Scholarly Articles and Research on Rabbit Health

This article features recent scholarly works on companion rabbit health, commonly known as ‘pet rabbits’ in academic writings.” For articles focused on behavior, welfare, and the rabbit-human relationship, visit this page.

Amputation

April Louise Murphy (2020) Rabbit hind limb amputation: case study, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 35:6, 156-157, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2020.1791475

Diet And Nutrition

Kazimierska, Katarzyna, and Wioletta Biel. “Analysis of the nutrient composition of selected commercial pet rabbit feeds with respect to nutritional guidelines.” Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 39 (2021): 32-36. DOI:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1557506321000781

Claire Speight (2017) The nutritional needs of rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 32:5, 144-147, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2017.1284578

Rosanne Barwick (2000) Rabbit Nutrition, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 15:3, 94-100, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2000.11013033

Matt Brash (2009) The role of fibre in rabbit nutrition, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 24:12, 25-27, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2009.11013149

Richard Slade & Mike Forbes (2008) The importance of the source of fibre in the diet of the rabbit, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 23:3, 27-28, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2008.11013665

Death

O’Neill, Dan G et al. “Morbidity and mortality of domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) under primary veterinary care in England.” The Veterinary record vol. 186,14 (2020): 451. doi:10.1136/vr.105592

Shiga, Takanori, et al. “Age at death and cause of death of pet rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) seen at an exotic animal clinic in Tokyo, Japan: a retrospective study of 898 cases (2006–2020).” Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 43 (2022): 35-39. DOI:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1557506322000787

Dental Disease

Brigitte Lord (Lecturer in rabbit medicine and surgery) (2012) Management of dental disease in rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 27:1, 18-20, DOI: 10.1111/j.2045-0648.2011.00136.x

Kelly Druce (2015) Dental disease in rabbits – malocclusion, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 30:11, 309-311, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2015.108392

Johnson JC, Burn CC. Lop-eared rabbits have more aural and dental problems than erect-eared rabbits: a rescue population study. bioRxiv 2019:1–27. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Ears

Chivers, Benedict D., Melissa RD Keeler, and Charlotte C. Burn. “Ear health and quality of life in pet rabbits of differing ear conformations: A UK survey of owner-reported signalment risk factors and effects on rabbit welfare and behaviour.” PloS one 18.7 (2023): e0285372. DOI:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0285372

E Cuniculi

An archived list of E Cuniculi scholarly articles is available via the Wayback Machine.

Mäkitaipale, Johanna, et al. Seroprevalence of Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Toxoplasma gondii antibodies and risk-factor assessment for Encephalitozoon cuniculi seroprevalence in Finnish pet rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).” Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 64.1 (2022): 1-9. DOI:https://actavetscand.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13028-022-00622-5

Javadzade, Reza, et al. “Molecular detection and genotype identification of E. cuniculi from pet rabbits.” Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 75 (2021): 101616. DOI:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147957121000084

Eyes

Sally Turner (2010) A look at ocular conditions in rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 25:12, 18-21, DOI: 10.1111/j.2045-0648.2010.tb00136.x

Environmental Enrichment

Claire Speight (2016) Environmental Enrichment for Pet Rabbits – How Can the RVN Help Educate Owners?, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 31:5, 144-148, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2016.1153990Obesity

Fly Strike (Myiasis)

Kelly Druce (2015) Myiasis in domestic rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 30:7, 199-202, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2015.1047431

GI Stasis And Ileus

Jennifer Duxbury (2021) Managing gastro-intestinal stasis in hospitalised rabbits: a literature review, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 36:1, 24-29, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2020.1795020

Leonie Ager RVN (2017) Ileus in rabbits – current thinking in treatment, nursing and prevention, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 32:7, 201-205, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2017.1314781

Tracey K. Ritzman, Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Gastrointestinal Conditions in Exotic Companion Mammals (Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, and Chinchillas), Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice, Volume 17, Issue 2, 2014, Pages 179-194, ISSN 1094-9194,
ISBN 9780323297271, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvex.2014.01.003.

DeCubellis J, Graham J. Gastrointestinal disease in guinea pigs and rabbits. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice 2013;16:421–35. 10.1016/j.cvex.2013.01.002 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Huynh M, Vilmouth S, Gonzalez MS, et al.. Retrospective cohort study of gastrointestinal stasis in PET rabbits. Veterinary Record 2014;175 10.1136/vr.102460 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Health

Robinson N, Lyons E, Grindlay D, et al.. Veterinarian Nominated common conditions of rabbits and guinea pigs compared with published literature. Veterinary Sciences 2017;4 10.3390/vetsci4040058 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Mäkitaipale J, Harcourt-Brown FM, Laitinen-Vapaavuori O. Health survey of 167 pet rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Finland. Veterinary Record 2015;177 10.1136/vr.103213 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Welch T, Coe JB, Niel L, et al.. A survey exploring factors associated with 2890 companion-rabbit owners’ knowledge of rabbit care and the neuter status of their companion rabbit. Prev Vet Med 2017;137:13–23. 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.12.008 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

An archive of older scholarly articles on rabbit health via the Wayback Machine.

Hospitalized Care

Laura Rosewell (2015) Maintaining standards of welfare in hospitalised rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 30:10, 290-296, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2015.1072073

Frances Harcourt-Brown (2011) Critical and emergency care of rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 26:12, 443-456, DOI: 10.1111/j.2045-0648.2011.00119.x

Infectious Diseases

Catherine Raw (2017) Infectious diseases in rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 32:10, 298-300, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2017.1328993

Megaoesophagus

Muffat‐es‐Jacques, Patricia, et al. “Megaoesophagus in a pet rabbit.” Veterinary Record Case Reports 11.4 (2023): e680. DOI:https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/vrc2.680

Myxomatosis

Hanna Buckoke (2012) Rabbit fleas and myxomatosis, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 27:2, 63-75, DOI: 10.1111/j.2045-0648.2012.00147.x

Neutering

William G. V. Lewis (2010) Neutering rabbits – is it worth the risk?, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 25:12, 14-16, DOI: 10.1111/j.2045-0648.2010.tb00135.x

Obesity

Robyn J. Lowe (2019) Obesity in rabbits: tackling the large lagomorphs!, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 34:11, 283-288, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2019.1654960

Pain And Analgesia

Aneesa Malik (2021) Pain in rabbits: a review for veterinary nurses, part one: assessment of pain , Veterinary Nursing Journal, 36:3, 105-112, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2020.1871456

Aneesa Malik MSc RVN Cert VNES Cert VNECC (2021) Pain in rabbits: a review for veterinary nurses part 2: management of pain in hospital, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 36:4, 132-138, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2020.1840471

Robyn J. Lowe (2019) Management of chronic pain in rabbits: Don’t pull your ‘hare’ out!, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 34:1, 7-11, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2018.1523696

Molly Varga (2016) Analgesia and pain management in rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 31:5, 149-153, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2016.1164449

Benato, L., et al. “Pain and analgesia in pet rabbits: a survey of the attitude of veterinary nurses.” Journal of Small Animal Practice 61.9 (2020): 576-581. DOI:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jsap.13186

Preventative Medicine

Mike Davies (2010) Preventive medicine for pet rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 25:4, 55-58, DOI: 10.1111/j.2045-0648.2010.tb00036.x

Stress

Amber Foote (2020) Evidence-based approach to recognizing and reducing stress in pet rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 35:6, 167-170, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2020.1790449

Surgery, Anesthesia, Recovery

Amber Rose Foote (2018) A review of current literature regarding the factors affecting recovery rates after routine surgery in rabbits – part 1, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 33:10, 287-290, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2018.1499452

Tawny E. Kershaw (2020) A summary of rabbit anaesthesia – part I: preparation and pre-operative nursing, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 35:9-12, 312-315, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2020.1806766

Tawny E. Kershaw (2020) A summary of rabbit anaesthesia – part II: intra-operative nursing and the recovery period, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 35:9-12, 351-353, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2020.1806767

Kelly Druce (2015) Hypothermia in Anaesthetised Rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 30:10, 284-286, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2015.1072072

Tumors, Leisons, And Cancer

Bertram, Christof A., et al. “Neoplasia and tumor-like lesions in pet rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus): a retrospective analysis of cases between 1995 and 2019.” Veterinary Pathology 58.5 (2021): 901-911.DOI: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0300985820973460

Baum, Berit. “Not just uterine adenocarcinoma—neoplastic and non-neoplastic masses in domestic pet rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus): a review.” Veterinary Pathology 58.5 (2021): 890-900. DOI:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/03009858211002190

Settai, Kanako, Hirotaka Kondo, and Hisashi Shibuya. “Assessment of reported uterine lesions diagnosed histologically after ovariohysterectomy in 1,928 pet rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 257.10 (2020): 1045-1050. DOI:https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/257/10/javma.2020.257.10.1045.xml

Veterinary Practice

Claire Speight (2018) How to be a rabbit-friendly practice, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 33:6, 179-183, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2018.1450691

Suzanne Moyes (2014) Caring for rabbits in practice, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 29:4, 123-125, DOI: 10.1111/vnj.12128

Dr Jonathan Down & Dr Suzanne Moyes (2016) Helping your clients understand optimal rabbit care, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 31:5, 135-139, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2016.1165508

Urolithiasis (Bladder Stones And Sludge)

Claire King (2006) Urolithiasis in rabbits, Veterinary Nursing Journal, 21:10, 14-16, DOI: 10.1080/17415349.2006.11013513

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