Exotics: Rabbits Non-infectious Disease Flashcards
What are the risk factors for rabbits skin disease?
Lack/reduced grooming:
* Lack of companion
* Dental disease
* Obesity
* Spinal disease, arthritis
Environement- flooring and bedding
Breed: long haired rabbits prone to matting, french lops with skin fold
What is the approach to skin disease in rabbits?
- Complete clinical exam
- Skin disease usually reflects underlying disease
- Diagnostic tools-
skin cytology: hair plucks, scrapes, tape strips, FNAs, biopses, culture - Seasonally moult- some areas of alopecia normal sometimes
What are the main problems of skin disease in rabbits?
- Matted hairs
- Bacterial dermatitis
- Pododermatitis
- External ear disease
How are hair matts treated?
- Clip under sedation and analgesia
- Careful of iatrogenic skin trauma
- Bathe and clean skin after clipping matts
- Treat underlying skin condition and any other health problem
- Frequent secondary bacterial dermatitis
- What can bacterial dermatitis in rabbits be secondary to?
- What are common isolates?
- How does is commonly present?
- How is it treated?
- Urine scalding, skin fold dermatitis, epiphora/blocked tear ducts, drooling, matted hairs
- S. aureus, P. multocida, P. aeruguinosa
- Superficisl to deep pyoderma, ocassional abscess
- Treat dermatitis and underlying cause- painful
- What drugs are frequently used for bacterial dermatitis?
- What supportive treatment can be given?
- NSAIDs- meloxicam, ABs (TMP+sulfa, fluoroquin)
- Hair clipping may be required, keep areas dry, topical treatments (dilute chlorohexidine solutions, fusidic acid, silver sulfadiazine)
- What is pododermatitis?
- What are risk factors?
- What are the pathological changes?
- Avascular necrosis/pressure of sore plantar surfaces- secondary infections
- Obesity, lack of excercise, loss of plantar hairs, arthritis, contaminated bedding
- Ishaemia and necrosis of skin, loss of hairs, hyperkeratosis, skin ulceration and infections, osteomyelitis, displacment of SDFT
How is pododermatitis managed?
Relieve pressure:
* Adequate bedding
* Exra padding
* Bandaging
* Increase excercise
Analgesia:
* Meloxicam, Gabapentin
2nd Infections:
* Long course ABs
* Keep hairs skin clean and dry
* Trim hairs around ulcers
* Local- chlorohex, hydrocolloid gells, manuka honey
Chronic:
Surgery- abscesses, debriding
What are the functions of the rabbits ear pinnae?
Sound amplification, thermoregulation
What external ear disease are lop breed predisposed to and why?
Easy build up of cerumen: ear canal, ear-base diverticulum
Gap between tragus and annular cartilage- diverticulum
External ear canal kinked and narrowed
- What are common signs of ear disease in rabbits?
- What is the process to diagnosis?
- Head shaking, pruritis, discharge, increased cerumen, swelling at ear base, facial paralysis
- Full clinical exam, otoscopy, endoscopy under sedation/GA, cytology (mites, bacterial infection, cerumen), skull radiographs, CT
What are common causes of external ear diseases?
- Aural haematoma/oedema
- Traumatic lacerations
- Neoplasia
- Otitis externa: very common in lop breeds, cleaning under GA/sedation
What more extensive surgeries can be required for external ear disease?
- Parital ear canal ablation
- Total ear canal ablation
- Lateral bullae osteotomy
What are considerations of ear surgery in rabbits?
General for all surgeries
Provie excellent multimodal analgesia
ABs depending on case
Possible complications:
* Chronic vestibular disease
* Wound dehiscence
* Facial nerve paresis/paralysis
- What are common presentations of urinary disorders?
- What are common urinary signs?
- Cysitis ‘bladder sludge’, uroliths, CKD, acute failure
- Non-specific, pollakiuria, PUPD, incontinence, Haematuria, Urine scald
How is renal function different in rabbits?
How does drug use vary?
- Alkaline urine- limited capacity to excrete H+- sensitive to systemic acidosis
- Stress significantly reduces renal flow
- Not as sensitive to blood renal flow
Calcium metabolism
* Efficient intestinal indigestion independent of Vit D
* Calcium regulated by kidneys
* Excrete a lot in urine
* Calcium carbonate crystals- whitish precipitate
How is urinary disease investigated in rabbits?
- Urinalysis: usually cloudy and variable colour, dipstick, sediment analysis
- Blood biochem
- Haematology
- Abdominal ultrasound
- Radiography