Around 1.5 million families in the United States have pet rabbits. Rabbits don’t need vaccinations, but just like dogs and cats, they should have checkups once or twice a year. As prey animals, they hide signs of illness, and if problems aren’t detected early on, treatment can be much more difficult.
For example, upper-respiratory disease and ear infections are common in rabbits. Other frequently diagnosed problems include dental disease and arthritis, both of which should be managed as soon as possible. Intact—that’s, unspayed—rabbits are prone to developing uterine and mammary tumors, which can be detected by combining an animal’s history with examination.
So, don’t wait for your rabbit’s small problems to become big ones when you can keep ahead of pitfalls with routine examinations.