Rabbit welfare studies have shown that rabbits end up in rescue centres because either their owners did not realise what rabbit care involved or their rabbit has displayed behaviour that they don't know how to address or cope with. Targeted education, about what a rabbit's needs are, is necessary. Rabbit societies are very helpful in public education with well developed web pages. The level of rabbit owners' knowledge about the health, welfare and husbandry of their pets is considered to be an important contributor to companion animal welfare. It was found that rabbit owners had a limited knowledge of the needs of rabbits, particularly with respect to their diet and social needs. Practitioners, therefore, should advise owners to take all reasonable steps to maintain their rabbit's health, to provide optimal housing and diet and to avoid injury, illness or frustration behaviour of the rabbit. In this lecture, welfare and behaviour in association with hospitalisation and physiology, and recognition and treatment of behaviour disorders will be presented.

European wild rabbits live in hierarchy-defined groups; it is why pet rabbits are very social and should be kept in pairs. Rabbits could be kept indoors or outdoors. The cage size depends on the number of rabbits and their size (minimum 180 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm (6 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft)); however, keeping rabbits in pens and in more open areas is preferred. Caging should have a non-slip floor surface which should allow normal movement and comfortable resting areas. During hospitalisation, keeping several rabbits together is not practical for a number of reasons, so adequate secure boxes, with hay as a substrate, and equipped with a hiding place should be offered. Water, hay, vegetables and pellets should be provided all the time. If possible, a rabbit should be provided with an open area and exercise out of the cage.

Urination and defecation are usually done in one of the cage corners; some rabbits are trained to use a litterbox. If rabbits that have been trained to use a litterbox start to defecate and/or urinate outside the box they could have developed an elimination behaviour problem. Changes in the household, such as introducing a new pet or family member may be a cause of this; however, it could be the first sign of any disease, so the owners are advised to visit the veterinary clinic. Rabbit burrowing and chewing behaviour should be addressed by offering more hay as a substrate and including fruit tree branches, vegetables and toys. Possible infectious rabbits should be kept in separate rooms where there are no other rabbits; in cases of respiratory infection they should also be kept separately from guinea pigs due to possible Bordetella bronchiseptica transmission.

Rabbits feel comfortable in an environmental temperature between 16 and 21°C and are prone to heat stress. This fact is very important especially in cases of any transportation and when performing surgery with heating pads.

Rabbits are herbivorous animals. One of the main dietary components is roughage, ideally at 18–22% of the diet. The best diet for rabbits seems to be a combination of good-quality hay, vegetables, grass and complete pelleted diet. Feeding multicomponent grain or 'muesli-like' diet should be avoided. However, when a rabbit is hospitalised and it is not used to eating a complete pelleted diet, a grain or 'muesli-like' diet should also be offered to support feeding and appetite. As soon as a rabbit has recovered, it is very important to teach a rabbit to eat a proper diet, and this must be discussed with the owner. Rabbits are selective feeders, picking out their favourite ingredients and rejecting the rest of the commercial mixed food, hay included. Selective feeding may also be related to medical problems, especially dental and gastrointestinal (paralytic ileus) disease, and this should be ruled out. Rabbits prefer high-energy components and these also have less abrasive properties, less stimulatory effect on chewing and a reversed calcium to phosphorus ratio, resulting in intestinal problems, obesity and dental disease. Rabbits may be fed ad libitum, but pet rabbits must often be 'limit fed' to prevent obesity. Because the rabbit's intestinal microflora are sensitive to the intestinal contents (pH, carbohydrate content, etc.), food changes should be made gradually, especially in young rabbits. The new food should be added gradually and the old food decreased over a 4–5-day period to allow the flora to adjust. Under certain conditions, rapid food changes can result in proliferation of clostridial and coliform bacteria, which may result in the death of the animal.

Rabbits are coprophagic, meaning they will eat their own droppings to extract whatever nutrients they failed to utilise the first time around, e.g., microbial proteins and vitamins. Antibiotics commonly used in dogs and cats (beta-lactams, lincosamides, erythromycin) are not suitable for oral administration in rabbits, and could cause fatal enterotoxaemia. If a rabbit has diarrhoea or is passing only a small amount of soft faecal pellets, proper nutrition and vitamins (especially vitamin B) should be provided orally or parentally. Higher environmental temperatures also reduce food consumption, so the hospital area should have air-conditioning. Wild rabbits obtain the majority of their water from dew and from the plants they consume; however, fresh water should be offered to pet rabbits all the day. Purring, clicking, tooth grinding, grunting or growling are normal rabbit auditory communication sounds; however, tooth grinding can also occur in cases of severe pain.

The submental (chin) and anal scent glands, as well as piles of faeces or urine sprays, are used by adult rabbits for individual and territorial marking. From a medical point of view, all does should be spayed because of a high incidence of uterine diseases (uterine adenocarcinoma). Male rabbits are neutered to prevent urine spraying and territorial behaviour.

Proper restraint is necessary due to the rabbit's fragile spine. Due to their nature (prey animals), rabbits could suddenly transform from a hiding posture into a very quick escape. Many rabbits feel uncomfortable on smooth surfaces so a non-slip surface or a towel should be provided when examining a rabbit. Rabbits should be restrained gently but firmly. Rabbit eyes are situated on the sides of the skull allowing rabbits to see almost 360 degrees; binocular vision is possible for approximately an angle of 10–35 degrees. Rabbit 'blind spots' are localised at the tip of the nose and behind the head, so touching these areas could frighten a rabbit into unexpected struggling. Placing a rabbit in dorsal recumbency for inducing the immobility reflex (hypnosis) is not recommended, because this restraint results in abnormally high adrenalin levels and is very stressful.

Rabbits are not naturally aggressive; however, older individuals or does in puberty, could display aggression as a kind of territorial behaviour. Aggressive behaviour could also be displayed by a lactating female against other non-familiar kits. Human-directed aggression in hospitalised patients is associated mostly with fear, general discomfort and pain.

Rabbits tolerate intramuscular and subcutaneous injections well; however, administration of larger volumes (more than 0.2 ml/kg per site) of potentially painful drugs (ketamin, enrofloxacin and diazepam) should be avoided. Subcutaneous fluid administration should be injected in several places and should not exceed 10–15 ml/kg at a single procedure.

Pain recognition and assessing its intensity are both essential for effective pain management. Rabbits should be monitored for pain and distress at the first admission and throughout hospitalisation. Critical to the assessment of the presence or absence of pain is having the ability to distinguish between normal and abnormal behaviour. Rabbits in discomfort and pain could show signs of apathy, loss of curiosity, reduced activity, failure in grooming, reduced food and water intake, pale conjunctival membranes, hunched posture, muscle tensing, teeth grinding, aggression, tendency to hide and/or crying when defecating or urinating. Analgesia is very important when treating small mammal species. Independent of pain severity a sole drug or a combination of analgesics is administered:

 Meloxicam 0.5–1 mg/kg orally/s.c.

 Carprofen 1.5 mg/kg orally/s.c.

 Ketoprofen 3 mg/kg orally/i.m.

 Flunixin meglumine 1 mg/kg i.m./s.c.

 Butorphanol 0.1–0.5 mg/kg i.m.

 Buprenorphine 0.02–0.05 i.m./s.c.

References

1.  Crowell-Davis SL. Rabbits. In: Tynes VV, ed. Behavior of Exotic Pets. Ames: Blackwell Publishing, 2010:69–77.

2.  Jenkins JR. Rabbit behaviour. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice 2001;4:669–679.

3.  Lebas F. The Rabbit: Husbandry, Health and Production. FAO Animal Production and Health Series, no. 21, Rome: FAO, 1997.

4.  Meredith A, Flecknell P, eds. BSAVA Manual of Rabbit Medicine and Surgery. 2nd ed. Gloucester: British Small Animal Veterinary Association, 2006.