VET 215 - Laboratory Animal Medicine: Rabbits

Flashcards for VET 215 - Laboratory Animal Medicine: Rabbits

Scientific name for the domestic rabbit

Oryctolagus cuniculus

Order of rabbits

Lagomorpha

Most popular rabbit breed used in research

New Zealand White (NZW)

2nd popular rabbit breed used in research

Dutch

Californian

• Large size

• Meat production

• White, colored nose, ears, tail, and feet

Large rabbit breed occasionally used for research

Flemish Giant

Common pet rabbit breeds

American chinchilla, Angora, Satin, Rex, Silver Martin, Dutch, American Checkered Giant, Polish, Lop, Lion head

Rabbits are commonly used in ophthalmic studies due to their well-studied _

Ocular morphology

rabbits are diurnal

and are most active during the day, particularly in the mornings and late afternoons.

Scientist who did most of his work with rabies using the rabbit

Louis Pasteur

What rabbits might do when frightened or hurt

Scream

How rabbits show aggression

Stomping feet & snorting

Housing

• Temperature range:  62-70 deg F

• Relative humidity:  30-70%

• Air changes:  10-15/hr

• Light:    12-14 hrs/day

What to clean excreta trays with

Acidic solution

Nutritional content of dry pelleted commercial feed for rabbits

15% protein, 10% crude fiber, 22.5% fiber diets used to reduce obesity and prevent hairball formation

80% of a rabbit's diet should be _.

Timothy or grass hay

Type of feeders attached to front of cage for rabbits

J-type hoppers

Daily food consumption of pelleted feed for rabbits

150 grams (50g/kg)

Water consumption for rabbits

~50-150mL/kg/day

Term for eating feces and conserves water, vitamins, nitrogen

Coprophagic

Body Temp of Rabbit

101-104° F

HR of Rabbit

180-250 bpm

RR of Rabbit

30-60 bpm

Part of anatomy used for thermoregulation

Ears

Bone makes up only ____ % of total body weight

8%

High muscle/bone ratio

Dental Formula of Rabbit

2 ( I 2/1, C 0/0, P 3/2, M 3/3) = 28 teeth in total.

Additional pair of upper incisors in rabbits

Peg teeth

Space between incisors and premolars

Diastema

all teeth of rabbits are

“open rooted” (grow continuously)

Rabbits cannot _ like rats & horses

Cannot vomit

—The cardiac sphincter has enough tone that true vomiting is prevented

50% of lymphoid tissue in rabbit is in the ______

sacculus rotundus(end of ileum) & the appendix

Two types of feces produced

"hard pellets" and "cecotropes".

• “night feces” or “soft feces”

• Cecotrophs covered with mucin to protect them from acid pH of stomach usually ingested/swallowed directly from anus

• Contain:  high H2O content, digested bacteria (lacto bacillus is NOT common flora), nitrogen, electrolytes, volatile fatty acids(energy source) & B and K vitamins

• Coprophagic

Female rabbits have a .

• Double cervix

• 4-5 pairs of mammary glands

• Only females have nipples

• Mature females have prominent dewlap - females pluck hair from it to build nest

Male rabbits have open _ for life.

Inguinal canals

Age at which testes descend in male rabbits

12 weeks

Sexing

• Gently pressing skin back from genital opening:

• Female has short slit like opening

• Male has round opening; digital pressure will extrude the penis

• Scrotal pouches in male

Female rabbits estrous cycle length _.

Induced ovulators

A male rabbit is called _.

Buck

A female rabbit is called _.

Doe

Baby rabbits are called _.

Kits

Parturition in rabbits is called _.

Kindling

Ovulation occurs ____hrs after mating

10 hrs

Kits are born

altricial

Ears open at _ days

8 days

Eyes open at _ days

10 days

Begin eating solid food at _ days

16-17 days

When handling rabbits, they can

Kick with hind limbs

Grip loose skin on back of neck; with the other hand

support their body weight or rear legs for better control.

Enzyme that hydrolyzes atropine and makes it unusable

Atropine esterase

Hypnosis

Place rabbit on its’ back and stroke the abdomen (doesn’t always work)

Blood Collection sites

• Marginal ear vein

• Auricular artery

• Cephalic vein

• Lateral saphenous

• Jugular vein

• Cardiac puncture (under anesthesia/terminal)

• Total blood volume: 160 - 480 ml

• Single sample:   20 -  40 ml

• Exsanguination: 60 - 160 ml

New intubation technique that shaped to mirror the pharyngeal airway anatomical structures of rabbits and cats and prevent laryngeal and tracheal trauma

V -Gel

Lumbar in rabbits

is easily fractured

Rabbit urine

• Turbid, thick or creamy due to calcium carbonate

• pH > 8 alkaline urine

• Pigmented

• Yellow to orange or brown

Anesthesia routes

1. Injectable

2. Intranasal (not as common)

3. Inhalant

Caution when masking (struggle and injury)

Rabbits are known to hold their breath if not pre-medicated

Premedication allows for smoother induction

**pre-med avoids significant catecholamine release which can result in death during the procedure

Euthanasia in rabbits

Overdose of barbiturate or euthanizing agent IV/IP

Toxicology studies- anesthetize and exsanguinate

Most common post-op issue for rabbit

Hypothermia

Most common bacterial infection in rabbits

Pasteurellosis

• Caused by Pasteurella multocida

• Can spread to multiple locations causing a variety of disease syndromes

• Lives in the upper respiratory tract

Most common form of disease in the respiratory tract

Snuffles

• Caused by:

  • Pasteurella multocida sometimes have concurrent infection with

  • Bordetella brochiseptica

• Transmission:

  • Direct contact, aerosol contamination

• Clinical signs:

  • Sneezing, conjunctivitis, purulent discharge from nares(seen on forelimbs from wiping nose)

• Other signs:  multiple, large, creamy abscesses with otitis media or otitis interna causing a head tilt: torticollis (head tilt or wry neck)

• Treatment:

  • Penicillin, chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin

• Reinfection is common

• Cull from herd

2^nd most common health problem in rabbits

‒Enterotoxemia and Mucoid Enteropathy

• Primary concern is in young rabbits 7-10 weeks old

• Changes in feeding, weaning, antibiotic therapy, and concurrent infection are all  stressors that allow colonization

• Caused by: E. coli, Clostridium spiroforme, Clostridia perfringens, Clostridia difficile

• Clinical signs:  hunched posture, diarrhea, dehydration and death

• Treatment: not usually successful often die within a week

• Increase fiber in diet to protect against the disease, sometimes actobacillus can help normalize gut flora

*Antibiotics implicated in causing issues:  Penicillin, erythromycin, clindamycin, lincomycin, streptomycin

 *Safer antibiotics for use in rabbits:  chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, trimethoprim/sulfa, gentamicin, neomycin, vancomycin and metronidazole

Tyzzer’s Disease

• Not common in lab rabbits

• Caused by: Clostridium piliforme

• Transmission: Shed in feces

• Disease becomes apparent during stress, Overcrowding, Shipping, Poor ventilation, Improper nutrition

• Clinical signs: Diarrhea, Dehydration, Anorexia, Death

• TX: oxytetracycline

Tularemia

• Francisella tularensis

• “Rabbit fever”,

• Rare in lab setting, primarily affects wild rabbits/hares

• Transmission: direct contact, bite wound, inhalation, ingestion, arthropod vector

• Causes sudden death

• Zoonotic potential causes fever, lymphadenopathy and death in humans if not treated

Rabbit ear mite

Psoroptes cuniculi

Psoroptes cuniculi (rabbit ear mite)

• Non-burrowing mite, feeds on epidermal skin of inner ear

• Transmission: direct contact

• Clinical signs: Dry crusty exudate on inner surface of ear, Head shaking and scratching of the ears

• Diagnosis:  otoscopic exam, or ear swab

• TX:  Ivermectin injections SQ; mineral oil or acaracides

• Topical tx must be repeated every 2 or 3 days to kill newly hatched mites

Cuterebra

• “Warbles”

• Appear as lumps w/ holes

• Usually found on the neck or upper extremities

• TX:  sx excision to remove larvae

• Crushing the larvae may result in shock & death of the rabbit

Buphthalmia

• Form of glaucoma

• Common inherited disease of domestic rabbits especially New Zealand Whites

Hair Balls

• Trichobezoars

• Rabbits stop eating & drinking

• Fail to pass feces, anorexia, weight loss

• Caused by excessive self grooming (boredom)

• Also suggested: deficiencies in copper, magnesium, some amino acids and fiber

• Radiographs or palpation

L7-S1 common

Fracture or Luxation of lumbar spine

hip dysplasia

Splay leg

Slobbers

Moist Dermatitis

Sore hock or bumblefoot

Ulcerative Pododermatitis