Rabbits are very hardy animals and don't tend to get sick very often. However; when they do get sick, it is often severe.
Immediate treatment is a necessity or you could very quickly lose your beloved pet. I would reccommend the treatments
listed below and/or calling your veterinarian and/or e-mailing me with natural treatment options and/or
buying some herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs to treat your bunny.
I have set this page up so that any herbs I have listed that are available from Mountain Rose Herbs
are made into a link directly to the page where you can purchase them from Mountain Rose Herbs.
You can purchase these herbs in sizes starting at 4oz. I carry a few herbs as well. You can e-mail me for what is available and/or visit my
Cages, Supplies, and Services page for details .
Rabbits are prone to heat stroke. If your pet is housed outdoors you can spray it with a mist of cool water-especially
on the ears, neck, and head-to prevent it from overheating when the temperature rises above 85 degrees or when the humidity
is high. This should be done at least once a day. If your rabbit is panting excessively and/or drooling a lot, it could be
starting to experience heat stroke. Bring the rabbit inside and wrap it in a cool, wet towel to reduce its' body temperature.
If your rabbit's behavior doesn't return to normal within an hour or so, call your veteranarian immediately.
Extreme cold could cause your rabbit to freeze to death. It is a good idea to fill your rabbit's shelter box with straw when temperatures
go below 40 degrees and to line the floor of the hutch with straw when the temperatures drop below 20 degrees. This does wonders for
keeping them warmer. I recommend bringing your rabbit inside if the temperature
drops below 5 degrees.
Diarrhea is usually caused by a rabbit being given too many treats, switching foods too quickly, being stressed,
because of an imbalance in the gut bacteria, or a bacterial infection.
1 tsp. of yogurt can be given once a day. Some favorite flavors are raspberry, banana, strawberry, and strawberry/banana.
Oats are also a good remedy. About 1/4 cup a day should do the trick. Some herbs that are good for diarrhea are peppermint (but
do not use for pregnant or nursing does since mint dries up the mink supply) and dill. A little bit of pedialyte can be given to help restore the
nutrients that have been lost. The problem should clear up in a couple of days. If it doesn't clear up in a few days, call
your veterinarian. I haven't been able to find a natural treatment for a bad bacterial infection such as
enteritis. Enteritis symptoms are bloated belly, jelly like secretion in the stool, and loose stool
or diarrhea. It is usually brought on by a baby bunny being weaned to soon and not being able to
digest it's solid food well enough. Older rabbits can get it as well but the reasons for this are unknown. I
suspect it is because their immune systems are weaker. I've had 3 cases of enteritis. The only thing that worked to clear up 2 of the cases
was a medication from my veterinarian called Flagile. The other case was 2 litters of kits that were only a few weeks old. The only thing
the veterinarian could figure was they had some sort of toxin in their systems. He gave me a detox called
cholestyramine. It was a powder I mixed with water and gave orally with a syringe. I managed to save 2
of the babies but the rest died before I was able to get the detox. Your rabbit can also
get constipated from the same reasons they get diarrhea. A few raisins can
be given each day to help clear it up. Cooked apples are also a good remedy.
Rabbits occasionally get hairballs that they are unable to discharge since they lack the ability to vomit. If your
rabbit stops eating and its' stomach feels very hard, it may have a hairball. 1 tsp. or about 3 cc's of pineapple juice can be
given once or twice a day to break it up. You'll probably want to use a liquid syringe to squirt it directly into your pet's
mouth to be sure it is drinking it. I give pineapple juice every so often as a preventative as well as giving apple twigs and timothy hay.
Papaya pieces given as an occasional treat are also a good preventative. Pet Smart and other pet supply stores carry them. Some herbal treatments are
psyllium, flax seed, and
fennel.
Sore hocks is a condition rabbits can get if they live on all wire cage floors. Their back feet get very sore and
often end up with open wounds if they have no way of getting off of the wire. I provide resting mats (see my
Cages, Supplies, and Services page to view resting mats for sale) for each rabbit so they have a place
to get off of the wire floor. I also have wooden boxes for them to sit in or on top off (see my Housing
page for more information on boxes). Sore hocks is easily preventable if you provide places for your pet to get off of the wire.
If you rabbit does get sore hocks, your veterinarian can give you a prescription of SSD-silver sulfadiazine cream to help
clear it up. Comfrey herb can be used as an external
compress for sore hocks as well.
Wry neck is a very serious condition that is usually caused by an inner ear infection. It causes the rabbit's head
to twist and twist until it is nearly upside down. This causes the poor bunny to get off balance and it will roll over and lose
the ability to eat and drink on it's on. It will eventually die from starvation and dehydration without assistance. Veterinarians
prescribe Baytril, Penicillin, and/or Ivomac. Sometimes they work, but Baytril and Penicillin are antibiotics and Ivomac is for
parasites. Wry neck is often caused by a virus and these do not help viruses in the long run. Wry neck can also be caused by
stress such as drastic weather changes, kindling a litter, and going to a show. I had 1 bunny recover with the
use of Baytril, but my rabbit Marshmallow had wry neck in early 2006 and it didn't solve the problem (see the History of My Herd page for more
info. on Marshmallow). He completely recovered with the use of an herbal remedy from
the Rabbit Medicine Chest, but unfortunately they have gone out of business. However; some great herbs can to used
to boost the immune system and speed recovery. These include echinachea root and herb,
comfrey root and herb,
garlic, and
rosehips.
Wry neck requires immediate treatment! If your pet gets wry neck, you will probably need to use a blender to mix up its' pellets with some yogurt and water
so you can feed it with a liquid syringe while you try to nurse it back to health. I recommend these feedings 2 or 3 times a day.
Don't forget to give water with the syringe as well. A bit of pedialyte also helps since it restores the vital nutrients that are
often lost during an illness.
When a rabbit catches a cold it can be very severe and difficult to treat. Colds, also called snuffles, are caused
by a virus so antibiotics will not cure the problem. As with people, rabbit colds are very contagious, so you'll probably need
to treat all of your rabbits, and possibly other pets, if one is sick. I've used an herbal remedy mixture from the Rabbit Medicine Chest to
cure a case of snuffles in one rabbit and to prevent it from spreading to the rest of my herd. Unfortunately, they have gone out of business,
but some great herbs to boost the immune system and speed healing are echinachea root and herb,
comfrey root and herb, garlic,
and rosehips.
Symptoms of snuffles include sneezing, runny eyes, and wet and/or matted front paws.
Rabbits can occasionally get worms but it is very rare. Never put your rabbit in wet grass since
this is s good way for rabbits to get infested with worms. Rabbits can also pick up worms from rabbit shows
if any other rabbits being shown have worms. Diatomaceous earth can be used as a preventative
for worms by being fed to your rabbit with some soft food such as yogurt or mashed pumpkin. It is a very
fine powder that is perfectly safe for your rabbit but lethal to tiny critters like worms, fleas, and other bugs.
For a quicker worm treatment you could use a medication called Albon. This needs to be
acquired with a prescription from your veterinarian but it does work great. I needed to use it for my 4 original
velvet lions since they picked up worms at a show and their symptoms where to bad for me to risk using
the diatomaceous earth since it works much slower. I only use it as a preventative, not a cure. In the
off chance your rabbit gets fleas diatomaceouss earth can be sprinkled on the fur of the rabbit to help eliminate
the problem. Your rabbit will lick it off which will get it into its system to help prevent worms as well!
I've heard that feeding rosemary
can keep fleas and worms away as well.
Pregnant does sometimes need special nutrients to insure a healthy litter and easy delivery. I always keep salt
spools in my pregnant and nursing does cages. This helps prevent the mother from eating her kits and keeps her happy.
Raspberry leaf is a great herb to give to keep the doe
healthy, make delivery easier, and speed healing after kindling. A few pieces of lavender leaf can be given to help induce labor.
Borage,
goats rue and
Fennel
can be given to increase the milk supply. Calf manna is also good for increasing milk.
A stressed momma can be given chamomile,
lemon balm, and
skullcap to help calm her nerves. To reduce the milk supply and
encourage weaning you can give sage,
peppermint, and/or
parsley.
