Raising rabbits is a rather troublesome task. One of the reasons for the complexity of this process is their susceptibility to various infectious diseases. Coccidiosis (or coccidiosis) is among the top three of these. Next, we will talk about what constitutes a disease, and how to forget about it forever and protect the livestock.

What is coccidiosis in rabbits

Coccidiosis in rabbits causes a unicellular parasite called coccidia. Bacteria affect the gastrointestinal tract, liver (mainly in young rabbits up to four months old). Adult rabbits are less likely to get sick. There are ten varieties of parasite bacteria. One of them affects the liver of the animal, the rest - the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, the disease is divided into two forms, namely: intestinal and hepatic.

Often animals suffer from both diseases. Coccidia oocysts enter the intestines and liver of the rabbit and multiply actively there. A diseased organ does not function properly, so food ceases to be completely digested and properly absorbed in the body.

Important! If you notice even the slightest deviation in the behavior of the rabbit, its appearance, put him away from the rest. If he is still ill, then the rest of the livestock will not be infected.

As a result, the rabbit loses weight, his body is exhausted, and he dies. Animals are so hurt that they can even die from it. There have been cases when the mortality rate of young animals from this infection reached 85%. To the question whether coccidiosis is contagious to humans, a definite negative answer can be given. A rabbit breeder can only carry coccidia oocysts on his belongings and equipment.

Routes of infection and risk factors

The largest number of harmful coccidia contains rabbit feces. Animals themselves belong to coprophages, that is, to those who can eat their excrement at night. Therefore, most of the animals become infected by the oral-fecal route, eating infected feces.

Through the same excrement, parasites enter the water, feed, and so the disease spreads by contact through almost all animals. It is believed that coccidiosis is transmitted in this way (these are the main ways of infection):

• by eating feces of infected animals;
• through coccidia-infected feed, water;
• after contact with sick rodents;
• through the milk of a sick rabbit mother;
• from insects and birds;
• next to the rabbit breeder’s form and tools.

Coccidiosis will spread quickly enough and will affect most of the stock if the following factors occur in the holding:

• in one cell contains many individuals of different ages;
• dirty cells with high humidity and drafts;
• ignoring quarantine when acquiring a new animal;
• feeding the livestock with poor quality feed, unbalanced in composition;
• food consists of feeds that contain a lot of protein;
• fodder with coccidibiosis is included in the diet of young animals, namely: alfalfa, wheat bran, milk;
• non-compliance with the rules of feeding in terms of sanitation;
• a sharp change in diet;
• overdue feed.

Signs

Coccidiosis can occur in acute or chronic form. Symptoms of the first are clearly visible on the second or third day of the disease, and with the second, the animal can walk for months, having been ill before. It is important to correctly recognize the forms of the disease according to the symptoms, which will be discussed below. After all, the method of treatment directly depends on how coccidiosis manifests itself.

Did you know? A rabbit that weighs 2 kg drinks as much water as a dog weighing 10 kg.

Intestinal form

Coccidiosis in the intestinal stage is characterized by the following state of the rabbit:

• diarrhea, constipation, their alternation;
• bloating, sagging belly;
• loss of appetite;
• weight loss and height;
• dull, tousled hair;
• there may be traces of blood in the stool;
• pus comes out of the eyes and nose;
• when touched, the crawl is hot, as it has an increased body temperature.

Intestinal coccidiosis brings very severe pain to the animal: before death, it falls on its back and convulses, tugging with all its paws.

Hepatic form

The main difference between the hepatic and intestinal forms is not quite pronounced, but the symptoms are similar. Because of this, it is hepatic coccidiosis that very often develops into a chronic disease. And it, in turn, is dangerous because the animal has been the carrier and spread of the infection all this time.

Signs of a hepatic form of the disease are similar to the intestinal type, namely:

• the rabbit is lethargic, eating poorly or not at all;
• the nature of the bowel movement changes - there may be constipation or diarrhea (or both);
• the animal lags noticeably in growth and weight gain;
• the coat is dull, the stomach is saggy and swollen;
• due to liver damage by bacteria, the mucous membrane of the eye turns yellow.

Find out what to do if your rabbit's eyes are festering.

Pathological changes in the animal during illness

The autopsy of an animal after death very clearly indicates the form of the disease. Large clusters of coccidia oocysts, which resemble white vesicles the size of millet grain, are visible in the affected organ (intestine or liver).

In addition to this symptom, in the intestinal form, the affected intestine is filled with liquid, semi-digestible food with gas bubbles, and red mucosa.

With the hepatic form, the infected organ is enlarged several times (namely: up to five to seven times), connective tissue growths are noticeable, and the bile ducts are thickened. The intestines are reddened and with liquid masses in it. There are cases when coccidia affects an animal both in the liver and intestines, then the pathology is combined.

Coccidiosis treatment in rabbits at home

If you notice signs of the disease in animals, you need to diagnose it comprehensively. It is important to conduct laboratory tests of excrement, blood, and tissue samples. After all these actions, a decision is made how to treat the animals. The disease can be cured with medication and alternative methods. Another way to get rid of the disease can be a complex combination of both methods.

Medically

Coccidiosis medications are on the market in a wide range. As a rule, they are divided into sulfamide and other antibiotics.

According to rabbit breeders, the most effective cure for the disease is Baykoks. They can both solder the animal, and enter intramuscularly. Those who used "Baykoks" claim that the tool helps even with advanced form of coccidiosis. It is available in two concentrations, namely: two and a half and five percent.

Read more about Baykoks for rabbits.

The first is recommended to drink animals at the rate of 1 ml per 10 liters of water, the other should be given without dilution. There are cases when, before watering an animal, the drug was pricked to diseased individuals in a dose of two cubes.

Popular sulfa drugs include Sulfadimethoxin, Sulfapyridosine. They are easy to use. On the first day, the animal is given a dose based on the fifth of 1 g per kilogram of mass, and on the next four it is halved. Drugs need to be diluted in water and water rabbits with it. After a five-day break, then the course is repeated.

Gives positive results and treatment with “Phthalazole” in combination with “Norsulfazole” . The first is taken a tenth of a gram, and the second - three times as much (per kilogram of animal weight). Give five days, then a break, after - repeat treatment. As for other, less popular drugs, Furazolidone is given at the rate of 30 mg per 1 kg of body weight. "Chloramphenicol" is added to drinking water at a dose of 40 mg, and "Sulfadimezin" - 150.

Some rabbit breeders prefer to treat coccidiosis with intramuscular antibiotics. What antibiotics successfully treat the disease, they will tell you at a veterinary pharmacy or veterinarian. Among them, Tilozin, Brovaseptol, Oksirol, and Tilovet are distinguished.

Important! Iodine solution must be done in a plastic bowl. Upon contact with iron, it loses its properties.

Folk remedies

Coccidiosis can be successfully prevented using folk methods, namely: to give iodine and give wormwood. Medicinal grass has in its composition substances that prevent infection with coccidia. It is given fresh and dried to give in the winter.

Rabbits really love this herb for its bitter taste and specific aroma. It is recommended to add it to the diet of pets about once a week and in an amount of not more than forty percent of the total feeding.

If a plant is consumed in large quantities, it causes hypervitaminosis and disrupts the digestive tract. Those who regularly added this plant to the rabbit diet claim that animals get sick much less often or do not get sick at all.

According to most rabbit breeders, the use of such a simple remedy as iodine in the treatment of coccidiosis is a universal and effective recipe. From a scientific point of view, iodine does not allow coccidia to actively develop and oxidizes substances that the stomach has not processed. In practice, a 0.01 percent composition is used.

Find out if rabbits can give grass to a swan.

To prepare it, a milliliter of 10% iodine is added to 1 liter of water. The whole cycle goes like this:

• 100 ml per day of a 0.01 percent solution is given to a pregnant female, starting from the twenty-fifth day of pregnancy (and up to the fifth day of lactation). The rabbit is drinking, and the rabbit is fed with milk;
• a break of 5 days is taken;
• in the next 15 days, the concentration and weight of the drug are doubled;
• about a month after birth, the rabbits are sown and give them 50 ml of a 0.01% solution for each animal for ten days;
• again a break of five days;
• week give 70 ml of solution per animal, while increasing the concentration by half;
• the next week they continue to give the same 0.01 percent solution, only at the rate of 100 ml per head.

Video: treatment of coccidiosis in rabbits with iodine

Rabbit recovery

During treatment, you need to constantly monitor the appearance and feces of animals. If you see that they are recovering successfully, it is important to ensure the right conditions for recovery. It is better not to contain a lot of animals in the cage, regularly remove excrement in it.

You can make the cage so that they fall through the bottom. The remnants of food should also be removed, make sure that it does not rot. Animals at this time should be fed with high-quality protein-free feed, constantly change the water.

You should pay attention to the fact that the disease does not pass into a latent or chronic form. Therefore, a few weeks after recovery, it is necessary to re-do laboratory tests to make sure that the disease is gone.

Did you know? A female rabbit feeds babies for only five minutes a day.

Disease prevention

It is always easier to prevent a disease than to cure it. On the prevention of coccidiosis in rabbits, there are the following recommendations, adhering to which, the problem of the disease will disappear by itself:

• young animals should be kept in spacious cages, no more than 20 individuals in each, and separately from adult animals;
• clean the cage regularly, disposing of food debris and excrement;
• if possible, at least several times a week, animals should be planted, and their cages should be treated with an ultraviolet lamp and boiling water. Only this kills coccidia;
• scald drinkers with boiling water after cleaning and regularly change the water in them;
• monitor the cleanliness of the feeders, and so that the feed before feeding the rabbits does not fall on the dirty floor with the remains of feces;
• equip the cage in such a way that coccidia peddlers could not get into it, namely: birds, rodents;
• do not feed young animals with high protein foods, avoid a sharp change in diet;
• keep animals newly acquired in quarantine for at least a month;
• twice a year to give medications or folk remedies for the treatment of coccidiosis in order to prevent (the dosage is indicated in the instructions).

Vaccination has always been a great way to prevent infectious diseases. However, in the case of coccidiosis, there is no universal vaccine. Timely vaccinations against other infections (for example, a divalent vaccine) significantly reduce the risk of coccidiosis. All of them are aimed at strengthening the immunity of animals.

Can I eat rabbit meat with coccidiosis?

Contact with an infected animal is not dangerous for humans. They also say that the meat of infected animals is also not dangerous. You can eat everything, excluding the liver and internal organs, which must be removed and destroyed. In addition, the meat is cooked. Coccidia die at a temperature of about 100 ° C.

People have developed a persistent habit that they don’t eat sick animals. Therefore, there are opinions that it is better not to eat rabbits with coccidiosis of rabbits.

See also if rabbits can be fed apples and other fruits.

Rabbits often “pick up” various diseases. That is why their breeding is quite complicated. However, with proper feeding conditions and the maintenance of many ailments can be avoided. It is important to monitor the health of the livestock and start treatment on time if the disease still takes place.