 | Pet
Health Insurance - You'll appreciate it
later.
 | Start as soon as you get your rabbit. |
| Start before your rabbit has problems or they won't be
covered. |
| Avoid cheap insurances that will only give 12 mo.
cover. |
| Ask our nurses for help when choosing your policy. |
|
How to get the best from your Pet Health Insurance. |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
 | No one had pet insurance. To some extent no one needed it as
treatments were limited. Veterinary medicine for pets was still in it's
infancy. Effective drugs without side effects were rare. Anaesthetics
were risky. There were few useful blood tests available. In fact the
situation in pet practice was little different from James Herriot's days
in the thirties. Pet insurance is vital nowadays as, without it, few
owners would be able to afford proper treatment for their pets. |
|
|
| Correct
Feeding is a top priority for your rabbit to be
healthy.
"A healthy
rabbit is always a hungry rabbit"
| In the wild rabbits eat grass. They are not
fruit or grain eaters. Rabbits need a high fibre diet (20% - 24% fibre) to
maintain normal digestion. The teeth need to grind fibre to keep them
healthy and strong. Too little hay and the teeth will overgrow resulting
in irreversible damage to the bones of the skull and jaw. Many commercial diets do not have enough fibre to be a complete diet.
(14% is typical). Some newer diets like Supreme Selective (19% fibre) can
be used as a complete diet. |
| The best diet is 100% good quality hay. We stock a top quality
Timothy Hay that most rabbits love, it smells so good you'd
nearly eat it yourself! |
| You may feed a small amount of good quality commercial
diet if you wish (but Timothy Hay will provide all your rabbit needs). |
| Feed a small amount of freshly cut grass / garden weeds
or tree leaves daily. A piece of carrot can be used as a chew toy. |
| AVOID feeding anything that people eat! If we
can eat it - it hasn't enough fibre in it! Rabbits are not fruit eaters
and although they love sweet things they are not good for them. OK a tiny
taste won't do any harm, but be careful! And no toast, crisps, biscuits or
chocolate! Don't be tempted to buy those rabbit treats and goodies from
superstores, most of them are far too sweet and will cause serious bowel
disorders. |
| Fresh water daily (ideally in a water bottle). |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| We knew very little about feeding rabbits for good health and a long
life. Books on rabbit health were aimed at the rabbit breeder - and the
back pages often had rabbit recipes such as rabbit pie /curry etc.
During the Second World War rabbits were used as a food supply and
methods of feeding were aimed at rapid growth (and a short life!). It
wasn't until the 80's that we began to take a rabbit's diet seriously,
and most of our current advice has evolved in just the last 10 years.
Rabbits now live much longer - hence our more recent concern about
neutering females because they get uterine cancer at 5 yrs +. In the
past they never used to live long enough to get cancer! |
|
|
|
Vaccination
throughout life against some nasty diseases
| Myxomatosis vaccine - 6 monthly. Myxomatosis is
widespread in the U.K. and is spread by any biting insect e.g mosquito.
Myxomatosis causes swellings in the eyelids, head and skin. Usually fatal
within 10 - 14 days. |
| VHD (Viral Haemorrahagic Disease) vaccine annually. A relatively new disease of rabbits that has been spreading
northwards for the past 15 years. We have seen it in East Lancs since
1999. Causes sudden death so we never see a case alive. The virus can survive on the ground for a long time and transmits on shoes, clothing etc.
so even indoor rabbits are at risk. Vaccination is very effective, and
remember, your rabbits gets a health check up at every vaccination. |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| Myxomatosis vaccine has been available for many years but only in
bulk supplies for 25 rabbits at a time (i.e. for rabbit breeders). Only
in the last few years have individual vials been available.
VHD is a new
disease that first appeared in the U.K. in 1992 and only reached
Blackburn in1999. |
|
|
| Neutering - neutered rabbits live much longer.
| MALE rabbits are neutered
to reduce aggression and spraying in
the house. |
| FEMALE rabbits are neutered
to reduce aggression, and to reduce
the risk of cancer of the uterus. (an 80% risk in females over 5yrs old!). |
| Anaesthetics for rabbits - with our new Isoflurane vapourisers a
general anaesthetic for a rabbit is now safe and routine.
Take a closer look at our anaesthetic standard..... |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| Neutering was rarely performed because anaesthetics were very risky.
By the 80's the Veterinary Health Centre was anaesthetising rabbits
regularly with a fair safety margin and were often asked for advice on
rabbit anaesthesia from other practices. In 1998 we changed from
halothane to isoflurane and the improvement has been dramatic. Coupled
with very close monitoring and temperature control we are now able to
anaesthetise rabbits as successfully as dogs and cats. |
|
|
| Regular Dental Check-up - rabbits often have
dental problems
| A high fibre diet will help keep the teeth
healthy (see Correct Feeding above). |
| A dental check-up with the vet every 3 months
will help identify dental problems early. (see also
Our Anaesthetic
Standard). |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| The only dental care we gave to rabbits was to clip overlong
incisors using wire cutters. We had no understanding of disorders of the
molar teeth and no equipment to sort them out. Our rabbit dentistry is
now quite advanced, and very successful, especially if we are able to
see a case early enough i.e. before bone infection is established. |
|
|
| Watch the
Weight - Check your rabbit's weight
regularly.
| Weight loss can be a sign of dental problems,
bowel disorder etc.- see the vet. |
| Weight increase is usually obesity - check with
the vet that you are not over-feeding your rabbit. Overweight rabbits are
prone to serious bowel and skin disorders. |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| I don't think we ever weighed a rabbit in those days or gave any
thought to weight control. Maybe fat rabbits were not quite so common -
to get fat a body has to be reasonably healthy first, and there weren't
many healthy rabbits about. Overweight rabbits are common nowadays as a
result of incorrect diet or feeding too many goodies. |
|
|
| Mites
- Excess dandruff usually indicates the presence of
Cheyletiella mites
| Cheyletiella mites can cause irritation to both
rabbit and owner. We now have safe, effective treatments for these
mites. See the vet right away if you see dandruff in the coat. |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| We didn't look for cheyletiella, and we had no
treatments that were safe or effective! |
|
|
| Prevent Fly Strike
(maggots around the rear end)
<pictures of Fly Strike>
| Fly Strike is a serious summer problem - within
2 - 3 days a rabbit can be over-run with maggots eating and destroying
the skin and muscle of the lower back and bottom area. The first
priority is to keep the bottom clean. Feeding a total hay diet will usually
achieve this. If your rabbit has trouble with a dirty rear end see the
vet urgently and apply "Rearguard" (insect
growth regulator). |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| With overweight rabbits, poor hygiene and no real
understanding of correct feeding fly strike was a very common problem
every summer. Euthanasia was usually the only action we could take.
Now we can usually prevent fly strike, but if it does occur, we have a
much better chance of successful treatment because we have safe
anaesthetics, good pain relief and excellent nursing skills. |
|
|
| Worms and Fleas
| Rabbits are rarely troubled by worms so routine worming is not
necessary. |
| Rabbit fleas are only likely to be seen if a pet rabbit is in close
contact with wild rabbits so no routine flea prevention is currently
advised. |
| What about Myxomatosis? Myxomatosis is transmitted in wild rabbits by
rabbit fleas, pet rabbits pick up the infection from other biting insects
such as the mosquito. Protect you rabbit by regular vaccination. |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| No change here as we have never had problems with rabbit worms, and
rabbit fleas are more often seen on cats than rabbits. You can tell
rabbit fleas on a cat because they act strangely. Cat fleas are active
and run around individually looking for a good place to suck blood.
Rabbit fleas on a cat tend to gather in groups on the head, looking
confused, as if they're trying to work out what species they have
actually ended up on! |
|
|
| Identichip - electronic identification for if your rabbit is lost.
| Permanent electronic identification is easy.
A
grain of rice sized transponder (Identichip) is inserted under the skin
over the shoulders and remains in position for life. If you rabbit is lost
and ends up at a veterinary practice, a rescue centre or at a police
station then the Identichip will be used to find out the name and phone
number of the owner. |
| 30 years ago..... (David Higginson MRCVS remembers)
| No bionic rabbits then, except in science fiction. Actually, in
those days, very few owners would want to spend anything on a rabbit.
"We can get another for £1.50!" was a common comment. Even if we had
Identichip I doubt if anyone would have wanted it for a rabbit. Lots
more people care a lot more these days. |
|
|
| Treat illness immediately - rabbits become
seriously ill quickly.
|
Warning signs to watch out for:-
Poor appetite, Wetness around the mouth or tail,
Soft faeces, Sore ears, eyes or nose,
Lack of normal activity, Loss of weight, Poor coat. |
|
RABBITS WEAKEN RAPIDLY WHEN POORLY.
SEE THE VET AS SOON AS YOU SUSPECT YOUR RABBIT IS NOT WELL. |
|
