Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Helping Rabbits Cope with Veterinary Acts and Vaccine-Related Stress: The Effects of the Rabbit Appeasing Pheromone (RAP). |
| Authors: |
Asproni, Pietro1 (AUTHOR) p.asproni@irsea-institute.com, Codecasa, Elisa2 (AUTHOR) e.codecasa@irsea-institute.com, Marcet-Rius, Miriam2 (AUTHOR) m.marcet@irsea-institute.com, Demellier, Juliane2 (AUTHOR) j.demellier@irsea-institute.com, Descout, Estelle3 (AUTHOR) e.descout@irsea-institute.com, Verbaere, Marine1 (AUTHOR), Vinck, Orane4 (AUTHOR) o.francois@outlook.com, Pageat, Patrick5 (AUTHOR) p.pageat@group-irsea.com, Cozzi, Alessandro5 (AUTHOR) a.cozzi@irsea-institute.com |
| Source: |
Animals (2076-2615). Dec2024, Vol. 14 Issue 23, p3549. 15p. |
| Subject Terms: |
*RABBITS, *MIDDLE ear, *STRESS management, *VIDEO recording, *PHEROMONES |
| Abstract: |
Simple Summary: Pet rabbits are exposed to various stressful situations from the first days of life. Rabbits need to adapt to all these particular circumstances, an important challenge with which they need to be helped. In particular, veterinary procedures are known to be an important source of stress. Previous studies on various species showed that maternal appeasing pheromones can help animals to better adapt to stressful situations. As in other species, the analogue of this pheromone in rabbits, rabbit appeasing pheromone (RAP), is known and used. In our study, we wanted to evaluate whether continuous exposure to RAP could facilitate the adaptation process in order to better face veterinary consultations and vaccinations using some behavioural indicators and analysing videos recorded during vaccination. Statistical analysis showed that, during vaccination, the RAP-treated rabbits were more confident with the surgeon and presented better adaptation than the non-treated ones. Over progressive clinical visits, which were conducted seven times, the RAP-treated rabbits were also less agitated than their non-treated counterparts. RAP seems to be a promising tool for helping rabbits during these veterinary procedures. Rabbits are subjected to challenges that induce stress and require them to continuously adapt. Veterinary procedures represent an important source of stress. In other pets, pheromone use was shown to help patients better cope with these procedures. This study aimed to evaluate whether continuous exposure to the rabbit appeasing pheromone (RAP) could help rabbits cope with the stress induced by routine clinical consultations and vaccinations. Twenty-four 5-week-old rabbits were housed in two identical rooms for 43 days, one in which the rabbits underwent continuous RAP treatment and one with the placebo. The rabbits were vaccinated 8 days afterwards, and their behaviour was evaluated using visual analogic scales (VASs) and videos. The rabbits were also examined seven times, on a weekly basis, using VASs to assess their behaviour. The video analysis showed that the RAP-treated rabbits were less inhibited (p = 0.03) and more in contact with the surgeon (p = 0.039) during vaccinations, while the non-treated rabbits kept their ears in the middle/flattened position (p = 0.003). The RAP-treated rabbits were also less agitated (VAS analysis, p = 0.02). During the consultations, a treatment × day effect was observed in favour of the RAP group for the rabbit state and rabbit reactivity VAS analysis (p < 0.0001). These findings seem to suggest that continuous RAP exposure could be a promising tool for helping rabbits cope with veterinary procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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