Digestive disease is a major health concern in rabbits and includes both noninfectious problems and infections. If your rabbit stops eating or shows signs of digestive upset, such as diarrhea or fewer droppings, seek veterinary care promptly.
Hairballs and Gastrointestinal Stasis in Rabbits
Rabbits swallow hair during grooming, and normally it passes out in the droppings. Hair chewing can increase with low-fiber diets or boredom. More hay and increased enrichment (like access to cardboard boxes or safe chew toys) often helps decrease boredom and hair chewing.
True hairballs that block the digestive tract are uncommon but serious in rabbits. More often, rabbits with too little dietary fiber or another problem, such as dental disease, stop eating and develop gastrointestinal (GI) stasis. In GI stasis, the movement of food through the digestive tract slows, too many unhealthy bacteria grow in the digestive system, and these unhealthy bacteria produce toxic substances and gas that build up. The rabbit feels bloated and painful, which makes it even less likely to eat.
Veterinarians use x-rays, ultrasound, and CT scans to distinguish a true intestinal blockage from GI stasis. A true blockage usually needs to be removed by surgery. GI stasis is usually treated with injections of fluid beneath the skin, pain medicine, supportive feeding, and feeding liquid food with a syringe to restore healthy digestive bacteria. Both hairball blockage and GI stasis can become life-threatening if not treated.
The best ways to prevent both GI stasis and hairball development are to provide unlimited hay, brush regularly, and ensure proper weight control, a low stress environment, safe toys to chew on, and time out of the cage to prevent boredom and chewing on inappropriate objects.
Intestinal Diseases of Rabbits
Intestinal disease is a major cause of death in young rabbits. Diet changes, stress, antibiotics, and a dirty cage can upset the normal bacteria in the digestive tract and increase disease risk. Diarrhea in a rabbit at any age is a serious warning sign of illness.
Enterotoxemia is a condition involving sudden, severe diarrhea, usually in rabbits 4–8 weeks old. A rabbit might seem fine one evening and be dead by morning. Enterotoxemia is commonly linked to infection with Clostridium spiroforme bacteria. High-fiber diets decrease risk. Certain oral antibiotics, including penicillin, can trigger this disease and should be avoided. Treatment mainly involves injections of fluids and other supportive care.
Tyzzer disease, caused by infection with Clostridium piliforme bacteria, leads to watery diarrhea, dehydration, weakness, and often death in recently weaned rabbits. It is associated with stress and a dirty environment. Diagnosis requires veterinary testing. Some cases respond to treatment with the antibiotic oxytetracycline. Careful disinfection after an outbreak is essential to prevent spread and recurrence of disease.
Colibacillosis, caused by infection with E coli bacteria, can produce severe diarrhea in very young rabbits and in recently weaned rabbits. Entire litters can die. Mild cases can respond to treatment with antibiotics, but severe cases often do not. Proper cage cleaning and high-fiber diets help decrease risk.
Proliferative enteropathy, caused by infection with Lawsonia intracellularis bacteria, can lead to diarrhea, weakness, and dehydration in recently weaned rabbits. This condition usually improves in 1–2 weeks unless another infection is also present.
Mucoid enteritis involves intestinal inflammation and mucus-covered diarrhea. It is typically caused by an imbalance in the normal bacteria in the rabbit’s digestive system linked to diet changes, low dietary fiber, stress, antibiotic use, or other infections. Signs include appetite loss, low energy, dehydration, low body temperature, and a bloated abdomen. There is no reliably effective treatment, though injections of fluids and other supportive care might help.
Rotavirus can also cause diarrhea, especially in rabbits of weaning age. Infection with rotavirus alone might cause only mild disease, but mixed infections with bacteria can become much more serious.
Coccidiosis and Other Parasites in Rabbits
As it does in other pets, parasitic disease can occur in pet rabbits. Pet rabbits are commonly affected by the following:
Coccidiosis is common worldwide and is caused by infection with Eimeria protozoa. The disease can affect the liver or the intestines. Infection spreads through contaminated food or water, and rabbits can continue passing this parasite in their feces even after they have recovered from illness. Young rabbits are most at risk. Diagnosis is made by testing feces. Treatment usually controls rather than cures the disease, so strict cage cleaning is also essential.
Tapeworm larvae (the immature stage of the parasite) are sometimes found in rabbit feces, though adult tapeworm infections of the digestive tract are rare. Rabbits can be infected by and pass into their feces tapeworms that typically affect dogs. The infected rabbit may have no or only mild signs of infection. Control involves keeping dogs away from rabbit feed, feces, and nesting materials.
The raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) can infect rabbits that eat raccoon feces and can cause nervous system signs, like tremors, head tilt, and loss of balance. No effective treatment is available.
Rabbit pinworms, which look like tiny white threads in rabbit feces or around their anus, usually cause little harm, though owners might notice them. Pinworms spread through contaminated food or water and can be treated by medication prescribed by a vet. They don't infect people.
For More Information
Also see professional content regarding diseases of rabbits.
