Section
Rabbits, rodents, reptiles, birds and fish.
15 articles
Rabbits
Gastrointestinal stasis is not a single disease but a final common pathway: gut motility slows or stops, gas and impacted ingesta accumulate, and a rabbit that was eating normally yesterday may be anorexic and hunched today.
By Dr Ingrid Sorensen, BVSc, DipACVB · 4 min read
Rabbits
By Dr Samuel Adeyemi, DVM, DACVIM · 4 min read
Guinea Pigs
By Dr Rowan Kelly, BVSc, MVS · 4 min read
Hamsters
By Dr Noor Haddad, DVM, DACVD · 4 min read
Ferrets
By Dr Priya Raghunathan, BVMS · 4 min read
Reptiles
Metabolic bone disease is not one condition but a spectrum of skeletal disorders in reptiles arising from imbalances in calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D3, almost always rooted in inadequate husbandry rather than a primary illness.
By Dr Mariana Oliveira, DVM, DACVN · 4 min read
Rats
Respiratory disease is the leading cause of illness and death in pet rats, driven overwhelmingly by Mycoplasma pulmonis either alone or alongside viral and bacterial co-infections such as Sendai virus, Streptococcus pneumoniae or Cilia-Associated Respiratory bacillus.
By Dr Samuel Adeyemi, DVM, DACVIM · 4 min read
Birds
Feather plucking, more precisely termed feather-damaging behaviour, is one of the most frustrating presentations in avian medicine because it sits at the intersection of medical, environmental and psychological causes that must each be systematically ruled in or out.
By Dr Aisha Bello, BVetMed · 4 min read
Birds
Egg binding, where a fully formed egg fails to pass through the oviduct and out through the vent, is a genuine emergency in backyard hens that can progress to death within a day if untreated.
By Dr Ingrid Sorensen, BVSc, DipACVB · 4 min read
Reptiles
Bearded dragons are among the most commonly kept pet reptiles, yet a large share of the health problems seen in practice trace back to a single husbandry failure: inadequate or degraded UVB lighting.
By Dr Thomas Nakamura, DVM · 4 min read
Fish
Fin rot, the progressive erosion and fraying of a fish's fins, is almost never a primary disease in its own right but a secondary bacterial or fungal infection that takes hold once water quality or stress has compromised the fish's protective mucus layer and immune defences.
By Dr Noor Haddad, DVM, DACVD · 4 min read
Rabbits
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus is a highly contagious calicivirus capable of killing an apparently healthy rabbit within a day or two of exposure, and vaccination remains the only reliable protection available, since there is no specific antiviral treatment once clinical disease develops.
By Dr Samuel Adeyemi, DVM, DACVIM · 4 min read
Rabbits
Rabbits, guinea pigs and other small mammals are far more vulnerable to heat stress than dogs and cats, since they lack an efficient sweating mechanism and rely mainly on ear vasodilation and behavioural changes to dissipate heat.
By Dr Ingrid Sorensen, BVSc, DipACVB · 4 min read
Rabbits
Bumblefoot, or pododermatitis, is a chronic ulcerative condition of the footpad seen commonly in rabbits and in perching or ground-dwelling birds, driven by sustained pressure on inadequately cushioned skin that breaks down and becomes secondarily infected.
By Dr Priya Raghunathan, BVMS · 4 min read
Practice
Exotic and small pet species have physiology, drug sensitivities and disease presentations that differ substantially from cats and dogs, and a vet without specific training in these species can miss diagnoses that would be routine for an experienced exotics practitioner.
By Dr Samuel Adeyemi, DVM, DACVIM · 4 min read