Rabbit Health

Kali checking out the alysum

Rabbits are generally very easy to care for. Keeping them clean, well fed with plenty of clean water, and comfortable living conditions, is the easiest way to have happy healthy rabbits. Most of the time rabbits are healthy. Angora rabbits have one problem, wool block, that is not so common in other varieties of domestic rabbits. For the most part, rabbits are fairly easy to care for and keep healthy.

Wool Block

Rabbits are very clean and are continuously licking themselves clean. Angora rabbits, like all rabbits, wash themselves often. Their long hair comes out and is swallowed if the rabbit is not groomed often enough. The hair gets stuck in their digestive system and blocks them up so that cant have bowel movements. They hurt so badly that they then stop eating and die.

Wool block Symptoms: Lack of appetite and a listless behavior and look in eyes is the main symptom.

The first indication of hair in the digestive system is if their droppings are not dropping cleanly into the pan below, and instead are hanging from the bottom wire of their cages.

Immediately make sure they are getting fresh dry hay or alfalfa, fresh fruits, kale leaves and flax seed added to their diets to their diets. If available, feed green grass tips, clover leaves, and/or dandelion leaves.

If the problem gets worse, you will notice they are not eating at all. It is serious at this point. We have lost some and saved some when they got to this point.

At the first sight of food not eaten one day, act right away.

  • Give fresh fruit such as apples, bananas, papaya, daily
  • Offer as much as the rabbit will eat of deep green leafy vegetables such as Kale (the best), Collards, cabbage, clover or dandelion leaves. Try green grass blades, as long as no pesticides have been applied.
  • Offer 2-3 tablespoons of whole flax seed each day and once a week when rabbits are feeling well.
  • Offer a spoonful of yogurt with active culture if the rabbit likes it. Yogurt encourages a healthy bacteria in the stomach and intestines. It is a good idea to offer yogurt as a treat when rabbits are healthy so they are not offered something strange when they are feeling sick.
  • Give a teaspoonful of olive oil 2 times a day, but for no linger than 3 days. If the problem gets more serious, use an eye dropper and give an enema of warm water with an eyedropper to try and help him pass the blockage.
  • Oatmeal, both dry and cooked will stimulate their appitites if they are well enough to eat it.
  • Always make sure there is plenty of fresh water.
  • Give the rabbit 1/2 tsp. or so of Colase Syrup (also available as Diocto Syrup), which is a stool softener when wool block is first suspected. It is a surfactant, and is very effective. You get this at pharmacies, and may have to special order it.
  • Mix 1 tsp. of meat tenderizer with a little bit of mashed banana and offer that to the rabbit.

After they start feeling better, continue giving more than usual fresh fruit, green leavy raw vegetables and flax seed every day.

To prevent wool block, groom angora rabbits at lest weekly, feed high-fiber rabbit feed, and offer plain grass hay or clean straw to the rabbits. Put at least one Tablespoon of whole flax seed with thier food at least once a week. Flax seed is a mild laxative.

Some people offer the rabbits papaya tablets once a week. You may also offer them fresh pineapple or frozen pineapple juice instead of water once a week. Papaya and pineapple have enzymes that seem to be helpful in preventing wool block. It is also good NOT to overfeed the rabbits, as overfeeding may aggravate a tendency to wool block.

Offer finicky eaters alfalfa (you should know that some breeders have had the experience of their rabbits dying from “overdosing” on alfalfa), elm leaves and twigs, cottonwood leaves and twigs, dandelions, and chemical-free grass.

Wool/Fur mites

If the rabbit’s skin becomes red, irritated and flaky, or if the rabbit simply appears to have a bad case of dandruff, wool mites may be the cause. Consult your licensed veterinarian if you suspect mites.

Try using cat flea powder first.It is great for spot treatments. DO NOT use any other kind of flea powder, that may be toxic to rabbits and that might not be effective against fur mites.

If there is still a problem and with professional veterinary advice, administer Ivomec. Most medicines are not registered for rabbits so you have to use drugs that are for other animals. Some people use 1% strength Ivomec for swine. There is anecdotal evidence that this may also be effective against rabbit pinworms. Measure the 1% Ivomec out at the rate of 0.02 ml per pound of body weight. This will work out to 1/10 ml for a 5 pound rabbit. That is ONLY 2 hundredths of a ml per pound! These dosages are very tiny. Use an insulin, one-cc syringe to correctly measure these minute amounts. Repeat the dose again after two weeks if the mites were severe, then again after another two weeks. You should know that Ivomec has not been officially approved for use in rabbits, so consult your veterinarian about its use.

Respiratory Problems

A number of things can cause respiratory problems. A dirty hutch, where the rabbit has to smell his own waste an cause cold-lke symptoms. Always keep waste cleaned up and the hutch clean.

We had rabbits that picked up cold-like symptoms that lasted for many months after we attended a rabbit show. We finially got rid of it after giving then an antibiotic.

Predators

Predators - Dogs, cats, racoons, snakes, owls can sometimes be a problem if rabbits are housed outdoors. This is the saddest and most tragic aspect of raising rabbits. Unless one is extremely proactive and vigilant, predators WILL be a problem at least once. Hopefully you will be able to prevent these terrible attacks in your rabbitry.

No matter where you live, town or country, predators are a potential problem. Dogs are the most common and obvious problem. Any dog is a potential rabbit killer. Your own family dog may learn to associate your rabbits with his "pack" and protect them, but don't leave a dog alone with rabbits. The rabbitry must be fenced away from dogs. Dogs can be surprisingly determined to get access to rabbits. Likely damage: Cages ripped apart, skin ripped off rabbits, rabbit still alive with paws missing, faces eaten off, and so on.

Raccoons and cats usually will not bother with adult rabbits. They generally go for succulent, tender little bunnies. Raccoons and cats will reach right through the cage wire and eat bunnies. You may find a disembodied head rolling around the cage; that seems to be a trademark of cats and raccoons.

Snakes can be very quick and very clever about stealing kits from the nestbox. Your "harmless" little garter snakes are particularly slick at this.

Rats enjoy a diet of kits, and can be clever about killing older bunnies, too. Rats may bite a bunny's face and hang on until the bunny is suffocated, then begin to feast.