by Trenton R. Schoeb- Netvet site
Pathology of Rabbits. Lists several diseases. AFIP.
House Rabbit Essentials for the Small Animal Practioner- UK Rabbit Charity
MNAALAS Animals in Science Page-Basic care links and good disease section
Dislocated hip and FHO surgery-Mindspring.com
Drug Dosage Calculator For Bunnies- Mindspring.com
Elderly or Disabled Rabbit Care & Issues*
Encephalitozoonosis (E.cuniculi, Encphalitozoon cuniculi)*
Enteric Diseases*
Entereotoxemia*
Fleas*
Fly Problems*
ASPCA/NAPCC Comment on Febreeze
Gastric Intestinal Stasis (GI Statsis)*
Hairball*
Rabbit Health Check- Island Gems Rabbitry
Heat prostration*
Holistic Health (Homeopathy)*
Hutch Burn*
Malocclusion*
Medicating your rabbit-Island Gems Rabbitry
Metritis
Miscellaneous*
Mites, Ear or Fur*
Molds & Mycotoxins-What every farmer and vet should know- Cornell
Paralyzed Hindquarters see E cuniculi
Parasites, Internal
Internal Parasites of Rabbits-Netvet site
Pasteurella/Pasteurellosis*
Pinworms*
Poisoning*
Rabbit Syphilis*
RCD*
Red Urine*
Snuffles*
Sore Hocks*
Splay Leg*
Toxoplasma*
Trichobezoars*
Tyzzer's Disease *
Urine burn or scald*
Uterine Cancer*
Vent Disease*
VHD (Viral Hemorrhagic Disease)*
Warbles *
Weepy Eye*
Wool Block *
Wry Neck *
Abscesses: One cause of abscesses is a wound. A wound needs to heal from the inside out otherwise abscesses form which usually are lumps filled with pus. They must be lanced and treated to allow for proper healing.
Toxoplasma: Rare disease and usually seen as Central nervous system disorder, signs include paralysis or convulsions, also possible for nasal or eye discharge with lethargy. Death occurs within a few days to a week, treatment rarely successful but can try sulfas and tetracyclines. 1
Bladder Stones:
Encephalitozoonosis (E.cuniculi, Encphalitozoon cuniculi):
Urine Burn: Also called Hutch burn, caused by dirty environment, affects area around genitals and/or inside of hind legs, use antibiotic cream and keep cages clean and dry.
Fleas: Can be treated with any cat flea product (Carboryl products), powders and sprays preferred. 1
Elderly or Disabled Rabbit Care:
VHD :
Vent Disease: Treponema cuniculi or Rabbit Syphilis, can be spread during mating, caused by a spirochete. The symptoms include scabs around the genitals, which can also appear on the face due to the animal cleaning itself. Treatment includes application of penicillian or intramuscular shot of Penicillian G for 3 days, standard anti-spirochete drugs. Always check the genitals of any rabbit before you breed it.
Diarrhea : Diarrhea can be treated by giving Kaeopectate (2-3 times daily 1/4-1/2 teaspoon each treatment) and removing all food except for Timothy Hay and some oats. Give your bunny electrolytes (supplement in the water), To prevent an electrolyte imbalance. If treatments don't work, go to the vet because it could be a symptom of other disease or problems. Prevention is best, such as gradually changing feeds, cutting down on bacteria in food and water, good sanitary practice.
rabbit diarrhea- Island Gems Rabbitry
Enteric Diseases: There are several different diseases that fall under this category (enterotoxemia, Tyzzer's disease, coccidiosis, and mucoid enteropathy) The signs in all include severe diarrhea (liquid or jellied feces) and you must call the vet immediately. The treatments for some involve antibiotics but the mortality rates for these are quite high. The best treatment is prevention (same as with diarrhea) which includes feeding a high fiber diet. Along with vet care you may want to provide hay and electrolytes for your rabbit because the diarrhea can cause an electrolyte imbalance & dehydration. You may want to bring in a fecal sample to the vet yearly to check for coccidiosis.
Coccida: Intestinal coccidia-Eimeria, symptoms include weight loss, poor weight gain, severe diarrhea. One form is hepatic coccidiosis and infects the bile tree, death from acute cholestasis and necropsy reveals abscesses. Good sanitation very important as coccidiosis is spread by feces, treatment includes oral sulfa drugs (sulfa quinoxaline most common, Sulfa methazine [Albon], sulfa pyradiazine). 1
Ear Mites: signs-scabs or crusty accumulation in ears, shaking of head or scratching of ears. Treatments- Place oil (olive or mineral) directly in ear once a day for 3 days, then repeat at 10 day intervals. Clean ears with cotton swab
Fur Mites: Mites live on a rabbit's skin, they eat the top layer of skin and burrow into the skin and cause itching, flaking, & sore spots. Look for loss of fur behind the ears, neck, rump, and along the sides. Bunny must be treated until all mites are gone and make sure the cage is cleaned with bleach and hosed off before bunny goes back in. For treatment use *Ivomec (1% injectable for cattle) or a cat flea powder, do not use products made for dogs on a rabbit. Rabbits kept outside should be on a preventive parasite program, especially in the summer. *Ivomec: give orally in a 1 cc syringe to prevent infestation once per month. The dosage is 0.03 cc per pound of body weight, bunny with heavy mite infestation can be treated with this several times 14 days apart. Be sure not to overdose your rabbit, use an accurate scale to weigh your rabbit. Store the bottle of Ivomec in its original box in the refrigerator, out of light. It will eliminate external parasites such as fleas, fur mites, & ear mites, and internal parasites.
"This tiny nematode appears on droppings or on the anus and may cause irritation. It is not considered to be patogenic and treatment is more for the client comfort than the rabbit's health." 1 Treatment: anthelmintics (pyrantel, mebendazole).
Debris in Eyes<: Sometimes you will notice foreign matter in your rabbits eyes. This matter is made up of fur and mucous and can be rinsed out of the eye with warm water or Bausch and Lomb Eye wash. Just be sure it doesn't cause an infection.
Malocclusion (wolf or buck teeth): Signs-lower teeth overlapping uppers, elongated teeth, or crooked teeth. A rabbit should have the upper teeth slightly overlap the bottoms, the teeth will continually grow and proper alignment keeps the teeth at the proper length. Malocclusion will prevent the rabbit from eating because the teeth will grow too long and he won't be able to chew. This can be inherited or caused by an injury. Treatment- clip teeth, I have heard removal of incisors can cause the teeth to correct but check with your vet about this. Sometimes if the teeth are only slightly out of alignment you can correct the malocclusion by applying pressure to push the teeth back in place (same idea behind braces).
Rabbit Teeth-Island Gems Rabbitry
Snuffles: This is a very serious condition and very infectious in rabbits. If you have more than one rabbit isolate the sick one immediately to protect the other. Signs: sneezing, watery eyes, white nasal discharge, breathing difficulty. Snuffles is caused by several forms of bacteria including Staph, Strep, & Pasteurella Multocida. Your rabbit can be treated with antibiotics, enroflaxacin (trade name Baytril) is often prescribed. Whenever using antibiotics be sure to keep a watch on your rabbits fecal droppings because antibiotics can kill the good bacteria in a rabbit's hindgut and cause an enteric condition. Note: Be sure your vet is aware of the possible dangers associated with the use of antibiotics (the penicillin family is especially problematic, experience suggests amoxicillian & ampicillian may be fatal in some rabbits).
Prevention: adequate ventilation, good sanitary practices, stress reduction.
Heat prostration: Rabbits can handle cold much better than heat, when the temp is over 75 degrees check your rabbit for signs of heat prostration. You will see breathing difficulty, panting, rabbit lying stretched out, rectal temp. above 105 degrees. You must cool your rabbit immediately or he may die. In severe case immerse body, but not head, in cool water (not cold) to bring body temp down. Also can spray with water, or wrap in damp cloth. Prevention: provide plenty of water, plenty of shade, a frozen 2 liter soda bottle (filled with water not soda) in the cage helps, wet burlap bags over cage. If possible keep bunny in a cool place in summer like the house or garage. Predisposing factors include: thick fur, obesity, old rabbits, pregnant rabbits, rabbits in direct sunlight, poor ventilation, crowding, or stress.
Fly Problems (Warbles): You may have problems with flies, especially in the summer. The danger is that they can lay eggs on your bunny and when they hatch your bunny will be infected with maggots. This can be fatal for a rabbit and care must be taken to prevent this problem. First try to eliminate the fly population from the area your bunny will be in, again do not use insecticides that your bunny can be exposed to. A fly swatter and sticky fly strip work best indoors for fly elimination. Make sure your bunny is never left wet, or has fecal material stuck to his fur, this will encourage the flies to lay eggs on him. Always check your bunny daily for lumps (could be eggs) and maggots, especially the underside. Sometimes a bunny will have seizures as a result of fly infestation. Take your bunny to the vet immediately. Be sure to keep cage clean too!
Links: These sites gave graphic pistures of the Bot Fly Larvae, disgusting but might be helpful in identification.
Michigan Wildlife Site-Bot Fly>
Sore Hocks: Infected sores on the bottom of the foot, check your rabbit if he seems to have difficulty standing still on the cage wire. Treatment: there are several including using Bag Balm applied to the wound and also Preparation H apply to sores for 5-7 days, if there is a severe infection go to your vet. You can prevent sore hocks by keeping a sitting board in your bunnies cage and keeping the cage clean and dry.
Hairball (Tricheboars): This is when a rabbit ingests too much fur and it causes a blockage in the stomach. Signs-stops eating or eats less, fur imbedded in feces, size and/or number of droppings decrease, sometimes blockage can be palpated (felt). This is more prevalent in long haired breeds such as Angoras but all rabbits can get this. It is better to prevent this by grooming (see section) and providing hay, treatment in severe cases is surgery and it is not always successful. As soon as you notice signs try a hairball remedy like petromalt or a treatment of 10cc's of fresh pineapple juice once a day for 3 days. An enzyme in the juice breaks down the mucous around the hairball and helps pass the material forming the block. It is important to move the blockage and get the rabbit eating ASAP. Prevention: exercise, Timothy Hay daily, grooming especially during heavy molt, and even giving petromalt or pineapple juice during heavy molt.
Weepy Eye: Signs-discharge from eye, matted fur under eye. Treatment: sometimes it is caused by simple irritation and you can treat with a couple drops of regular visine, if symptoms don't improve in a day or so contact your vet because it could be a blocked duct or a sign of snuffles.
Wry Neck (Head Tilt): Cause: bacterial infection of the inner ear, ear mites. Signs: loss of balance, animals head twisted to one side. Treatments: Immediately call your vet, the more time without treatment the less likely are you to cure it. Treatment depends on the cause so make sure the vet takes a bacterial culture first. If E. Cuniculi bacteria is found then treatment may be prednisolone. This is pretty new and many vets have not heard of the possible success with this treatment. Dr Wendy Feaga has her Wry Neck paper describing this treatment printed in the letters to the editor section of Journal of the AVMA 2/15/97. Make sure your rabbit continues to eat, force feed if necessary and get him to drink water. I have also heard of people massaging the bunny's neck to keep the muscles from atrophying along with vet care with success, it wouldn't hurt to try. Prevention: good ventilation to reduce any respiratory infections and good sanitation practices (House rabbits are more susceptible to wry neck caused by unsanitary conditions because they are closer to the waste pan).
wry neck or head tilt in rabbits-Island Gems Rabbitry
Broken Bones
Other Medical Concerns: Do not be concerned if you notice "red urine" a rabbit's urine will appear cloudy white to red brown. Just be sure there is never blood in the urine (if you find blood go to the vet, if not sure your vet can always check a sample) due to the amount of calcium a rabbit absorbs you will see the variation of color, this is normal for your rabbit. The red urine may be due to an incomplete breakdown of food nutrients, but it isn't anything to worry about. White vinegar works to dissolve urine build-up on cages.
Uterine Cancer
Spay/neuter: As I've mentioned before altering your rabbit is the best thing you can do to make a happy pet. Studies have proven a high incidence of uterine cancer (adenocarcinoma) in unspayed does, the studies have reported an incidence of 50% in some random bred colonies (age and genetic background influence the incidence too). Rabbits are territorial in nature and neutering can prevent a buck from spraying urine to mark territory (you must neuter before the spraying starts otherwise it may continue), it may also curb aggression in both the buck and doe. If you plan on having more than one rabbit roaming free in the house you must alter them both. Sexual maturity is reached as early as 3 months & you don't want to take a chance at having an unplanned litter! If you think raising a "rabbit family" is easy think again, complications such as mastitis, pregnancy toxemia, "stuck babies", and many other conditions are common and the doe can easily die, so do you really want to undertake the responsibility? You cannot tell if a rabbit has been altered so take them to the vet if you aren't 100% sure. Be Sure your vet is rabbit knowledgeable!! Some anesthesia used on cats and dogs can not be used on rabbits, so finding an experienced vet is important. Neutering can be done as soon as the testicles descend (3-6months) and is a common procedure. Spaying can be done at 6 months and is a little more complicated because the ovaries and uterus are removed. Check with a vet about the procedure and pre and post operative care. Many suggest a rabbit shouldn't be "fasted" the night before because it may disrupt the digestive functions, and rabbits can't vomit so that shouldn't be a concern for the vet.
Neutering Rabbits-UK Rabbit Charity
After reading the above diseases you can see why it is so important to know your rabbit's usual habits and to monitor feed intake and feces on a daily basis, the sooner treatment begins the better chance there is for a cure! I also must stress the importance of prevention.
Poisoning
Plant Information Motherlove.com
Emergency Treatment of Poisoning Bladder Disease and Bladderstones in Rabbits
Dwarf Digest Article
A microsporidan protozoan parasite also called Nosema. "The most common clinical sign is depression secondary to encephalitis with stupor or rear leg lameness being the presenting complaint." 1 Transmitted via urine. ELISA serologic test used to test for exposure. Affects the kidney and then the brain, also can affect lungs, heart, and liver. 2BPV vs Wry Neck by Jaylene's Designs Rabbit Geriatrics & Chronic Disease-UK Rabbit Charity
Pasteurella-UK Rabbit Charity
Snuffles-UK Rabbit Charity
Pasteurella: Snuffles-Island Gems Rabbitry Anorectic Rabbits-UK Rabbit Charity BPV vs Wry Neck by Jaylene's Designs Excision Arthroplasty in Rabbits-UK Rabbit Charity
Uterine Cancer In Rabbits To Neuter or Not-UK Rabbit Charity
Litterbox Litter: Be very careful in the choice of litter for bunny's litterbox. Clumping Cat litters can cause serious internal blockage. Make sure bunny is not ingesting his litter, and be careful litter is not too dusty. Few litters seem safe to use for rabbits but some "safe" litters include sand, paper based, hay, feed pellets, pine shavings*. I recommend using the litterbox that has cage wire covering the drop pan (available from KW Cages) that way bunny can't get into the litter and will not have to stand in his waste.*
Untreated softwood shavings such as pine and cedar cause an increase in hepatic microsomal enzymes activity, this is not evidence that there is liver damage or a problem. Heat treated softwood shavings do not induce the HME activity. I have a detailed article about HME and what the research says about softwood shavings, if interested in reading it Click Here. As of this time I have been unable to find any evidence that pine shavings cause liver damage or cancer, some rabbits however are allergic to shavings so if your rabbit is having respiratory problems try eliminating the shavings. I don't recommend cedar due to hearing about some rabbits that ingested a large amount and died.
AVMA Pet Poison Guide Medicinal & Poisonous Plant Database
