Rabbits are pets with strong immunity. The main enemies of their health are parasites and viruses. Fur-bearing animals get sick rarely, but seriously. You can guess about the disease by changes in behavior and loss of appetite. But lethargy is a symptom of many rabbit diseases. The main ones are that animals become infected through food, water and sick fellows. But only a veterinarian can determine the exact cause and diagnosis.
Cysticercosis
The disease is caused by cestode tapeworms.Parasites infect the liver of rabbits. Cysticercosis occurs on rabbit farms. The disease is often discovered after slaughter. Acute symptoms appear when a large number of parasites enter the body.
Signs of cysticercosis:
- apathy to the point of complete loss of reactions;
- diarrhea;
- loss of appetite and weight;
- yellowness of the mucous membranes;
- enlarged liver.
The disease is dangerous for young animals and adults with weak immunity. A healthy rabbit gradually adapts to the presence of tapeworms in the body. Symptoms and treatment are approximately the same as for helminthiasis. Cysticercosis is treated with the anti-tapeworm drug Praziquantel. The quality of water and feed is also checked to prevent re-infestation.
Coccidiosis
The disease is caused by coccidia bacteria. Microorganisms parasitize the tissues of internal organs. There are intestinal, hepatic and mixed forms of coccidiosis.
Rabbits become infected through food, water and through contact with a fellow carrier. The more bacteria enter the body, the more severe the disease. Coccidiosis is dangerous for the immunity of animals.
Signs of the liver form:
- the animal drinks a lot, but eats little;
- sits hunched in the corner of the cage;
- The animal's stomach is swollen.
Liver damage is accompanied by jaundice and diarrhea. The pet is losing weight. It can remain in a chronic state for 3-4 weeks. In the acute phase, rabbits suffer from diarrhea, fall into a coma and die within ten days.
With intestinal coccidiosis, the following symptoms are added:
- blood and mucus, green color in the droppings;
- pale mucous membranes of the mouth, eyes;
- tousled fur.
The disease appears on the fourth or sixth day after infection. Rabbits, older animals and animals weakened by other diseases are more susceptible to intestinal coccidiosis.Due to rapid weight loss, cramps begin, and refusal of food quickly leads to intestinal stasis. Coccidia are difficult to detect in stool even with laboratory tests.
Animals are given coccidiostats against pathogens, antibiotics for secondary infections, and probiotics to restore intestinal function.
Pasteurellosis
The infectious disease is caused by Pasteurella. The bacterium affects the respiratory and digestive organs. There are two types of pasteurellosis:
- acute - develops and leads to death within two days. Manifested by high temperature (41 degrees), loss of appetite, pallor of the mucous membranes, swelling of the respiratory tract and intestines;
- chronic - loss of appetite is accompanied by diarrhea, shallow breathing, and purulent nasal discharge.
Sources of the pathogen include domestic and wild birds. The acute phase of the disease is treated with antibiotics and sulfonamides. Treatment will help if you start it at the first sign. For chronic pasteurellosis, alternate sulfa drugs and antibiotics.
Myxomatosis
The myxomatosis virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, fleas, ticks and other blood-sucking insects. And also rabbits that have recovered from the disease. Myxomatosis is a systemic disease; at the beginning of its development it affects the skin, penetrates the lymph nodes and spreads throughout the body.
Symptoms:
- apathy;
- lack of appetite;
- swollen eyelids, wet eyes;
- matted fur around the eyes;
- large blisters on the face and under the tail;
- blue discoloration of mucous membranes;
- folds on the scalp.
The rabbit's condition worsens within three days: straight ears droop, vision and hearing decline. The disease is accompanied by a high temperature of 41 degrees. There is also a nodular form. Instead of blisters, nodules appear on the skin. Then necrosis begins in their place.
Symptoms appear on the third day after infection or after an incubation period that lasts up to ten days. Against the background of chronic myxomatosis, a secondary infection caused by staphylococcus, pneumonia, develops. There is no cure for the virus. Rabbits are vaccinated with a complex vaccine against myxomatosis and viral hemorrhagic disease. With the nodular form, 50% of animals survive. Relief occurs on the tenth day, and recovery on the thirtieth or forty-fifth day.
In acute edematous myxomatosis, rabbits die or the disease becomes chronic. In this case, rabbits need to be treated with antibiotics for a secondary infection.
Fascioliasis
The disease is caused by a trematode parasite. Fascioliasis affects animals that are fed grass from swampy areas. Pathogens live in the liver.
Symptoms:
- oppression;
- refusal to eat;
- yellowness of mucous membranes.
Sick rabbits have a painfully enlarged liver. Animals are prescribed anthelmintic drugs and given grass and water from other sources.
Listeriosis
The disease gets its name from the causative bacterium, Listeria. Dangerous microorganisms are transmitted through the feces of sick animals. Listeriosis in the hyperacute phase has no symptoms. The rabbit suddenly dies. The acute phase in pregnant rabbits is recognized by miscarriage, subsequent loss of vital activity and baldness. Death occurs on the second or fourth day.
The disease is incurable. Only vaccination is carried out against listeriosis. Immunity in vaccinated animals lasts for 5 months.
Tularemia
The carriers of the disease are rats, mice and rabbit lice. Tularemia has no obvious signs. In sick rabbits, the lymph nodes are inflamed, which is also typical for staphylococcosis. Only a specialist can recognize tularemia, but there is no treatment.
Sick rabbits are destroyed, the premises are disinfected, and grass from local fields is excluded from the diet of healthy animals.
Infectious rhinitis
The causative agents of bacterial diseases are staphylococci, pasteurella, streptococci. Rabbits become infected from sick relatives and humans. Bacteria live on dishes, bedding, clothes and shoes.
Symptoms of rhinitis:
- frequent sneezing;
- redness of the nose;
- white discharge;
- crust around the nostrils.
Due to weakened immunity, concomitant diseases develop: otitis media, conjunctivitis, stomatitis, skin abscesses and sepsis. Rhinitis caused by Bordetella bacteria is complicated by bronchitis and pneumonia. Without treatment, the animal will die in 1-2 months.
If your rabbit has an infectious runny nose, you need to strengthen its immunity. For immunomodulation, Derinat or Ribotan are used. In acute cases of the disease, antibiotics are prescribed. A solution of furatsilin, prepared from an effervescent tablet, is dripped into the nose - 500 milligrams are dissolved in fifty grams of boiling water. After cooling to room temperature, drop a drop into each nostril 6 times a day.
Trichophytosis - ringworm and mites
The skin disease is caused by a fungus. Its spores are found in bedding, feed, and animal hair. Ringworm often affects baby rabbits. Symptoms of trichophytosis appear on the eighth or fourteenth day:
- skin peels;
- wool falls out.
Blisters appear in bald spots and become covered with a gray crust. Similar symptoms occur when infected with itch mites.
Trichophytosis at the initial stage is treated with emollients and antiseptics. The affected areas are lubricated with Vaseline and fish oil. The next day, remove the scabs, trim the hair around it and apply a solution of salicylic acid, Yam ointment, nitrofungin or mycoseptin.Therapeutic bathing in a solution of neguvon or bromocyclene is used against ticks.
Pneumonia
Pneumonia develops as a result of bronchitis caused by infection or unfavorable living conditions.
Symptoms:
- heat;
- dyspnea;
- cough;
- mucous, purulent discharge from the nose.
It is possible to cure a rabbit at the onset of the disease with the help of antihistamines, antibiotics, vitamins, and immunomodulators.
Poisoning and gastrointestinal diseases
Intestinal diseases include:
- formation of a hairball in the stomach - the wool sticks together, hardens and blocks the digestive tract;
- enteritis - inflammation of the small intestine, often develops against the background of diseases that destroy the microflora;
- gastrointestinal stasis or bloating - occurs due to low-quality food and lack of fiber.
Gastrointestinal diseases are dangerous for domestic rabbits, as they refuse food, suffer from constipation and die from intoxication.
In case of poisoning, already familiar symptoms appear: lethargy, loss of appetite and bowel dysfunction. To help the animal, you need to balance the diet with fiber and exclude foods that irritate the intestines, such as cabbage.
Fleas
Blood-sucking insects settle in the fur, transmit the causative agent of myxomatosis and cause anemia.
Symptoms of the presence of fleas:
- the rabbit often itches and bites its fur;
- Black spots are visible on the withers and along the spine.
Fleas are combed out, animals are bathed with anti-flea shampoos. Medicinal solutions are applied to the neck and back.
Worms
Helminthiasis is caused by parasitic microorganisms of tape, round or flat shape. Sources of infection are feces, green food, water. Often worms do not cause symptoms.But you should be wary if your pet eats a lot, but loses weight and often diarrhea.
What can a person get infected from a rabbit?
Diseases transmitted to people:
- fascioliasis;
- tularemia;
- pasteurellosis;
- listeriosis;
- cysticercosis;
- scabies;
- hemorrhagic disease.
You can get infected from ornamental and farm breeds. Before contacting sick animals, you should wear gloves. Helminths enter the human body after eating the liver and meat of rabbits.
Prevention measures
How to keep your pets healthy:
- cover the cages with mosquito nets;
- find out at the veterinary clinic about the epidemiological situation;
- get vaccinated against myxomatosis, pasteurellosis;
- change the cage and dishes after the animal has recovered;
- wash drinking bowls, feeders, regularly refresh the bedding;
- comb the coat 2 times a week;
- for normal digestion and to prevent the formation of lumps in the stomach, feed hay from meadow herbs, branches of fruit trees, and vegetables that contain fiber;
- To prevent obesity, keep him in a spacious cage and let him out for a walk.
To prevent animals from getting sick, you need to buy environmentally friendly food from trusted suppliers and keep the cages clean and warm.
