Week 1
Nutrition and Husbandry at Home

Dietary requirements

Environmental needs

Incorrect feeding problems

Obesity

Tempting rabbits to eat hay

Learning objectives

We will discuss the nutritional requirements of rabbits and why these are important

Recognising problems related to incorrect or poor diet and the implications these have on health and welfare

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

Obesity and how to implement a weight loss programme for rabbits

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

When is the best time to neuter rabbits – why we should be neutering all rabbits – health, welfare and behavioural benefits

Latest vaccination information and background on these fatal viruses

Which endo and ectoparasites can affect rabbits and the clinical signs

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

Client education is imperative but there is more than one way to deliver this

Discover the benefits of both rabbit clinics and clients evening

What should be discussed and the clinical examination to help detect problems

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

Common conditions that rabbits are presented to veterinary practices for and require hospitalisation

Ascertaining if a rabbit has gastrointestinal stasis or a blockage – differences and treatments

The clinical signs and causes

Treatment options

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

Everything that we do to rabbits whilst they are hospitalised induces some degree of stress.  There are ways to reduce this, which is easily achieved in practice

Hospitalised rabbits can require in-depth care which can be daunting. Learn how to effectively nurse rabbits to ensure optimum care

Being able 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

Anaesthetising rabbits can be overwhelming, but doesn’t need to be. We will recap rabbit anaesthesia and how you can help build up your confidence, including pre op, intra op and post op care

Rabbits do demonstrate signs of pain – although these can be missed. Learn what clinical signs rabbits show, to use with the Rabbit Grimace Scale, and the analgesics used in rabbit medicine

Signs to be monitoring under anaesthesia – including CO2, SPO, reflexes, HR, RR and BP readings

The course will be fully tutored by Claire Speight and will consist of 15 hours of CPD given in various formats, including tutorials, tasks, case studies, forum discussions and quizzes.

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