Other lionhead rabbit health concerns

As mentioned there are several fatal diseases that might harm your lionhead rabbit, the most common diseases are the Viral Haemorrhagic Disease (VHD) and Myxomatosis. By vaccinating your lionhead you can prevent them from getting these diseases. However, there also exist some other health concerns that might occur.

Infected with mites or lice

It is possible that your lionhead rabbit gets infected with mites and/or lice and fleas. How do they get these invaders? There are several possible explanations, they can be transmitted by other rabbits or the bedding in their hutch or anything that is located nearby. The mites might be located within their or in their ears. Their presence can cause severe health issues.

How to check whether your lionhead rabbit is infected with mites?

It depends on how severe the infection is but in general the symptoms are visible. If your lionhead rabbit continually keeps scratching itself around these areas or you notice that they have itch it is most likely that he or she has mites. Moreover, it might occur that they have a certain amount of hair loss. In order to prevent your rabbit from getting these unwanted visitors you should keep their ears clean. It is recommended to visit a vet if your lionhead keeps having mites, fleas or lice.

Presence of E. cuniculi

Most of the lionhead rabbits carry the E. cuniculi parasite which is an abbreviation for Encephalitozoon cuniculi and in fact is a small parasite that lives in the rabbit. It causes infections and harms their general health. It can lead to kidney failure or a head tilt, blindness. Although this parasite is present within a large percentage of the domestic rabbits most of them won’t be hurt by it. The parasite remains in some kind of a rest stand and might become in an active phase again if the rabbit is stressed.

How to check whether your rabbit suffers from E. cuniculi?

Occasionally it might occur that the parasite becomes active and starts harming the health of your rabbit. One of the most heard symptoms is that their head will tilt or their legs become paralyzed. Others are, their visual sight decreases over time, they could leak urine or pee a lot. A possible explanation for the latter might be that their kidneys are already damaged. In order to apply the best therapy you should consult your vet.

Uterine cancer

If you have a female lionhead rabbit that is not spayed there is a chance that she will get uterine cancer. Similar as to humans this form of cancer is very lethal. Many female rabbits will die because of this disease. There are no remedies or cures and performing surgical operations is impossible. The only thing you could do in order to prevent your rabbit from getting these disease is to neuter him or spay her. There are also some additional advantages if you choose to spay your doe, for example you won’t receive any unwanted/unforeseen bunnies. For more information we refer to a page that contains detailed neutering/spaying information. If you wish to receive more detailed information about uterine cancer or the impact that neutering your doe has you should consult a vet.

  • patsy nelson

    What do I do for ear mites?

  • Drako

    You guys made a mistake there. It says, “If you have a female lionhead rabbit that is not neutered there is a chance that she will get uterine cancer.” ….. A female of any species can only be spayed, not neutered

    1. Lionhead Team

      Thanks for showing us! 🙂 We appreciate that.

  • Leah

    My lion head rabbit has had very bad care in the past. His last owner did not trim his nails, let him out of the cage, and did not provide him the proper diet. When my family adopted him he took several get visits.

    We have had him for about 6 years now. When I got him out of his cage this morning and set him down in our kitchen he did not move a muscle. His legs seem to be paralized. He runs around in his cage all the time. It is hard to tell if our little lion head rabbit is in pain or not. (I know that we recently clipped his nails and they might be sore but I don’t know) Also his poo is all clumped together. My parents refuse to take him to the vet all though I’m worried about him.

    Please help! ;(

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