Rabbits, Rodents, and Ferrets

• Rabbits: altricial: young (kit) are born hairless and with poor sight (blind) • Hair: precocial: young (leveret) are born with hair and good eyesight • Except for cottontails, all rabbits like to live underground (warrens or burrow) and deliver kits underground • Hares: live above ground and deliver leveret in flattened nests called form • Hares: usually larger and have longer ears

• Companionship: use as companion animals (house rabbits) • Food (meat): rabbits and hares are used for food in Europe, NA, SA, China and Middle East: ranked 5th in the world’s livestock meat production • Clothing: Fur (pelts) used as accessory (i.e. scarves). Angora rabbits have long fine hair and is sheared like sheep • Research

• Domestic (European rabbit): Oryctolagus cuniculus was a domesticated from wild rabbit (~600 AD) • 3rd most popular pet • Female: Doe • Male: Buck • Various sizes (breeds) • Small: 2-4 lb. • Medium: 4-14 lb. • Giant: greater than 14 lbs

Considered leaner than pork, chicken, beef - Fryers: 4-5lbs (9 weeks of age). - Roaster: > 5lb (8+ months of age) - Giblets: heart and liver

Continental Giant

• Low density/lightweight bones: ~50% the density of cat bones • Wide set eyes (prey species): no binocular vision as predators. • Farsighted and low numbers of cones (reduced color and visual acuity) • Teeth: open rooted and grow continuously. These are worn down by contact with opposite teeth and masticating rough, abrasive hard food.

Teeth grow constantly - If overgrown, teeth will cut right through the gums

Defensive: use back legs to cause deep scratches - Will bite if provoked and Bucks will try castrate each other - Pet rabbits can be house trained - Rabbits can acclimatize to surroundings and are comfortable at moderate temps (15-29C). Rabbits do not tolerate excessive heat

• Obligate herbivores: will chew food to powder: except cecotropes • (note ceoptropes = cecotrophs) • Fiber is very important in a rabbit’s diet (15-17%).If reduced fiber: gastric atony (stomach does not contract; get hairball can lead to fatal impaction), and diarrhea. Rabbits are prone to intestinal dysregulation and severe intestinal infections (dysbiosis) • Diets with high calcium: urolithiasis (bladder stones)

Order of severity - Normal sediment - Sludge - urolith (big stine looking thing that you need to cut into with a saw) Avoid this condition by feeding rabbits good diets

• Rabbits practice coprophagia: eating their own fecal material • Rabbits pass two forms of stool; soft and hard. The soft stool –cecotrophs (night feces), appears as soft dark mucous covered pellets are relatively poorly digested. • Nutrients are still present in cecotrophs, and rabbits will consume the material to improve nutrient uptake (amino acids and microbial protein) • Other fecal material is hard and normal excrement. Rabbits don’t eat these

• Induced ovulators: 9-13 hours post copulation. • Photoperiod sensitive: autumn are less fertile and respective. • Light cycles: 14 hours light :10 hours dark thefemales are receptive to males • Bucks: mature 4-5 month • Does: mature 4-9 month • Gestation: 29-34 days • Litter: 4-10 kits • Wean: 4-6 weeks

Pododermatitis (Sore hocks): Usually affects back feet. - Excessive pressure on feet: hair loss and callus. Can progress to skin wounds and ascending infections into tendon, muscle and joints Causes: hair loss (hereditary; Rex rabbits), obese, small confinement, wired flooring, poor sanitation (wet) and individual rabbits that ‘thump’ feet Mild cases treatable. More severe cases, prognosis is guarded

Rabbit snuffles (pneumonia): is a disease caused by Pasteurella multocida (Gram (–) rod bacteria) that causes significant morbidity and mortality in rabbits - Its endemic (always present) in rabbit colonies and the young rabbits usually acquired it usually from adults by direct nasal contact or aerosolized (sneezing). - It can also be contracted by venereal and blood contact

Sudden death, sneezing, difficulty breathing (dyspnea) , watery eyes (conjunctivitis), runny nose (rhinitis), inner ear infection (otitis media or otitis interna) wry neck (torticollis), uterine & testicular infection (infertility, pyometra, orchitis), lung infection (pneumonia)0

RHD: is a highly contagious and fatal (~90%) disease of rabbits caused by a Calicivirus - Its present in Asia, Australia, Europe - It’s transmitted by direct contact, (mouth, eyes, nose). Clinical signs (usually in animals over 40 days of age): - dullness - difficulty breathing - sudden death Reportable disease in USA Treatment: none; depopulate the rabbits

The virus was introduced in Australia (1991) under highly controlled quarantine system. - The agent was to be used as a biological control agent to rid Australia and New Zealand of the rabbits (feral rabbits that became pests). - 1995 lab accident: released the Calicivirus that terminated 10 million rabbits in 8 weeks. - It killed the adult but not young and eventually the rabbits became immune and effectively mitigated any successful control program

Systemic hemorrhages: epistaxis (nose), lungs, heart Kidney, spleen etc. Liver necrosis and failure Acute, fast death

• 2017- spring the Australian Govt. will release new strain of virus • Korean stain- RHD virus K5 - carrots • Its overcome previous immunity of first RHD virus present in rabbit population – overcome pervious immunity- little cross protection • 0-50% expected death

Zoonoses Names: Rabbit fever, Deerfly fever, O’Hara’s disease, Francis disease - Usually, a disease in rural communities and acquired by different mechanism: - direct contact from contaminated water, food, soil, animal tissues - rabbit skinners/trappers of old, hikers (ticks), laboratory technicians - Natural and weaponized (bioweapon form of the organism - Considered: one of the most infectious pathogenic bacteria known

• Tularemia (Francisella tularensis) • Very small pathogens • Gram negative Intracellular pathogen • Lives in macrophages and escapes immune protection • Target organs: liver spleen lungs kidneys, lymph nodes • Survives 3-4 months in environment and dead animals • 3-4 months in mud, water dead animals • Lives years in frozen meat • Easily killed by heat and disinfectant

F. tularensis biovar tularensis (Type A): - most virulent - found in hares, rabbits, ticks - present in North America F. tularensis biovar palaearctica (Type B): - found in North America, Europe and Asia - Less virulent -Present in rodents (muskrats, rats, mice voles) incidence of infection in livestock (sheep) and companion animals

Dose for exposure: - inhalation or injection (10-50 bacteria) - Oral ingestion (10 million bacteria) Transmission: rabbit and ticks main cause

Animals: 1-10 days incubation Clinical signs: may be non-existent, generalized to sudden death - Rabbits are depressed, anorectic and lethargic - Cats/dogs weight loss and vomiting