Information for Rabbit Owners

At Oak Tree Veterinary Centre, Andrew Armitage MRCVS, one of our veterinary surgeons, has a special interest in the care of rabbits and other small mammals and has undertaken further study and training to allow him to offer information, advice and treatment to keep your rabbit in tip top order.

However it is important that you understand the needs of your rabbit and your knowledge, together with our veterinary examinations for the early detection of and vaccinations for the prevention of disease will, we hope, enable you to enjoy many happy years of companionship with your new friend.

General

Rabbits are very different from cats and dogs. Understanding how they differ will help you keep your rabbit happy and healthy. We hope this leaflet will give you some useful information and whet your appetite to read more about these interesting and appealing pets.

A cat or a dog is a hunter, or predator and much of their behaviour and dietary requirement is related to this fact. Rabbits, in the wild, are preyed upon animals and as a result, their behaviour and diet is quite different. Rabbits are the natural food for a large number of carnivores and omnivores such as wild varieties of the cat and dog families and man. As a result rabbits need to be vigilant, constantly and therefore can be jumpy and prone to stress. They have lightweight bodies to be fast and agile. The skeleton of a rabbit is only 7-8% of it body weight compared with 13% in a cat. Many of our pet rabbits suffer from osteoporosis which is loss of bone density and bone strength because of poor nutrition and lack of normal exercise. As a result many have “weaker” bones compared with their muscles and suffer injury surprisingly easily.

Getting their feeding right and reducing the stress in their lives alone will go a long way to keeping them happy and healthy.

Rabbits have a higher requirement for water than cats and dogs especially on dry food and on hot days. They should never be without access to working water bottles or water bowls or they will dehydrate quickly.

Rabbits are herbivores and their teeth and gut have evolved to cope with a poor quality predominantly grass based diet. To cope with this diet they have hard wearing teeth that grow constantly throughout their lives. Eating coarse roughage wears down the teeth and a balance between wear and growth develops that should maintain a healthy mouth. However if a rabbit doesn't eat enough long roughage their teeth will not wear properly and grow too long. This damages the tooth sockets, causing the teeth to tilt over and develop spikes on their edges causing pain, weight loss, gut problems, eye problems and tooth root abscesses. These are serious problems requiring repeated veterinary interventions and unfortunately without a guarantee that the damage can be successfully managed. Prevention rather than treatment is the key.

In the gut, they have a large fermentation vat, full of micro-organisms that help digest their food. If rabbits do not consume enough indigestible fibre in the form of long roughage the fermentation will be disturbed causing excessive gas production, pain, bloat, reduced gut motility and faecal contamination around the anal area.

Rabbits practice coprophagia. They should re-eat their caecotrophs (soft, dark, mucous-covered faecal pellets that look a little like currants) straight from their anus. Passing the food through the gut twice makes for very efficient extraction of nutrients from the food. They will not re-eat them if the diet is too rich, they are in pain or void them out when frightened or stressed. These caecotrophs are sticky and if not consumed stick to the skin around the anus This can cause a local dermatitis and increases the risk of fly strike, leading to a maggot infestation.

In short, your rabbit should be fed like a wild rabbit with the majority of the diet being coarse vegetable matter and spending much of the days munching through it. He or she is not a cat or dog gulping down a small sized high protein, high calorie meal in a few minutes.

1) Good socialisation, preferably when they are young. Remember we are a predator to an un-socialised rabbit.

2) Careful handling, so as not to panic or injure them.

3) Appropriate accommodation. It needs to be of adequate size with access to an exercise area. Rabbits need a hiding place from and protection from predators, the rain, direct wind (while still maintaining adequate ventilation) and effects of the sun as they suffer more from heat than cold.

4) Rabbits like most animals who are preyed on tend to conceal the fact they are unwell, in pain or frightened. They also are unlikely to display the effusive greeting behaviour of the cat or dog and rely on scent much more than sight for communication. This gives rabbit owners another challenge, that is how to recognise when their rabbit is in pain or unwell as the rabbit is busy trying to hide any sign of weakness so that they would not be singled out by a potential predator as a weak individual.

1) Observe their rabbit from a distance at different times of the day to familiarise themselves with their rabbit’s normal behaviour so that they can notice abnormal behaviour that indicates pain or stress (immobility, hunched, teeth grinding, aggression etc.)

2) Handle their rabbit at least once a day and check them from top to toe and underneath for any abnormality. Again familiarise themselves with what is normal so that you can recognise the abnormal.

3) Each day check their rabbits water intake and food intake (how much and are they being selective in what they are eating). Each day check their urine and faeces output (quantity, smell, and appearance) for any changes and remove any soiled bedding.

4) A complete clear out of the hutch and a weight check at least once a week. Continued weight loss is an early indicator of problems.

It is a disease of rabbits caused by a poxvirus. Biting insects, typically but not exclusively the rabbit flea, spread the virus. This means that your rabbit does not need to be in direct contact with an infected rabbit to contract myxomatosis. The disease has even been reported in rabbits without access to outdoors and so all rabbits should be considered at risk but outdoor rabbits at much higher risk.

The classical clinical signs are of a lethargic rabbit (depressed, running at temperature) then swelling of the ears, round the eyes, genitalia, then pus coming from eyes and nose resulting in rabbit with breathing difficulties as they breath through their noses.

There is no specific treatment only supportive treatment for the secondary infections. Treatment is almost invariably unsuccessful with the rabbit being found dead or having to be euthanased on humane grounds.

Our only weapon against this disease is to routinely vaccinate your rabbit every 6 months, plus, where required, the use of insect repellents or insecticides.

Viral Haemorrhagic disease.

This is another rapidly fatal disease of rabbits (death rate is approaching 100%). The owner rarely notes that the rabbit is unwell due to the rapid progression of the disease. This virus is spread from contact with faeces from an infected individual either directly in a group of rabbits or indirectly, for instance, on hands or clothes after handling an infected individual or contaminated bedding materials

The clinical signs that have been recorded are an increased respiratory rate, blue gums/tongue, swollen abdomen, bleeding down the nose, fitting and death. It is thought that the very few that survive may harbour the virus and spread it to others.

The only satisfactory prevention strategy is an annual vaccination.

Fly Strike (myiasis)

A number of diseases affecting the quality of the faeces together with inadequate supervision can lead to the soiling of a rabbit’s fur at its rear end with urine or faeces. Blowflies are attracted by the smell and lay their eggs on the rabbit. The eggs hatch out into larvae (maggots) which feed off the rabbit’s flesh causing open wounds, tracking under the skin and can enter body cavities. This results in a depressed, unwell rabbit and urgent veterinary attention is required so that all of the maggots are found and removed and the wounds managed. Late discovery of maggots usually means the loss of the rabbit so please keep a good watch over the hygiene of your friend.

Prevention Strategies

Soilage of Coat: Treat the underlying problem (dental disease, cystitis, and inappropriate diet etc.)

Observation: Handle and inspect the rabbit at least once a day. This includes turning the rabbit over to examine the rear end.

Fly repellents and insecticides.

Please ask at reception if you would like more information and any of the above topics.

We have a range of leaflets covering the more common aspects of veterinary care for your rabbit. Please ask at reception to see the range

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