Rabbit Medicine & Vaccinations

Understanding rabbit anatomy, physiology and behaviour is essential knowledge in the successful management and treatment of disease in your pet rabbit.

Just over 50% of sick rabbits presented are due to gastrointestinal disease, and a large portion is due to diet. (See the Nutrition page.)

Be aware of Caecum
The caecum (important part of the rabbit digestive tract) can have a high disease rate caused commonly by incorrect diet, gastrointestinal parasites, ingestion of disease-causing bacteria or toxins and dehydration, or a combination of these things.

Gastrointestinal Disease

A rabbit produces as many as 150 hard faecal pellets daily for a 2 to 3 kg rabbit, with a rapid gastric transit emptying time for all rabbits. If less than 20 are produced, veterinary advice should be sought, but these are not caecotrophs and are not usually eaten.

Infectious Disease Prevention

Calicivirus
Government-introduced Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) is highly contagious and fatal to rabbits and hares. It is transmitted by flying insects and infected rabbits. Vaccination (Cyclap) is effective against the government-released strains of type RHDV1 (the original strain) and RHDV1-K 5 (the Korean strain), but not against RHDV2 (the non-government strain).

Myxomatosis Virus
Despite being introduced in the 1950s, no vaccine is permissible in Australia. Symptoms include facial swellings, and the external genitalia and anus can be affected similarly. Transmission occurs primarily from infected mosquitoes.

Biosecurity Measures
Biosecurity measures despite vaccination are very important for these viruses. The best method is keeping your rabbit inside away from insects and other rabbits. If rabbits are to be partly or fully outside, a mosquito net covering is useful. When cleaning an outside rabbit hutch, the use of a high-speed fan to pull air away from the hutch when it is exposed to insects due to removing the net may reduce flying insect penetration.

Seek Further Information

Non-viral infectious diseases can be divided into bacterial, parasitic and fungal. Further information can be discussed at your rabbit’s health check.