The Companion or pet rabbit is a medically fragile patient owing in great part to its prey nature. Special care must be taken in the veterinary hospital to secure a rabbit's safety from injuries, and to minimize the cascade of physiological events experienced by the illness-stressed rabbit. Many mainstay medical protocols and therapies for dogs and cats are inappropriate for rabbits. Rabbit idiosyncrasies call for a handful of species-specific medical skills. Pain is the great foe, and low-impact intervention frequently is the best friend of the rabbit patient. Respiratory tract infections and GI tract disease and complications, primary and secondary, top the list of problems most commonly presented to the private practitioner. Rabbits have recently begun surviving and thriving long enough to suffer from geriatric maladies, most notably osteoarthritis and neoplasia.

Rabbit people are often intensely devoted owners/guardians and thus time-intense clients with expectations at least as high as those with cats and dogs. Many illnesses of pet rabbits are consequences of poor nutrition and other aspects of home environment. Enlightening clients and teaching them to perform low-tech health care, such as administering SQ injections, can frequently mean the difference between a successful and disappointing outcome.

Caring for rabbits can be a very rewarding and challenging endeavor. Specific and practical tips as well as six in-depth case studies will be presented to help illustrate.