Rocky Hill Rabbits

Digestive Disorders

 

      Below is a list of common digestive disorders/diseases. Weaning, a new environment, travel, feed changes, toxins, bad feed, and parasites are all common causes of digestive upsets. Things you can do to help ward off these things is to feed only good quality pellets and hay (no mold, no wet feed), wean no earlier than 4 weeks, make feed changes gradually, keep cages and hutches clean, regularly clean and disinfect feeders, bowls, water bottles, nest boxes, etc. When you buy a rabbit, quarantine them away from the other rabbits for 30 days. 

     At the first sign of any trouble; diarrhea, rabbit not eating, constipation, etc pull the pellets and only feed hay or weeds/herbs known to help digestive upsets (dandelion greens, plantain, blackberry leaves). For bloat or any sort of stomach pain, you can use Similisan infant gas drops. Just do a few drops a couple times a day. For constipation you can use magnesium citrate sparingly. Benebac or even just plain yogurt can help get the good gut flora back. If the rabbit has a pot-belly, dull coat, or just doesn't look healthy, you can give one pea-sized amount of Ivermectin paste, like what is used to deworm horses. If the rabbit stops eating completely, try different weeds or small bites of banana or old fashioned oats.  

 

 

* Hairballs/Hair Chewing: Rabbits normally groom themselves a lot and this isn't an issue unless there is simply too much hair consumed that can't be flushed out of the digestive system. In small amounts, hair is passed out of the body along with fiber(hay or other roughage) and doesn't cause any problems. Hair chewing is often triggered by stress or boredom and can be prevented by providing safe toys for the rabbit to chew on and eliminating stress from the rabbit's environment.

Hairballs can be difficult to diagnose because they are difficult to feel and rarely show up in an X-Ray.

Symptoms:  Loss of appetite, weight loss, death within 3-4 weeks

Treatment: Medications to stimulate the digestive system, fluids to relieve dehydration. Probiotics help restore the good bacteria in the gut and Pineapple juice and Papaya have been used with great results. Pineapple juice (not canned juice, fresh or frozen) contains the digestive enzyme bromelain. Bromelain helps restore the normal function of the stomach and helps pass the hairball. Papaya contains the enzyme called papayazyme that helps break down the mucus that holds the hairball together. The rabbit can be given the juice once or twice daily for 3 days. Increasing fiber in the diet in the form of hay or straw also helps remove hairballs. Mineral oil, cat hairball treatments, or laxatives are not effective and should NOT be used. 

Prevention: Regular grooming during shedding and for long-haired breeds, toys to reduce boredom, plenty of hay in the diet.

 

*Enterotoxemia: This is caused by the Clostridium spiroforme bacteria and commonly affects rabbits between 4 and 8 weeks of age. Adolescents and adults are sometimes affected. It is a rapidly progressing disease marked by severe diarrhea. The Clostridium bacteria is thought to be naturally occuring in the rabbit's body in low, harmless numbers but rises in response to triggers such as stress, diet, and antibiotic use.. Diet seems to be a factor and is seen less in high-fiber diets. Certain antibiotics, lincomycin,clindamycin and erythromycin cause enterotoxemia and should never be used.

Symptoms: severe diarrhea, lack of energy, rough coat, staining around the rear end. Death within 24 hours.

Treatment: fluid treatment to prevent dehydration

Prevention: high-fiber diet, reduce environmental stress. Adding copper sulfate to young rabbit's diet has been shown to help prevent it. 

 

*Tyzzer's Disease: This is caused by the Clostridium piliforme bacteria. The infection spreads through contaminated food or droppings and is associated with stress and poor sanitation. The mortality rate is high and in a severe outbreak, about 90% of affected rabbits die.  Some rabbits develop a long lasting infection that appears as a wasting disease. Internally, there is damage to the heart, liver and intestine. Recently weaned rabbits are commonly affected.

Symptoms: large amounts of watery diarrhea, loss of appetite, dehydration, loss of energy, staining of the hindquarters, death within 1-3 days.

Treatment: In some cases Oxytetracycline has helped. Fluids should be given to prevent dehydration and probiotics may be useful.

Prevention: regular cleaning of cages, disinfecting contaminated cages, feeders, bottles,etc with 3% bleach to prevent spread of infection, reduce stress.

 

*Colibacillosis: caused from E.coli bacteria. There are 2 different types, depending on the age of rabbit affected.

Symptoms: In rabbits 1-2 weeks old they will have severe yellowish diarrhea that is often fatal. It is common for the entire litter to die of this disease. In weaned rabbits 4-6 weeks old the symptoms are very similar to those of enterotoxemia. Death often occurs in 5-14 days and any surviving rabbits remain weak and do not grow to their normal size.

Treatment: In severe cases there is usually nothing that can be done. In mild cases antibiotics might help.

Prevention: Regular cleaning and disinfection of cages, water bottles, feeders,etc and high-fiber diets have been shown to help prevent it in recently weaned rabbits.

 

*Proliferative enteropathy: caused by the Lawsonia intracellularis bacteria. This disease usually does not cause death unless another digestive issue is going on at the same time. Recently weaned rabbits are usually affected more than others.

Symptoms: diarrhea,depression, dehydration. Symptoms go away within 1-2 weeks.

Treatment: give fluids to treat for dehydration, probiotics to restore stomach function. Isolate affected rabbits.

 

*Mucoid enteritis: the cause is unknown but it may occur at the same time as other intestinal diseases. Factors that might contribute to it are recent dietary changes, too much or too little fiber in diet, antibiotics, environmental stress, and infection with other bacteria.

Symptoms: mucus covered droppings, loss of appetite, lack of energy, below normal body temperature, dehydration, rough coat, sometimes a bloated abdomen, staining on rear end.

Treatment: There is no effective treatment but intense fluid therapy to correct dehydration, an enema to remove the mucus, antibiotics and pain relievers may be tried with some success. Rabbits may live about 1 week.

Prevention: high fiber diet, reduce stress to rabbit, regular cleaning and disinfecting.

 

*Rotavirus: this is shed in the droppings of affected rabbits and young rabbits of weaning age are most susceptible. It is mildly disease-causing on it's own but is often complicated with E.coli or Clostridium bacteria, making it more deadly.

Symptoms: diarrhea

Treatment: probiotics, fluids if necessary. It is self-limiting if affected rabbits are not introduced back into the population. Stopping breeding for 4-6 weeks to allow the disease to run it's course seems to be effective. Infected does do not infect their offspring.

Prevention: Isolate affected rabbits, follow regular cleaning practices, minimize environmental stress and give plenty of hay.

 

*Rabbit calicivirus disease: also known as viral hemorrhagic disease. Highly infectious and should be reported. Currently the last known case in the U.S was in 2000. It is transmitted by direct contact with infected rabbits and by indirect contact with inanimate objects. The infection rate in a group is usually close to 100% and the death rate is 60-90%.

Symptoms: severe fever. Internally it causes liver damage, inflammation of the intestines, damage to lymph nodes, rupture of blood vessels in major organs and death within 24 hours.

Treatment: None.

Prevention: Quarantine all new rabbits minimum of 30 days, follow regular cleaning practices

 

*Coccidiosis: caused by Eimeria protozoa and is a common, world-wide disease. There are 2 forms of the disease; hepatic which affects the liver, and intestinal, which affects the intestines. It is spread through contaminated feed or water. Rabbits that recover frequently become carriers.

Hepatic coccidiosis is seen more often in young rabbits. The disease is typically mild and the only symptoms may be lack of appetite and a rough coat. The rabbit may fail to gain weight. Death often occurs after a short period of illness.

Intestinal coccidiosis can occur in all rabbits despite the best circumstances. The infection is mild and usually no symptoms are observed.

Treatment: antibacterial or anticoccidial drugs may be prescribed. Rabbits that survive are immune to later infections but may be a carrier. A rigorous sanitation routine must be followed to prevent contamination. Ammonia solution (10%) is the best choice for disinfecting cages, feeders, wattle bottles,etc.

 

*Internal parasites: Internal parasites found in rabbits are tapeworms, pinworms, and roundworms. They most commonly pick up the larvae from contaminated grass outside, wether it be hand-picked or they are allowed to graze outside. Rabbits serve as a host for the tapeworm commonly found in dogs so if you have dogs that go around the rabbits you'll want to deworm the dogs for tapeworms also. Roundworms cause what is known as "wry neck" in rabbits and parasites in general may lead to the rabbit being unable to gain proper weight, have a dull or rough coat, lack of energy, or blood in the stool.

Very little official testing has been done to approve dewormers for rabbits but many breeders use a small, pea-size amount of Ivermectin horse dewormer to deworm their rabbits. It is not advised to deworm a pregnant or nursing doe, or a rabbit younger than 8 weeks and deworming should be limited to twice a year. (I will continue to research this topic) 

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