Rabbits have seven cervical, twelve thoracic, seven lumbar, four sacral and sixteen coccygeal vertebrae. These vary in size and shape depending upon their location within the spine.

General wear and tear and aging can often result in the condition. The spine is not fixed in place and moves when the rabbit hops, jumps, grooms, etc. Strain is always placed upon the spine, which over time can cause bone spurs to develop and degeneration of the discs between the vertebrae (intervertebral disks).

As rabbits hide signs of pain, the signs are often subtle and get worse over many months or even years. Some owners may perceive them as the rabbit ‘slowing down’ with old age, but the condition is painful so veterinary treatment is required. Rabbits may show one or more of the following signs:

• Unkempt coat as grooming is difficult or painful.
•  A dirty bottom/tail area as they are unable to reach around to eat the cecotrophs as they are passed.
• Aggression towards companion rabbit or owner due to pain.
• Abnormal hop or walking instead of hopping.
• Hindleg weakness.
• Urinating down their back legs or sitting in their urine as they are unable to adopt the correct position and lift their tail away when passing urine, or it is painful to hop in and out of the litter tray.
• Sitting around more because moving is painful.
• Eating less due to pain.

Your veterinarian will examine your rabbit to see if they can locate an area of discomfort. They will also want to see how your rabbit moves, and it can be useful to have videos from home as they may move differently in a veterinary environment when they are stressed. It can be useful to perform x-rays to ascertain the location of the spondylosis and to rule out other potential causes, such as a tumor and to see the extent of the problem. These will need to be taken under general anesthetic or sedation as the rabbit will need to be completely still.

Treatments aim to keep the rabbit comfortable and to be able to perform normal behaviors and keep themselves clean. Pain relief will be started, and this will need to be lifelong. It may be that your veterinarian will prescribe more than one pain relief to have a heightened affect.

There are lots of things you can do at home to help your rabbit with spondylosis. Things which help include:

• Keeping their environment on one level as they may struggle with ramps and steps.
• Grooming them regularly if they struggle to do this.
• Keeping their bottom clean and dry to help prevent urine scalding and flystrike.
• Have a companion rabbit to snuggle up to who will help them to keep warm.
• In cold weather bring them inside.
• Keep them at a good weight and don’t allow them to become overweight.
• Encourage them to exercise and keep mobile. Make sure they have a large and safe environment.
• Use litter trays with low sides so they can get in and out easily.

Alternative treatments, such as laser therapy, acupuncture and physiotherapy can be used alongside pain relief to help keep your rabbit mobile and relieve pain and stiffness. Some rabbits will tolerate these and for others it may be too stressful, so you will need to assess your rabbit as an individual.

For the majority of rabbits, having spondylosis is not a death sentence and if they are on adequate pain relief, which may need to be adjusted regularly, and have a good environment with changes to suit their needs, they can live happily, and spondylosis should not dramatically shorten their life in anyway.