Analgesia in pet rabbits: a survey study on how pain is assessed and ameliorated by veterinary surgeons

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>In the last 20 years, two studies on the veterinary use of perioperative analgesia in small mammals reported a limited use of analgesics in rabbits but suggested an increasing use over the years. The aim of this study was to better understand how pain is treated and ameliorated in rabbits while under veterinary care.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>An online survey of 60 questions was developed and advertised at national and international veterinary conferences, in veterinary publications and on social media.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>In total 94.3 per cent of the respondents routinely administered nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to rabbits undergoing surgical procedures such as neutering, 71.4 per cent administered an opioid and 70.3 per cent routinely administered multimodal analgesia, although dosages do not always match current consensus opinion. Buprenorphine and meloxicam were the most common analgesic drugs prescribed by the respondents. The dosage of meloxicam administered both parenterally and orally varied widely.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>Rabbit analgesia has improved over recent years similarly to the trend seen in other companion animals. However, overall it seems that pain assessment is still limited in rabbits. The lack of multimodal composite pain scales specific for rabbits makes this task even more challenging.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Pain and analgesia in pet rabbits: a survey of the attitude of veterinary nurses

“…It is important to take in consideration that the score attributed to each condition is the reflection of the level of pain perceived by the respondents, which could also be influenced by general perceptions within the veterinary care team. In fact, these results are similar to those previously reported by veterinary surgeons for rabbits (Benato et al 2020) and cats and dogs by both veterinary nurses (Dohoo & Dohoo 1998, Coleman & Slingsby 2007 and veterinary surgeons (Lascelles et al 1995. Hunt et al 2015.…”

“…A similar finding was noted in two previous studies on the attitudes of veterinary nurses towards pain in cats, in which a similar pain score was assigned to castration and dental treatment without extraction (Coleman & Slingsby 2007, Kongara et al 2016). In contrast, in a study on the attitudes of veterinary surgeons towards pain, coronal reduction in rabbits was considered less painful than castration (Benato et al 2020), while dental treatment in cats was rated as more painful than castration (Hunt et al 2015). In cats and rabbits, castration can stimulate both somatic and visceral pain as the abdominal cavity is entered.…”

“…The results of the present survey suggest that the role in pain management during the peri-operative time could be better shared between veterinary nurses and surgeons. In a previous survey, most veterinary surgeons reported being confident in this role when treating rabbits (Benato et al 2020). The present survey demonstrated also that the majority of vet nurse respondents were "fairly confident" in recognising pain in rabbits.…”

“…Rabbits are the third most popular pets after cats and dogs, with 71% of the UK rabbit population being registered at a veterinary clinic (PDSA 2019). A recent survey on pet rabbits showed that surgical procedures such as coronal reduction of the cheek teeth, surgical removal of abscesses and incisors removal were commonly performed by up to 81.1% of veterinary surgeons (Benato et al 2020). Moreover, the percentage of rabbits being neutered has increased from 37% in 2011 (PDSA 2011) to 54% in 2019 (PDSA 2019).…”

“…The ability and skills that a veterinary nurse needs to nurse rabbits were not investigated in this study. This study follows a similar approach to surveys of veterinary surgeons on their responses to pain and analgesia in rabbits (Benato et al 2020).…”