Round Up of Rabbit Care
A six week online tutored CPD course with Claire Speight
Following completion of the tutored course, you now have unlimited lifetime access to the learning resources. These are provided for future reference only, and no further CPD hours may be claimed for reviewing the materials.
Week 1
Nutrition and Husbandry at Home
- Dietary requirements
- Environmental needs
- Incorrect feeding problems
- Obesity
- Tempting rabbits to eat hay
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Discuss the nutritional requirements of rabbits and why these are important
- Recognise problems related to incorrect or poor diet and the implications these have on health and welfare
- Appreciate that rabbits need large enclosures, which allow them to exhibit normal behavioural patterns. These are important from a health and welfare perspective. We will examine what rabbits need to be happy
- Understand obesity and how to implement a weight loss programme for rabbits
- List various methods to encourage picky rabbits to eat hay!
Week 2
Preventative Healthcare
- Neutering – when and why
- Vaccination – myxomatosis, RVHD1 and RVHD2
- Endo and ectoparasites
- Flea treatment
- Worming treatment
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Understand the best time to neuter rabbits
- Appreciate why we should be neutering all rabbits – health, welfare and behavioural benefits
- Know all the latest vaccination information and background on these fatal viruses
- Know which endo and ectoparasites can affect rabbits and the clinical signs
- Discuss if rabbits require prophylactic flea and worm treatment, and if so, when?
Week 3
Implementing Rabbit Clinics and Client Evenings in Practice
- Setting up rabbit clinics
- Running client evenings
- What to discuss
- Health checking
- Benefits to the practice
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Understand that client education is imperative but there is more than one way to deliver this
- Discover the benefits of both rabbit clinics and client evenings
- Know what should be discussed and the clinical examination to help detect problems
- Appreciate why being a rabbit friendly practice is of benefit to you!
Week 4
Common Medical Diseases
- Gastrointestinal stasis and blockages
- Dental disease
- Urinary tract disease
- E. cuniculi
- Myxomatosis and RVHD
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Describe the common conditions that rabbits present to veterinary practices and require hospitalisation
- Ascertain if a rabbit has gastrointestinal stasis or a blockage – differences and treatments
- Identify clinical signs and causes
- List the treatment options
- Describe preventative measures to help ensure rabbits remain healthy
Week 5
Rabbits in the Practice
- Reducing stress
- Hospitalisation
- Gold standard rabbit nursing
- Medicating
- Fluid therapy and blood sampling
- Supportive feeding
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Understand that everything that we do to rabbits whilst they are hospitalised induces some degree of stress. Learn ways to reduce this, which are easily achieved in practice
- Appreciate that hospitalised rabbits can require in-depth care which can be daunting. Learn how to effectively nurse rabbits to ensure optimum care
- Learn how to medicate rabbits in an effective and safe manner is imperative, as well as how to syringe feed, deliver fluid therapy and acquire successful blood samples with minimal stress to the rabbit or nurse!
Week 6
Rabbit Anaesthesia and Analgesia
- Signs of pain
- Analgesia options
- Making rabbit anaesthesia safer
- Monitoring under general anaesthesia
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Review rabbit anaesthesia and learn how to build up your confidence, including pre op, intra op and post op care. Anaesthetising rabbits can be overwhelming but doesn’t need to be!
- Know the clinical signs rabbits show when they are in pain, and learn how to use the Rabbit Grimace Scale
- Review the analgesics available for rabbit medicine
- Understand the parameters monitored during anaesthesia – including CO2, SPO2,reflexes, HR, RR and BP readings
CPD Course Content
Round Up of Rabbit Care
Course progress
Online CPD for Vet Nurses
Excel CPD specialises in providing online CPD for veterinary nurses and technicians all over the globe. Our courses are also fully approved by AVNAT for our nursing colleagues in Australia and New Zealand.