Summary of digestive diseases of rabbits in post-weaning stage

1. Summary of
post-weaning digestive
diseases in rabbits
Rabbits

2. Digestive diseases in
rabbits happen mainly in
post-weaning stage.
Less often in adults
and rare
in new born animals
(except colibacillosis) .

3. Physiological factors that favour diarrhea
Rabbits get easily stressed
Rabbits get easily
stressed
Adrenaline release
Cecum becomes
more alkaline
Passage of feed in intestine
is slow
Change of flora
composition
Cecotrophy (feces ingestion)
is stopped (cecotropes are a
key source of nutrients)
Growth of
pathogens, i.e. E.coli
and Clostridium

4. 1 to 7
days
Stress
1 to 3 days
Less feed
intake
General evolution of
digestive diseases
Moderate
diarrhea and
skin
dehydration
2-3 days
Acute diarrhea
/ intestinal
pain/ mortality

5. Main digestive diseases caused by
bacteria

6. Enterotoxemia
• Explosive diarrheal disease, primarily of rabbits 4–8 wk
old, caused by toxins produced by Clostridium sp. Often, a
rabbit looks healthy in the evening and is dead the next
morning.
• Lethargy, rough coat, a perineal area covered with
greenish brown fecal material, and death within 48 hr.
Fluid-distended intestine with hemorrhagic petechiae on
the serosal surface.
• Some antibiotics cause the disease: lincomycin,
clindamycin, erythromycin, penicillins and
cephalosporins.
• No treatment is attempted.

7. Colibacillosis
• Enterotoxigenic E. coli.
• Two types of colibacillosis:
- Rabbits 1–2 wk old develop a severe yellowish diarrhea that
results in high mortality.
- Weaned rabbits 4–6 wk old, a diarrheal disease very similar to
enterotoxemia . Intestines are fluid filled, with petechial
hemorrhages on the serosal surface.
• Death occurs in 5–14 days.
• In severe cases, treatment is not successful; in mild cases,
antibiotics are of value.

8. T yzzer's Disease
• Clostridium piliforme.
• Watery diarrhea, anorexia, dehydration, lethargy
and death within 1–3 days in weanling rabbits 6–12
wk old. Necrotic enteritis along with multifocal
necrosis in the liver and heart.
• Associated with poor sanitation and stress.
• Treatment: oxytetracycline.
• Disinfection and decontamination are key.

9. Proliferative Enteropathy
• Lawsonia intracellularis.
• Diarrhea, depression, and dehydration,
which resolve over 1–2 wk.
• Does not cause death unless associated with
a dual infection with another
enteropathogenic agent.

10. Mucoid Enteropathy
• Hypersecretion, and accumulation of mucus in the small and
large intestines. Gelatinous or mucus-covered feces, subnormal
temperature, dehydration, bloated abdomen due to excess water
in the stomach. A firm, impacted cecum may be palpable. The
perineal area is often covered with mucus and feces.
• Agent not known.
• Predisposing factors: dietary changes, dietary fiber <6% or >22%,
antibiotic treatments, environmental stress, and challenges with
other bacteria.
• Rabbits may live for ∼1 wk. Treatment is unrewarding, but
intense fluid therapy, enema removal of mucus mass, antibiotics,
and analgesics may be tried.

11. Plant extracts and organic acids are able to
prevent digestive bacterial infections in
rabbits.
Specially useful in diseases that are
difficult to treat with antibiotics.