Rabbit medicine and surgery Flashcards by Josie Campbell

Post weaning disorders rabbits

Coccidiosis (poor hygiene), profuse diarrhoea, co-trimazole first line
post weaning scour (stress, dysbiosis)
poor husbandry and advice, inappropriate housing/housemates etc.

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Rabbit vaccines

Myxomatosis (myxomavirus), annually from 7 weeks old

VHD (RHV) 1&2 (calicivirus)

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Rabbit preventative medicine

round worms and tapeworms (faecal testing, worming, cyst identification)

claw clipping

dental disease: incisors and molars

encephalitozoon cuniculi

health status

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Genetic diseases rabbits

Brachiocephalic syndrome

Dental disease

IBD

Coat related conditions e.g. rex curly coat

Lop eared rabbits

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Digestive diseases rabbits (13)

Management failures

Fear/stress

Pain

Poor gut motility - gut stasis

Anorexia (emergency)

Mucoid enteropathy

Trichobezoars

Non-caecotrophy

Diarrhoea

Gastric dilation

Intestinal obstruction

GDV

Liver lobe torsion

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Poor gut motility in rabbits

§ Sudden or gradual decrease in food intake
§ Causes included low fibre intake and pain, fear, stress
§ Often scant, small, or changed shape pellets with or without mucus
§ Full clinical examination may reveal very little
§ Important to look for all reasons for anorexia
Very common!

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Causes of anorexia rabbits (10)

§ Pyrexia
§ Pain/dental disease
§ Poor gut motility
§ Poor quality food
§ Change in food offered
§ Caecal impaction
§ Stomach impaction
§ Renal failure/urinary stones
§ Neoplasia
Respiratory disease

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Mucoid enteropathy rabbits

§ Possibly a viral dysautonomia causing GI stasis
§ May also be seen in toxicosis and clostridial cases
§ Tends to be used to describe gut hypomotility cases unresponsive to treatment
Often linked with dehydration

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Trichobezoars (rabbits)

§ Often secondary to dehydration
§ Certain long haired rabbits more predisposed
§ Can lead to obstructions and GDV
§ Diagnosis (radiographs and surgery)
□ Radiolucent area round mass of stomach contents
□ Blood glucose measuring
Surgical assessment

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Non-caecotrophy in rabbits

Often presents as ‘diarrhoea’ and dirty rear
May predispose fly strike
Causes
□ Obesity
□ Spinal pain
□ Arthritis and spondylosis
□ Hock sores
□ Dental disease
□ High carbohydrate, low fibre diet
□ Alteration in caecal flora

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Diarrhoea in young rabbits

□ Coccidiosis *
□ Simple enteritis
□ Enterotoxaemia *
□ Antibiotic misuse *
□ Mucoid enteritis caused by caecal dysbiosis
(*also seen in adults but not common)

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Treatment for diarrhoea in rabbits

Cholestyramine
Supportive therapy
Parasite treatment if needed

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Internal parasites of rabbits

Passalurus ambiguus (oxyurid worm in caecum/colon, rarely pathogenic, fenbendazole)
Coccidiosis (multiply rapidly, many species, co-trimazole)

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Gastric dilation of rabbits

gastrointestinal dysbiosis
inappropriate diet
toxicosis/infection
aerophagia

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Liver lobe torsion in rabbits

link with GDV/cysts
acute abdominal pain and anaemia on bloods

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Fluid therapy for rabbits

50-100ml/kg/24hr or 2-4mg/kg/hv IV maintenance

20ml/kg SC as a temporary slow release bolus

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Stasis or obstruction rabbits

Radiography

Blood glucose:
- gut stasis: about 8.5mmol/l
- obstruction: about 24.7 mmol/l
- normal: 4.2-8.2 mmol/l

Protocol for treating GI disorders in rabbits

Fluid therapy
- Pain relief
- Dietary change/support
- Improve gut motility
- Probiotics
- Improve environment/management
- Reduce stress
- Other drug therapy
- Surgery

Pain relief for rabbits

Synthetic opiates
○ Side effects? Reduction in gut motility
○ Pain relief is more important
○ Buprenorphine, butorphanol, methadone
- NSAIDs
  ○ Carprofen/meloxicam by injection
  ○ Oral meloxicam
  ○ Potential to use Ranitidine (‘Zantac’) to reduce risk of gastric ulceration with NSAIDs (H2 receptor antagonist decreases HCl secretion)
- Other
  ○ Paracetamol
  ○ Gabapentin
  ○ Tramadol
- Acupuncture
  - Physio-laser therapy

Dietary support of rabbits

syringe feeding
naso-gastric tubing
fresh food
forage mixes
good quality hay

Drugs to improve gut stasis if sure no obstruction in rabbits

metclopramide
ranitidine
cisapride
domperidone

Routes of IV administration rabbits

○ Ear veins
○ Jugular
○ Cephalic
○ Lateral saphenous

Corticosteroids in rabbits

often hazardous
immunosuppression may allow latent diseases
may contribute to onset of hepatic lipidosis
enterotoxic shock and septicaemia
used in treatment of thymoma and possibly lymphoma

When can surgery no longer be put off in rabbits?

When blood glucose remains high
when there is no steady recovery
when abdominal radiograph suggests obstruction

Treatment of respiratory disease in rabbits

- improve husbandry - antibiotics/anti-inflammatories - nebulisation - bromhexidine

Thymoma in rabbits

○ Present as respiratory disease ○ Head up posture ○ Bulging eyes ○ Genetic predisposition? ○ Poor prognosis (4-6mo) Treatment: supportive, prednisolone, surgery/radiation

Licensed antimicrobials in rabbits

Enrofloxacin Marbofloxacin Gentamycin eye drops Fusidic acid eye ointment

Unlicensed but commonly used anti-microbials in rabbits

Co-trimazole Metronidazole Gentamycin Procaine penicillin Azithromycin

Heart disease in rabbits

Often found dead larger breeds can suffer from dilated cardiomyopathy

Important rabbit dental anatomy

- 70% of teeth are below gumline - Upper cheek teeth in bulla in orbit - normal rough edges on cheek teeth - lower incisors resting on peg teeth - naso-lacrimal duct runs over root of upper first molars

Signs of dental disease in rabbits

○ Dysphagia ○ Excessive salivation ○ Weight loss ○ Reduced appetite ○ Selective eating ○ Slanted incisors ○ Change in faecal output ○ Poor grooming

External parasites of rabbits

- Cheyletiella - Psoroptes cuniculi - Spillopsyllus cuniculi Treat with ivermectin

Cheyletiella - rabbits

○ Fur mite ○ 'Walking dandruff' ○ Do not advise removal of hay from diet, but will need a thorough environmental clean ○ Potentially zoonotic ○ Not to be confused with environmental or nutritional causes

Psoroptes cuniculi - rabbits

○ Ear mites ○ Very painful if severe ○ Don't try and remove attached debris ○ After a couple of ivermectin treatments it will come away ○ Consider pain relief ○ Consider soothing ear drops

Spillopsyllus cuniculi

○ Fleas - smaller and darker than cat flea ○ Licensed product 'advantage' (Bayer) ○ Vector of Myxomatosis

Skin diseases in rabbits

- Heavy moult/matting - Sore hocks - Pseudomonas infection of dewlap - fly strike - Ring worm - Myxomatosis (rabbit pox) - viral haemorrhagic disease (RHD)

Reproductive tract diseases rabbits

- ectopic/retained tissue (endocrine disease) - uterine carcinoma - rabbit syphilis (treponema cuniculi)

Urinary tract diseases rabbits

- haematuria - cystic calculi or bladder 'sludge' - kidney stones - encephalitozoon cuniculi

Encephalitozoon cuniculi in rabbits

- microsporidian protozoon - spread via urine - urinary and neurological signs possible - diagnosis by blood test - may be widespread in the population even if no signs - PM: granulomatous meningo-encephalitis - fenbendazole, but wont eliminate organism -low risk zoonosis

DJD in rabbits

- genetic or traumatic - predisposes to ○ Obesity ○ Reduced urination or scalding ○ Inability to groom ○ Non-caecotrophy ○ Myiasis ○ Gastrointestinal disease

Arthritis and spondylosis in rabbits

- very common, not just in older rabbits - under-diagnosed