Rabbit Health And Injuries

Rabbits are wonderful and raising them can be a great reward. Being a responsible rabbit person means knowing about diseases and injuries and how to handle them. Knowing how to take care of injuries and what to do if your bunny is sick is so important. Preventing injuries and diseases is always your first choice so keep them safe and clean. Keeping rabbits safe and healthy is important for any person who raises rabbits.

If your rabbit is sick then always the best option is to take it to a veterinarian. That may not always be an option though so always do your best to observe and resolve the problem by taking the best actions.

Rabbits are on the bottom of the food chain so everything want to eat them. This is true. Everything from snakes, dogs, coyotes, cats, raccoons, hawks, eagles and even people eat rabbits!
Your bunny is dinner for so many other animals! So it's your job to keep them safe.

Rabbits kept in open areas such as colony rabbits are great if you want to give all the predators a snack. Big birds can easily fly in and swoop them up and you may not ever know what happened unless you saw it happen. You rabbit just disappears.

Dogs

Dog are probably the biggest threat to rabbits. They will attack and kill a rabbit quickly. From a dogs point of view a rabbit is his natural dinner and a dog has instinc to kill a rabbit. It's not the dogs fault. They were born that way. So dont punish a dog for killing or injuring a rabbit because the dog can't help it. Instead consider that it is your fault for allowing the dog to get to the rabbit. Rabbits must be protected from all predators.

Cats

Yes cats will attack and kill rabbits. It's not as common as dog attacks but don't think a cat will not grab a rabbit for a snack especialy smaller, younger rabbits. Unlike dogs, cats can reach inside a rabbit cage and use its claws to injur and kill rabbits.

Snakes

Snakes will eat rabbits. Venomous snakes will bite and wait for the rabbit to die and then swallow it. Non venomous snakes grab a rabbit and wrap around it to stop the rabbit from breathing. Again once it's dead they swallow it.

Birds

We call hawks "chicken hawks" for a reason. Big birds such as hawks and eagles will swoop in and grab a rabbit and you will be scratching your head wondering why your rabbit just disappeared. Hawks cannot get to a rabbit in a cage. Never allow a rabbit to be outside in the open without your supervision. Don't leave rabbits outside without protection.

Injuries

Injuries can occur at any time and can be caused by anything from dropping them to fighting. Rabbits can break a leg by getting it's foot caught in the cage floor.

Diseases

Rabbits can catch many different diseases just like any of us. They catch colds and flu and also have a whole list of diseases that are common to rabbits.

The best action with any disease is prevention.

Keep rabbits clean.

Keep rabbits off the ground.

Give them clean fresh food.

Always have clean water.

Keep your cages clean. Do not allow your bunny to sit in urine or poo. Their feet should be clean and dry at all times. If you do put boards or other item inside the cage for the bunny to sit on just make sure it stays clean. A clean rabbit has a much better chance of staying healthy.

We love to allow our rabbit time to run around on the ground and its great for them to get out and explore. Remember that all the kinds of things that makes rabbits sick live in the ground. Everything from parasitic worms to bacteria and viruses live there. Never allow a bunny to burrow into the ground and make a nest to sleep. Domestic rabbit cannot live in a hole in the ground because they lack some of the required resistant traits found in wild animals. They will get infested with parasites and become sick over time. You may not notice that a rabbit is full of parasitic worms unless you see whats inside of the rabbits intestine.

Don't allow a rabbit to eat spoiled food. Rabbit pellets will become modly if it gets wet. Dont allow mice or insects to get into their food. If its not good enough for you to eat it then don't give it to your rabbits. See the food and nutrition page for what to feed a rabbit.

Rabbits need clean fresh water at all times. Never allow a rabbit to run out of water. Rabbits will drink much more water during warmer months than in cooler months.

Rabbit Diseases Chart

Disease

Risk

Discription - Treatment

Gastrointestinal (GI) Stasis

High

Rabbit stops eating and becomes bloated with gas and dry hair and feces. The hair ball is a result of something making the rabbit stop eating. Stress, respitory illness and even bad food can cause this. Rabbit must be administered fluids via IV and tube fed with anit-gas and rehydrating meds and liquids.

Dental - Tooth problems

High

Rabbits that eat only pellets don't get enough grinding for their teeth. Rabbits teeth grow forever and need to have hay to keep them grinded down. Overgrown teeth can cause abscessed molars and other problems. Bad teeth will lead to GI stasis. Give them hay at all times so they can chew.

Respitory Infection - Snuffles

High

Rabbits with respiratory tract infections may have decreased appetites, eye discharge, decreased stool production, and weight loss. They may develop GI stasis secondary to respiratory tract infection.

Ear Mites

Medium

Ear mites are tiny creatures that can infest your rabbits ears. Rabbits will shake their heads and scratch their ears if they have them. Look inside the ear for signs of reddness and a crusty substance. Ear mits are common and contaigous. They will spread to all your rabbits. They are easy to cure though. Smother them with baby oil or diluted tea tree oil or even cooking oil by putting drops in their ears every day for 3 days. treat all your rabbits even if you don't see in other rabbits ears. Veterinarians have medication that will treat them also.