How to treat a wet muzzle in rabbits

What people call “midges” or “wet snout”, veterinarians call infectious stomatitis. Especially susceptible to this disease are small rabbits during feeding or weaning. In a rabbit, a wet muzzle disease is transmitted through blood, saliva, or urine.

Wet Rabbit Face

An animal can be a carrier of infection throughout life. But the activation of the virus is due to stress caused by a change in food, the storage of young animals in separate cages, and changes in temperature in the rabbit cage.

Symptoms of a rabbit’s wet face

The wet face of a rabbit is caused by a filtering virus that enters the body of a healthy animal in contact with sick relatives.

The spread of the disease in the herd occurs due to errors in the content of the diseased individuals. Even if the pet has recovered, it remains the carrier of the virus for the rest of its life. Such individuals are hatched from breeding and kept separately from the rest of the herd.

Once in the animal’s body, the virus actively multiplies in the cells of the mucous membrane.The symptomatology of the disease progresses rapidly:

• profuse salivation begins;
• the nose of the rabbit becomes wet, mucus is released from it;
• the hair on the skin around the nose and the mouth becomes thinner;
• the pet looks disheveled and untidy;
• the mucous membranes of the mouth become bright pink or red;
• weight loss due to loss of appetite;
• 2-3 days after infection, the tongue is covered with white plaque, and after it turns brown;
• in the absence of treatment, plaque is replaced by groups of sores;
• then one big ulcer at the root of the tongue;
• the skin becomes inflamed;
• the hair falls out in places;
• diarrhea begins.

On the Internet many videos showing biting symptoms. You need to know what a sick pet looks like.

Sometimes profuse salivation occurs with mechanical damage to the mucous membrane, burns or poisoning. To start providing timely assistance, the animal needs to know exactly why the rabbit has a wet face.

Causes of occurrence

A wet muzzle in rabbits can occur for many reasons, but the main one is poor conditions:

• too many animals are kept in a small area;
• dirty cages in which stools are not promptly removed;
• contaminated drinking bowls and feeders;
• drafts in rabbitry;
• sharp changes in temperature in the cell;
• decreased immunity;
• poor nutrition.

Ill animals become immune to the disease, but remain carriers of the virus for the rest of his life. That’s why rabbits get a wet face if they keep healthy individuals together with those who have been ill.

Infection occurs in another way. Often, rabbits who have been ill with biting midges do not have any external signs of the disease, but are carriers of the pathogen. If such females are divorced, the resulting offspring can become infected with the disease from the mother.

Reasons for the wet face

For this reason, it is better to buy an adult female from trusted breeders or at livestock shows. The animal must have documents confirming its health and the presence of all vaccinations. When buying males and females from their hands in natural markets or from unverified livestock breeders, the risk of disease over the entire population increases.

Forms of infectious stomatitis

A disease of rabbits in which their muzzle becomes wet is called infectious stomatitis or biting midges. It has three forms, differing from each other in the severity of symptoms and the presence of complications:

• Light. The appetite of the animal does not suffer much, which is why there is no sharp weight loss and weakness. The stool is normal, there is no diarrhea. The behavior of young animals does not change much. Saliva is only separated in the corners of the mouth. Often this form of stomatitis is confused with mechanical damage to the oral mucosa. Wet muzzle in rabbits, if there is treatment, passes on 11-14 days. Most pets survive.
• Severe. All symptoms are extremely severe. The animal completely refuses food and water. The muzzle becomes inflamed and covered with purulent abscesses. The oral cavity is completely covered with ulcers, salivation is plentiful. Due to severe diarrhea, the animal’s body is dehydrated. Most often, this form entails the death of the animal on 4-5 days from the onset of the disease.
• Atypical. Symptoms are mild or completely absent. Changes in the behavior of the animal are not observed. Full recovery occurs 4-6 days after the onset of stomatitis.

Even after recovery, the pet may look sick for several more weeks until the coat returns to normal and the weight is restored. Do not rush to transplant a sick pet to relatives.

Form of rabbit disease

If the disease not fully cured, relapse is possible, that is, the return of the disease and its exacerbation. Only if you are sure that the pet is completely healthy, you can release it into the general pack.

Treatment of biting midges in rabbits

In order for the animal to survive and recover , treatment of the disease should begin in the first days after infection, as soon as the first symptoms appear. The breeder himself chooses how to treat the rabbit, since there are enough funds in the modern market of veterinary drugs for this:

• The animal can be treated with the usual pharmaceutical Streptocide. The tablets are ground to a powder and given to the animal orally every 8 hours. Treatment lasts up to 3-4 days.
• Use the antibiotic Biomycin. It is usually used to treat cattle, but if there are no options, then this is better than not treating the rabbit at all. It is important to select the amount of medicine necessary for the animal based on its weight. The drug is given once a day for 2 days.
• Penicillin injections also proved to be good in treating young rabbits.
• An effective and inexpensive way to cure a wet chin in a rabbit is sulfadimezin.

In addition to treating the disease with medications, it is necessary to carry out symptomatic treatment of the disease.This increases the chance of recovery of the rabbit:

• with a 15% solution of potassium permanganate, lotions must be done on the affected areas of the skin of the face.
• 2% of copper sulfate treat the oral cavity of a sick animal. You need to be very careful to prevent the rabbit from swallowing the solution because of its toxicity.
• Topical application of Streptocide emulsion and Penicillin ointment helps to quickly heal ulcers.
• At home, you can make your own ointment hands to treat rabbits. To do this, take petroleum jelly, lanolin, sulfamide and 200 thousand dry penicillin. The ointment is lubricated with affected skin.

How to treat rabbits

Also, rabbits are prescribed a course of Apidermine to increase immunity and improve tissue regeneration. If the animal is not treated, the disease will worsen and the fluff will die a painful death.

All dosages of the drugs must be discussed with the veterinarian.

Prevention of viral stomatitis in rabbits

Like any other disease, mokret is better to prevent than to treat it. If an individual has appeared in the herd with symptoms of viral stomatitis, it is necessary to resort to measures to prevent an epidemic:

• Since the disease does not appear during breastfeeding, it is necessary to examine the young animals every day after their absence from the mother, up to 4 months age.
• When revealing the first signs of a biting midfill, it is necessary to isolate all individuals. It is necessary to think in advance where to put rabbits for the period of quarantine.
• Feeders and drinking bowls after the death or slaughter of infected animals should be treated with disinfectants or boiled if their size allows.
• It is necessary in a timely manner remove feces of rabbits, and also prevent its eating by animals. Due to the deficiency of B vitamins, many animals eat their stool to fill the shortage.
• Ill rabbits are removed from the breeding divorce. If the eared one was bought from the hands or in doubtful nurseries, before the mating it is necessary to analyze the presence of antibodies in the blood.

Nutrition of rabbits during treatment

Due to damage to the oral cavity during the disease, the animal cannot eat and drink normally, which complicates the recovery of the body. The pet should be given soft food:

• boiled root vegetables;
• warm milk with bran soaked in it;
• yogurt;
• liquid porridge.

A full and nutritious diet during treatment and recovery is the key to a positive outcome of the disease. The transition to a normal diet should be carried out gradually, so as not to cause stress in rabbits.