What are the key points for identifying healthy rabbits versus sick rabbits?

1 Observing demeanor: A healthy domestic rabbit has bright, spirited eyes, is active and alert, and responds quickly. It rests lying flat or on its side; when awake its eyes are fully open, when dozing its eyes are half-closed, and when sleeping its eyes are fully closed. At the slightest disturbance, it immediately raises its ears and lifts its head. If a rabbit is found to respond slowly and have dull eyes, it is sick.

2 Testing appetite: A healthy rabbit has a strong appetite, eats a lot and quickly, and chews vigorously. Before food is even added, it grabs the cage door with its front paws, jumps, and eagerly seeks food. If a rabbit is found not eating feed or moving very slowly, wanting to eat but not eating, this indicates illness; if it is sometimes better and sometimes worse, it is mostly a chronic digestive organ disease.

3 Checking feces: The normal feces of a rabbit are round or oval, smooth and uniform, and moderately dry and soft. If some rabbit feces are pointed at one end and unformed, this is generally early-stage gastroenteritis; dry clumped feces with a sour, foul odor generally indicate indigestion from overeating; watery feces indicate diarrhea; gelatinous feces with a foul stench indicate dysentery.

4 Feeling the ears: A healthy rabbit's ears are pink, and the inside of the ear shell is clean; when held by hand, the ears should feel slightly cool. In estrous female rabbits or sick rabbits, the ears feel hot to the touch. If examination shows it is not estrus, then it is fever caused by illness.

5 Touching the body surface: A healthy rabbit's skin is soft and elastic, and its coat is glossy and clings tightly to the body. If a rabbit's skin is found to have scabby sores or lumps, and its coat is rough and disheveled, and when you touch its backbone the bones protrude, and a handful of skin can be pinched up, this indicates a chronic disease or an excessively low level of feeding and management.

6 Observing eyes and nose: A healthy rabbit's eyes are bright and spirited, and the eye corners are clean. If the eyes are red and swollen, tearing, or have eye discharge, and some even have the eyes stuck shut, this indicates illness. A healthy rabbit's nostrils and the area around them have no accumulated mucus. When the nose is touched by hand, it should be moist and cool in summer, and dry and warm in winter. If mucus and attached matter appear around the rabbit's nostrils, and the nose is dry in summer and cool in winter, with sneezing, it is mostly a respiratory organ disease.

7 Counting respirations: A rabbit's breathing can be clearly seen from the expansion and contraction of the chest cavity. A healthy rabbit breathes 20 to 40 times per minute, and young rabbits 40 to 60 times. If the heart and gastrointestinal tract are diseased, breathing speeds up and breathing becomes difficult.

8 Measuring body temperature: A healthy rabbit's body temperature is 38.5°C to 39.5°C. For suspected sick rabbits, measuring with a thermometer is very necessary. The commonly used procedure is: the person measuring sits down, places the rabbit upside down and clamps it between the two legs, then shakes the mercury column of the thermometer down below 35°C, disinfects it with an alcohol cotton ball, applies a little vegetable oil, and gently inserts it into the anus. After 3 minutes, remove it and observe. If the body temperature exceeds 40°C, it is abnormal, and the occurrence of a cold and other acute infectious diseases may be considered.

In addition, the heartbeat of a meat rabbit is 80 to 90 times per minute, and that of a young rabbit is 100 to 150 times. Because rabbits are timid, measurement will accelerate their heartbeat, so it is of little significance for diagnosing disease.

Therefore, while strengthening feeding and management in daily life, the health of rabbits should be observed frequently, healthy rabbits and sick rabbits should be correctly identified, and timely discovery and timely treatment should be achieved, so as to keep the incidence of rabbit diseases to a minimum.