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The main problem in rabbit breeding is considered to be bloating in rabbits, since in these cases animals die in massive quantities. But bloating is not a disease. This is a sign of gastrointestinal problems. Bloating can be caused both by a non-contagious cause, such as fermentation of food in the stomach of a particular animal, or be a sign of an infectious disease, one of which is rabbit eimeriosis, caused by bacteria belonging to the coccidia order.
Coccidiosis in rabbits is caused by 11 species of eimeria, of which one infects the liver, causing hepatic coccidiosis. Most often there is a mixed form of the disease: the development of intestinal and hepatic coccidiosis at the same time. Like any other coccidia, eimeria in rabbits get the opportunity to harm when the immune system weakens in animals. The weakening of the immune system contributes to:
- crowded content;
- unsanitary conditions in the rabbitry;
- high humidity;
- animals of different ages in the same group;
- low-quality feed;
- excess protein in the feed;
- unbalanced diet;
- the presence in the diet of feed of animal origin;
- other factors that reduce the body’s resistance to diseases.
For heat-loving rabbits, winter frosts can also be such factors, and rabbits in pits can become infected with coccidia from rats or their own feces, since no one ever cleans burrows in pits. It’s not even the negligence of the owners, it’s just impossible to crawl into these holes.
A video demonstrating why eimeriosis flares up in rabbits on private farms.
But isosporosis is a disease of predatory animals: dogs and cats, although it is also caused by eimeria. Just not the eimeria that parasitize rabbits.
Features of the life cycle and habitat conditions of eimeria
Eimeria, which causes coccidiosis in rabbits, is specific to this type of animal, you can not worry that chicken coccidiosis will spread to rabbits. Only general unsanitary conditions in the courtyard can “spread” on them. Eimeria oocysts prefer cool weather and high humidity, they quickly die in the heat and when dried. Therefore, outbreaks of coccidiosis in rabbits are observed in the spring and summer, although to a lesser extent coccidiosis can walk in the rabbitry all year round.
The sources of infection with coccidiosis are animals that have been ill, which have begun to release oocysts into the external environment along with feces, and lactating rabbits. Due to unsanitary conditions and the ingress of infected droppings into water and feed, coccidiosis is transmitted to animals that are not yet ill.
Symptoms of different types of coccidiosis in rabbits
The incubation period for coccidiosis is 4-12 days. The course of coccidiosis can be acute, subacute and chronic. There are three types of the disease: intestinal, hepatic and mixed. In farms, a mixed type of coccidiosis is most often observed. The most susceptible to coccidiosis are rabbits up to 5 months old.
Signs of coccidiosis mixed type. With a mixed type of coccidiosis, oppression is observed in sick rabbits. Animals prefer to lie on their stomach, not interested in food. Rapid emaciation, jaundice of mucous membranes. The abdomen is swollen, the rabbits are in pain. There is diarrhea with mucus and blood. Frequent urination and copious discharge from mouth and nose. Dull fur. Spasms of the muscles of the back, limbs and neck may appear. Convulsions appear before the near death of rabbits in acute and subacute coccidiosis, which lasts from 3 to 6 days. The duration of coccidiosis in chronic course is up to 4 months. In this case, the lag in the growth of sick rabbits from healthy counterparts becomes noticeable.
Symptoms of hepatic coccidiosis in rabbits. The disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Eimeria stiedae. With “pure” hepatic coccidiosis, the duration of the disease is from 1 to 1,5 months. Signs of the intestinal form of coccidiosis are mild. An indication of liver damage is the yellow color of the mucous membranes characteristic of hepatitis. Rabbits lose weight quickly. As a result, animals die severely emaciated.
At autopsy, the liver is 5-7 times larger than usual. On the surface of the organ, white nodules ranging in size from a grain of millet to a pea and white “threads” that are flush with the surface are noticeable. When the knot is cut, a creamy substance is found inside – an accumulation of eimeria. There are ruptures of the connective tissue. The bile ducts are dilated and thickened.
In the photo below, microscopic damage caused by the parasite.
Intestinal coccidiosis. In rabbits aged 3 to 8 weeks, this type of disease occurs in an acute form. Especially if the rabbits caught the infection at the time of the transition to green grass. In a rabbit, diarrhea alternates with constipation. Wool matte, tousled. The abdomen is enlarged, pendulous. Tympania may be observed.
Some rabbits with eimeriosis may experience convulsions, falling on their side with their heads thrown back on their backs, and floating movements of their paws. If no measures are taken for treatment, the rabbit dies on the 10th – 15th day of the illness.
At autopsy, the intestinal mucosa is strewn with white plaques, similar to those found in the liver. The mucosa is inflamed, red. The contents of the intestines are liquid, with gas bubbles.
The photo shows that in the intestines of a rabbit there are not normal food masses, but a fermenting liquid that releases gas.
Diagnosis of coccidiosis
When making a diagnosis, rabbit coccidiosis is differentiated from listeriosis and pseudotuberculosis. When making a diagnosis, they take into account the state of the economy, where the sick rabbit came from, the symptoms of the disease, the data of pathology and laboratory studies of feces or pathological material.
Pathological anatomical autopsy of a rabbit with coccidiosis reveals:
- intestinal hyperemia;
- nodules in the liver;
- flatulence;
- liquid contents of the gastrointestinal tract.
After an accurate diagnosis, treatment is prescribed.
How to treat coccidiosis in rabbits
Immediately with signs of the disease, without waiting for the diagnosis, the animals are placed in bright, dry, well-ventilated rooms. They are kept in cages with mesh floors only to minimize contact of rabbits with excrement. There are only high-quality feed.
After an accurate diagnosis, the veterinarian chooses a treatment regimen. Treatment of coccidiosis in rabbits, like any other animal, is carried out with the help of coccidiostatics and antibacterial drugs. Antibiotics are also used.
Preparations for coccidiosis for rabbits in each region may be different, so the treatment regimen will need to be built depending on the availability of the medicine in the nearest veterinary pharmacy.
Several schemes for the treatment of rabbits from coccidiosis:
- Ftalazol 0,1 g/kg, norsulfazol 0,4 g/kg at a concentration of 0,5% are added to water;
- Sulfapyridazine 100 mg, simultaneously mnomycin 25 thousand units / kg, chemcoccid 30 mg / kg in double courses of 5 days with an interval of 3 days;
- Trichopolum twice a day at 20 mg/kg in feed for 6 days. If necessary, the course is repeated after 3 days;
- Salinomycin 3-4 mg/kg;
- Ditrim 1 ml/l of water for 5 days;
- Biofusol or nifulin 5 g/kg feed for 7 days;
- Sulfadimethoxine 200 mg/kg on the first day and 100 mg/kg for the next 4 days;
- Furazolidone 30 mg/kg 2 times a day for 10 days.
Some of the rabbit breeders tried to use levomiticin and claimed that he managed to cure the rabbits. But here it is necessary to take into account that the diagnosis was determined “by eye” by the rabbit breeder himself and there is no certainty that his animals had exactly coccidiosis.
A “home-made” vaccine is the simultaneous use of coccidiostats and providing rabbits with contact with oocyst-infected eimerium droppings. It is clear that here it will not be possible to accurately calculate the dose of eimeria oocysts, and such a “vaccination” is, in fact, “ roulette”.
Against the background of the impossibility of vaccinating animals against eimeriosis, the prevention of coccidiosis in rabbits becomes very important.
How to prevent coccidiosis and what it includes
First of all, the prevention of the disease in rabbits is strict adherence to the rules of veterinary and sanitary hygiene. The premises of the rabbit farm, cages, inventory should be regularly fried with a blowtorch.
The Eimerias could rightfully say that you can’t take them with your bare hands, and even with a blowtorch. But it is quite possible to thin out the number of oocysts of eimeria on a cell grid.
Washing with disinfectants in the case of Eimeria oocysts is not very effective. Feces are removed daily.
After weaning, rabbits are kept in clean, dry rooms in cages with a mesh floor. From the 3rd week of life, all rabbits are given antibiotics and vitamin C.
Opponents of antibiotics are trying to fight coccidiosis in rabbits with “proven folk remedies” by adding iodine and lactic acid to the water.
It is believed that the “iodine” solution causes the oxidation of proteins not processed by the stomach when feeding animals with high-protein feed. But in a healthy body without hormonal disruptions, these functions should be performed by the thyroid gland, releasing the required amount of iodine. An artificial malfunction of the pancreas in a rabbit is only excused by the fact that the life of the animal is usually 4 months.
Lactic acid is a good remedy, but it does not kill eimerium. It just stops fermentation in the intestines.
Treatment and prevention of rabbit coccidiosis
Is the meat of sick rabbits edible?
Eimeria, which parasitizes rabbits, is not contagious to humans. At least not until they mutate. The meat of slaughtered rabbits can be eaten, but if rabbits have been treated or prevented from coccidiosis, you need to check the instructions for the drug. You can eat meat only after removing the medication from the body of the animal. For each medication, these terms are different and they are indicated in the annotations.
Conclusion
The main measures to prevent the appearance of coccidiosis in rabbitry are strict hygiene. If the symptoms were recognized in time and treatment of coccidiosis was started immediately, then there is a chance to save a significant number of livestock.