Survey Of Pet Rabbit Husbandry And Nutrition

Background: Although pet rabbits are popular in Hungary, very little is known about their health status.Objectives: The aim of the study was to obtain data about the health status of pet rabbits.Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted at the Exo-Pet Veterinary Center in Budapest.Results and discussion: A total of 109 owners answered the survey. Seventeen breeds were represented, and the majority of rabbits were dwarf (89.9%). The mean age of the rabbits was 3.7 years (range: 2 months - 11 years). Fifty-nine (54.1%) rabbits were male (42.4% of them neutered), and fifty (45.9%) rabbits were female (58% of them neutered).Ninety-two rabbits were kept indoors only (84.4%), twelve (11%) animals had access to outdoor facilities and five rabbits were kept outdoors (4.6%). Only two rabbits (1.8%) were kept in cage all the time, the other rabbits could get exercise outside the cage (few hours/day: 60.5%; ad libitum: 37.6%). The most popular bedding type was wood pellet (78.9%). The most important information sources were veterinarians only (21.1%) followed by veterinarian and other sources (75.2%), internet (64.2%), other rabbit owners (41.3%) and rabbit breeders (8.3%). All 109 animas received commercial dry food and 98.2% of them received hay as well. A variety of other foods were additionally given, such as fresh greens (72.3%), carrots (47.7%), fruits (20.2%), herbs (8.2%) and snacks (4.6%).Most of the rabbits (56.1%) were vaccinated against RHD1, RHD2 and myxomatosis, while forty-three (43.9%) were vaccinated against RHD1 and myxomatosis. High percentage of owners (65.2%) asked for regular dental check-up and further 17.4% are planning to do so in the future. Beside dental diseases (n=39, 23% of the diseases) the other common findings were gastrointestinal diseases (n=39, 23%), parasites (n=18, 10%), skin disorders (n=10, 7%), pododermatitis (n=10, 7%), renal diseases (n=5, 3%), respiratory diseases (n=5, 3%), trauma (n=4, 2%) and aural disorders (n=4, 2%).We can conclude that with a few exceptions housing and feeding conditions of the rabbits were appropriate. The most commonly reported health problems were similar to the findings of international surveys.