Two Common Inflammations in Rex Rabbits
📝 Summary
Sore hock (pododermatritis) and infectious rhinitis are both common in rex rabbits and can harm the animals; infectious rhinitis is also contagious and can sweep through a herd. This guide covers the signs, care, and prevention of each.
1 Sore Hock (Pododermatritis)
Rex rabbits are prone to sore hock. It does not kill, but it badly hurts the animal’s breeding value and the pelt quality of market rabbits. Signs: reluctance to move, reduced appetite, gradual weight loss, slow movement, difficulty bearing weight on the hind limbs, and frequently shifting weight between feet; the rabbit may arch its back lying in the cage. Checking the soles shows hair loss, redness, and pus; the abscess may burst, bleed, and scab, sometimes with secondary bacterial infection.
Management: improve care and keep the cage clean — scrub the cage floor thoroughly and disinfect it regularly with 0.3% peracetic acid spray. The cage floor is best made of bamboo slats, kept flat with no nails or sharp objects poking up. Also vaccinate against staph: 2 ml per rabbit, twice a year.
Treatment: place the affected rabbit on a soft-padded cage and wrap the sore with adhesive tape, not too tight, pressing it gently in place; it self-heals in about 20–30 days. Alternatively, clip the hair over the sore, clean and disinfect it — e.g., wash with 3% peracetic acid, then apply sulfadiazine or oxytetracycline ointment. After the wound closes, dab 5% gentian violet once daily. For severe cases, bandage the wound with sterile gauze and inject penicillin and streptomycin, 100,000 units each, morning and evening until recovered.
2 Infectious Rhinitis
Infectious rhinitis in rex rabbits comes from several pathogens, mainly Pasteurella and Bordetella. It is one of the rabbit’s major infectious diseases: high incidence, strong contagion, year-round, weak vaccine effect, and hard to control with drugs. Relapse is common and it can worsen or lead to other infections — a stubborn disease.
Prevention: intramuscularly inject a penicillin-streptomycin mix — penicillin 20,000–30,000 units/kg body weight, twice daily for three days; streptomycin 20,000 units/kg, three times daily for three days; also kanamycin 15 mg/kg, twice daily for three days.
This guide covered sore hock and infectious rhinitis in rex rabbits; owners should focus on preventing both diseases.
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