Preventing and Treating Spring Rhinitis in Rex Rabbits
📝 Summary
Spring temperature swings drive rex-rabbit rhinitis, spread by air through the respiratory tract; kits die fast, adults often go chronic and lose breeding value. Prevent with ventilation, vaccination, low density, and isolation; treat with penicillin-streptomycin injections and chloramphenicol drops.
1 Symptoms and Control of Rex Rabbit Rhinitis
I. Symptoms
Kits show acute signs: hard breathing, lost appetite, and death 2–3 days in. Adults get chronic rhinitis with watery or mucous discharge, frequent sneezing, paw-wiping of the nose; severe cases form crusted pus that blocks nostrils and forces mouth breathing. The long course slowly cuts appetite and growth, and some die from secondary pneumonia.
II. Prevention and Treatment
1. Prevention: strengthen management and exercise to raise resistance; keep good ventilation and fresh air at a sensible temperature; clean and disinfect regularly; vaccinate against Pasteurella and add olaquindox to feed; control stocking density; isolate and treat sick rabbits promptly and cull infected breeding stock.
2. Treatment: inject a penicillin-streptomycin mix intramuscularly, 200,000 units each, twice daily for 3–5 days; also wipe the nostrils with the same drugs and use chloramphenicol eye drops in the nose.
Those are the key points—prevent rhinitis well to lower illness rates.
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