Mastitis in female rabbits can be fatal in severe cases; how can it be prevented?
The most common disease in lactating female rabbits is mastitis. In mild cases, mastitis affects the female rabbit's lactation capacity; in severe cases, the entire litter of kits dies from poisoning, and the female rabbit may even die from systemic infection due to rupture of the mammary ducts.
Female rabbit
Causes:
1. Biological factors: Trauma causes infection of the female rabbit by pathogenic microorganisms such as Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
2. Traumatic factors: ① Sharp objects in the cage or shed puncture or strike the female rabbit's mammary glands, injuring the mammary glands and causing infection by Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli, etc., resulting in inflammation. ② Because the female rabbit has poor nutrition (incomplete nutrition, insufficient feed amount), milk production is too low, milk is insufficient, the kits are hungry, and when suckling, they bite and break the nipples.
3. Feeding and management factors: ① Concentrate feed and succulent feed are fed too much, the female rabbit produces too much milk, and the thick milk blocks the mammary ducts or causes milk to accumulate in the mammary glands for a long time, causing mastitis. ② Young rabbits are first mated before reaching breeding age and weight; after early mating, the rabbit's body condition is poor, and lack of milk causes it. ③ During lactation, the female rabbit is subjected to mental stimulation, and body functions become disordered, which also easily causes mastitis.
Prevention:
1. 3-5 days before the female rabbit is due to give birth, stop feeding high-protein feed; 2-4 days after giving birth, feed more green fodder and less concentrate. Adjust the ratio of concentrate feed to green feed for the female rabbit to prevent too much or too thick milk.
2. Keep the rabbit shed, rabbit cages, and rabbit kindling boxes hygienic, and frequently repair the cage equipment to prevent the female rabbit's mammary glands from being injured by the cage equipment and causing mammary infection.
3. Within 3 days after the female rabbit gives birth, continuously administer compound sulfamethoxazole tablets orally, half a tablet per female rabbit each time, 2 times per day;
4. If the female rabbit's mammary glands have slight inflammation, immediately administer antibiotics for 3 consecutive days; or wash and rub the female rabbit's mammary glands with magnesium sulfate solution, then apply veterinary iodine tincture, for 3 consecutive days.