Rabbit Staphylococcosis: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

1 Abscesses

Abscesses caused by staph produce the same signs and need the same treatment as those caused by pasteurellosis; only the bacterium is different.

2 Mastitis

Mastitis occurs most often in nursing does. The main causes are: (a) low milk supply with nipples bitten by the kits; (b) oversupply from early weaning that lets milk build up in the glands; (c) a teat punctured by a sharp object in the cage, allowing staph to enter through the wound.

Treatment: improve husbandry and use medication. In the early stage, express the trapped milk, apply a cold compress and a ‘block’ injection. After emptying the mammary gland, inject a mixture of 2 ml of 2% procaine and 100,000 IU of penicillin diluted in 8 ml of sterile water, once daily; also give intramuscular penicillin at 50,000 IU per kg of body weight, twice a day for 3 to 5 days. Severe cases also need intravenous tetracycline (0.1 g) in 5% glucose solution.

3 Pododermatitis (Sore Hocks)

This happens when staph enters through damaged foot-pad skin. Signs include red, bleeding, pus-filled or ulcerated soles; a severe infection can spread through the body and kill the rabbit.

Early care: dab the sore with 5% iodine tincture or 5% gentian violet solution. For an abscess that has already formed pus, clip the fur, clean thoroughly with hydrogen peroxide or potassium permanganate, apply chlortetracycline ointment, wrap with gauze and change the dressing daily until healed. Serious cases need intramuscular penicillin.

4 Neonatal Yellow Urine Disease

Also called acute enteritis of kits, this occurs when kits drink milk from a doe suffering from staph mastitis and cannot digest it well. Affected kits have the area around the anus soaked with yellow urine and loose yellow stools, with a foul fishy smell; they become drowsy and weak. A few kits fall ill first, then the infection spreads through the whole litter, and mortality is high.

Prevention focuses on stopping mastitis in the nursing doe. For affected kits, give an intramuscular injection of 20,000 IU of penicillin, twice daily for 2 to 3 days.