Rabbits, rodents, and ferrets

classification of rabbits

Order: lagomorpha

Family: Leporidae

difference between hares and rabbits

hares: born with hair and good eyesight (precocial) and live above ground

rabbits: born hairless with poor sight (altricial) and live underground in warrens or burrows

name of domestic rabbits

oryctolagus cuniculus

uses of domestic rabbits

• companionship

• food (5th in worlds production)

• clothing from fur/pelts

• research

female rabbit

doe

male rabbit

buck

small rabbit

2-4 pounds

medium rabbit

4-14 pounds

giant rabbit

greater than 14 pounds

new zealand rabbit

max weight 12 pounds

• important research animal especially on antibodies

giant angora

can become very large

flemish giant rabbit

can become very large

gestation period of rabbits

29-34 days

weaning age of rabbits

4-6 weeks

breeding life of rabbits

1-4 years

rabbit bones

low density, less than 50% of cat bones

rabbit vision

eyes are wide set with no binocular vision

• farsighted with low number of cones

rabbit teeth

open rooted and grow continuously

• like chisels that cut deep

problems due to rabbit bones

very fragile and can break from bad handling causing acute paralysis

rabbit behaviour

very defensive with back legs and will bite if provoked

rabbit nutrition

obligate herbivores that chew food to powder

• fiber is very important

problems if rabbits don’t have enough fiber

can cause gastric atony, diarrhea, intestinal dysregulation and severe intestinal infections

high calcium diets in rabbits

causes urolithiasis (bladder stones)

trichobezoar

Hair ball impacted in the stomach

• may be caused by reduced fiber

coprophagia

eating their own fecal material

• rabbits practice this to recover lost nutrients from deification to maintain nutrients

soft rabbit stool

cecotrophs

• soft, dark mucous covered pellets with nutrients still present that rabbits consume

hard rabbit stool

normal excrement that rabbits do not eat

pododermatitiis

sore hocks of the back feet that may progress to skin wounds and ascending infections into tendon, muscles and joints

causes of pododermatitis

hair loss, obesity, small confinement, wired flooring, poor sanitation or wet environment

pasteurellosis

endemic pneumonia caused by gram negative bacteria that causes significant morbidity and mortality in rabbits

transmission of pasteurellosis

young rabbits acquire it from adults by direct nasal contact or sneezing

• might also be contracted by venereal and blood contact

clinical signs of rabbit snuffles

• sudden death

• cold symptoms

• inner ear infection

• torticollis

• uterine and testicular infection

• lung infection (pneumonia)

inner ear infection from pasteurellosis

the ear that is infected leans that side of the head down

• when the rabbit moves it will circle in the direction the head is leaning due to the side the infection is on.

cause of RHD

highly contagious calicivirus

transmission of RHD

direct contact especially in the mouth, eyes, and nose

clinical signs of RHD

dullness, difficulty breathing, sudden death

treatment of RHD

euthanasia and depopulation

RHD in australia

released from a lab accident and terminated 10 million rabbits

• the young eventually became immune

tularemia

also known as rabbit fever and one of the most infectious pathogenic bacteria that infects intracellularly

transmission of tularemia

Most common from biting agents but also direct contact from contaminated water, food, soil, animal tissues and can be transmitted to people from ticks or breathing it in while near rabbits

pathogenesis of tularemia

lives in macrophages to lyse them and escape immune protection, targeting liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, lymph nodes

environmental ability of tularemia

very robust and environmentally persistent in the environment for 3-4 months

• can live for years in frozen meat

• easily killed by heat and disinfectant

Type A tularemia

most virulent and found in hares, rabbits, and ticks

• North America

Type B tularemia

less virulent, present in rodents

• in north america, europe, and asia

clinical signs of tularemia

• milk spot livers

• depressed, anorectic, lethargic in rabbits

• weight loss and vomiting in cats and dogs

may be nonexistent, generalized to sudden death

six forms of tularemia in people

• ulceroglandular

• glandular

• ocularglandular

• oropharyngeal

• typhoid

• pneumonic

smallest rodent

african pygmy mouse

largest rodent

capybara

uses of rodents

food, pelts, and research

GFP transgenic mice

Jelly fish DNA injected into mice to make the fluorescent protein effective in mice and make them green

gestation period of a mouse

20-30 days

gestation period of rats

20 - 23 days

sub order of mice

myomorpha

common house mouse

mus musculus

deer mouse

peromyscus maniculatus

diet of mice

omnivores

• eat mostly plants but mothers will eat children if they are stressed

metabolism of mice

very high activity causing them to be prone to hypothermia

laboratory drive

rattus norvegicus

eyes of rats and mice

have a third eyelid called a nictitating membrane and a gland that secretes fluid to lubricate it

harderian gland

secretes fluid to lubricate the third eyelid of mice and rats

porphyrin staining

look like tears of blood in stressed rats but is only from secretions of prophyrin, not actually blood from the eye

ringtail

caused by low humidity in environment where the skin of a rat becomes dry and contracts reducing blood flow

• might eventually sluff off the tail

plague

non-motile, facultative, intracellular gram-negative rod bacteria called yersinia pestis

transmission of the plague

mostly from flea bite bit ca also be from direct animal and human contact or aerosol secretions from animals and humans

plague in the environment/humans

survives for long periods of time in organic material

• can live in blood for 100 days

• can survive in human bodies for 9 months

• lives in water and moist soil for several weeks

• can be destroyed by heat

virulence factors of the plague

• exotoxin

• endotoxin

• phospholipase D

• coagulase

• pesticin

• plasminogen activator

two forms of the plague

sylvatic (wild) and urban (domestic)

reservoirs of the plague

• rock squirrels

• ground squirrels

• prairie dogs

• mice

• rats

enzootic

fleas stay in the same host, rodents do not die as much

epizootic

fleas change to a new host which will die

3 forms of plague in humans

• bubonic

• septicemic

• pneumonic

bubonic plague

characterized by painful swollen lymph nodes called bubo’s

• vomiting

• painful liver and spleen

• headaches

can develop into septicemic plague

septicemic plague

characterized by bacteria dividing in the blood

• systematic organ failure

• thrombosis

• disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)

pneumonic plague

occurs following inhalation of bacteria

• bloody cough

• onset of dyspnea and quick death

behaviour of ferrets

• highly adaptable strict carnivores

• clean, easily house trained but will burrow in furniture

gestation period of ferrets

40-44 days

little size

8-10 kits

ferret body

elongated with the ability to twist rapidly into small places

metabolism of ferrets

• very fast with large weight fluctuations between spring and autumn

• single stomach (monogastric) with no divisions in intestinal tract and no cecum

ferret odor

• have paired anal glands that secrete material when threatened

• sebaceous glans cause musky odour which can be reduced by neutering

male ferret

hob

female ferret

jill

young ferret

kit

breeding in ferrets

polyestrus and photoperiod dependent

pseudopregnancy

sustained heat (prolonged estrogen) becoming toxic to bone marrow

• ferret becomes hemmoraghic and anemic

• aplastic anemia means the complete failure of bone marrow to produce vblood cells

treatment of pseudopregnancy

spay ferret immediately, if you wait too long they will not recover

adrenal gland tumor in ferrets

caused by too much estrogen not cortisol like cushings disease

canine distemper in ferrets

caused by a very contagious paramyxovirus that is almost always fatal in ferrets

transmission of canine distemper to ferrets

naive ferrets exposed to dogs or other ferrets carrying the virus

treatment and prevention of canine distemper in ferrets

no treatment, only supportive care until they die

• fluids

• antibiotics

• anti-seizure meds

vaccine is now made for ferrets but canine one used to work as prevention as well.