Page 174 - BSAVA Guide to Pain Management in Small Animal Practice

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Pain in rabbits

Joanna Hedley

Despite a marked increase in the number of pet The
Rabbit
rabbits kept in the UK, our ability to interpret the Grimace Scale
behaviour of this prey species is still lacking. scores ve changes
Signs of illness and of pain are generally hidden in facial expression
until disease is advanced. Careful and prolonged cheek attening,
observation is required (ideally while the rabbit orbital tightening,
nose shape, whisker
is unaware that it is being observed), as even position, ear
subtle changes in behaviour may be signi cant. position). Compare
It can, however, be di cult to distinguish (a) this rabbit in pain
between behavioural changes due to stress or with (b) the same
rabbit following
underlying disease from those due to pain. An analgesia.
added challenge is that these changes may be
non speci c, such as a reduction in the range
of normal behaviours seen in the healthy (a)
pain-free animal, rather than the rabbit
exhibiting speci c pain associated behaviours.
The range of normal behaviours will vary for
each individual, so thorough history-taking is
required. Response to pain may also vary
depending on whether the pain is acute or
chronic and visceral or somatic, as shown by
the case examples below. In laboratory
situations, pain scoring systems such as the
Rabbit Grimace Scale have been used to
provide a more objective method of assessing
pain, and these may also be useful to help
evaluate rabbits in clinical practice (Keating (b)
et al., 1 igure 7. 7 .

BSAVA Guide to Pain Management in Small Animal Practice. Edited by Ian Self. ©BSAVA 2019 169

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