Hereditary health issues

[Boing]

I periodically read about health issues associated with certain traits – like a particular colour or pattern.  Is there anywhere where you can get a list?  It seems like you’re either ‘in the know’ or you’re not.  

So far, I have compiled the following (likely very incomplete)  list:

• Rex fur with sore hocks
• Woolly fur with wool block
• Small ears (due to dwarfism)/ lop ears with teeth issues
• Short face (due to dwarfism?) with teeth issues
• Lop ears with ear infections
• A colour/ pattern (not sure which) with megacolon

There must be others, but I can’t find them.  I’m very interested in genetics, and would like to learn more.  It seems like domestic rabbits are where dogs were 15 years ago (when there was no where to go to get hereditary health information).  Now dog genetic disease information is absolutely everywhere.

Anyone have any ideas of where to start?

[LittlePuffyTail]

That seems pretty accurate to me from my knowledge. I have a very flat faced lop and he has chronic ear infections and needs regular molar trims.

I’m sure someone here can give you info on megacolon. I believe it’s a certain spotted pattern.

[Sparky04]

I believe it’s broken or charlie markings that’s more prone to megacolon. I don’t know how true it is, but I’ve heard the dutch breed is prone to being sensitive to ivermectin. Also my vet said lionheads are prone to teeth problems because of the shape of their heads.

[LBJ10]

Sparky is correct:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3988019/

[vanessa]

The issue with Ivermectin and dutch breeds, is that it crosses the blood brain barrier. With other breeds, it does not, so it is safe to use with other breeds of rabbits.

[Sparky04]

Posted By LBJ10 on 9/10/2015 9:06 PM

Sparky is correct:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3988019/

I remember being worried Ava had it when we first got her, since her droppings were irregular in size the first week or two, but it’s been normal since, I think it is was just the process of weaning her off Kaytee. So according to that article, it seems like it’s just charlie, not broken that’s effected. Which would be good news for me because I’m pretty sure Ava has broken pattern.

[LBJ10]

Yes, they have to have two copies of the dominant, which is what makes them Charlies.

 

EDIT: Oops, I wrote that wrong. I must have been half asleep again. I changed it now. They have two copies of the En allele, which is dominant. 

[jerseygirl]

I didnt know that about the Dutch breed and ivermectin. Good to know.

There does seem to be a lot of things that can be attributed to certain breeds or colours, but many of the conditions can affect others. Like mega colon, it can affect solid coloured rabbits too. Thing is, there’s not a lot of studies done to give a true picture. I don’t know of a reliable scientific resource that covers the topic.

 Most of what I’ve read is just from people who have had rabbits a long time, dealt with issues, had discussions with their vets and educated themselves.

Sometimes you come across breeders accounts on the internet. Makes sense they are likely to pick up on issues given that they are dealing with larger numbers of rabbits, specific breeds and aiming for certain colours and patterns. And are often in the business for decades.

I’ve heard of some lionheads and BEW rabbits being affected by seizures, cardiac problems in Rex rabbits, dwarf breeds being more commonly affected by EC. The large breed rabbits seem to be plagued by problems too, though I cant name specifics of the top of my head.

It makes me a little sad when people end up avoiding adopting a rabbit because of “x,y & z” though. I just don’t think you can pick what will happen health-wise.

[LBJ10]

That is very true. Megacolon can affect any color/pattern. The article I posted though is very interesting in that is describes how a pattern can be linked to a genetic condition.

KIT expression in the gut musculature is prominent only in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). ICC are known to play important roles in gut motility and their abnormalities are associated with several gastrointestinal motility disorders [22], [23]. KIT is also involved in driving the migration of melanocytes from the neural crest along the dorsolateral pathway to colonize the final destination in the skin [24]. A large number of mutations in the KIT gene affecting pigmentation have been already described in humans, mice, pigs, cattle, horses, cats and dogs.

This has been observed in other animals. The study decided to explore the “English spotting” gene in rabbits because breeders had been noting that megacolon appears to be linked to this gene for years. No one had actually scientifically examined it before. They found that all of the rabbits that resulted from this study (they were breeding checkered giants) with the En/En genotype displayed signs of megacolon. This was not observed in the other rabbits (En/en and en/en).

I totally agree with you Jerseygirl, while very very interesting (at least to me LOL), I don’t think anyone should not adopt a rabbit because of their outward appearance. Each breed has its own problems. It’s the same with dogs and cats. Not all individuals will have the problems commonly associated with the breed, just as not all individuals will display personality characteristics often associated with the breed.

[Boing]

I’m interested in and have studied genetics, and, yes, took health into account when adopting. Thankfully the rabbit statistically most likely to be healthy is also the one least likely to be adopted – so people like me take the waifs no one wants while the “cuter” lops, dwarves, etc. get adopted right away, at least in my city. No need to worry, jerseygirl and LBJ10. There is also, unfortunately, no shortage of abandoned rabbits at the shelter.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the original topic! I appreciate it, and will do some further reading, although it seems like more research, even if it’s anecdotal breeder stats, needs to be done.

The information about Dutch rabbits is particularly interesting, as they are my favourite breed, though I don’t have one.

[jerseygirl]

I’m interested in and have studied genetics, and, yes, took health into account when adopting. Thankfully the rabbit statistically most likely to be healthy is also the one least likely to be adopted – so people like me take the waifs no one wants while the “cuter” lops, dwarves, etc. get adopted right away, at least in my city. No need to worry, jerseygirl and LBJ10. There is also, unfortunately, no shortage of abandoned rabbits at the shelter.

My earlier comment wasn’t directed at you, by the way.

Regarding research on rabbits, I find is (sadly) ironic that there is likely tons of data on rabbits purely because they are used in lab models. Yet, how much do their species end up benefiting from this data? Like medications for instance. How many I wonder that are “not approved for use in rabbits” were originally tested on rabbits. Human and veterinary meds. As rabbits have become more popular, I do hope there is more research done for them as a domestic pet. The money is still with cats and dogs but one can hope…

Boing, did you come across thenaturetrail website? I remember that covered genetics a bit. Though, not in relation to health.

[LittlePuffyTail]

From my time here on BB I’ve noticed that the large breeds (all the ones I can think of have been Flemish) are prone to abscesses.

[Bam]

Slightly OT but still: The KIT-gene is a crazy interesting gene. If you cross a spotted mouse that has one KIT mutation with a wildtype mouse, you can get paramutations: i e the offspring gets the KIT pattern but not the gene. You should get 50% spotted kits and 50% black, but you get 90% spotted. 50% have the defective KIT gene, but the rest of the spotted kits are genetically wild-type with the phenotype of the other allele they were exposed to in the previous generation, i e in the parent. If you then breed the paramutated kits to wild-type mice, you still get spotted offspring (but with less white spots). They too are 100% wild-type but look like mutants. It’s an example of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.

It’s the KIT gene that makes border collies have white tail-tips. The melanocytes don’t migrate all the way out into the tail-tip.

(Just read this in a MOOC, Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression, uni of Melbourne. Really cool stuff!)

[LBJ10]

Bam – Yeah, it’s pretty cool stuff, for sure. Oh the things you find when you search for this stuff. Did they say anything about it being linked to intestinal issues or other genetic diseases?

[Boing]

The lack of beneficial to rabbits research is sad. I didn’t yet look at thenaturetrail website, but will. It sounds interesting! That is also interesting, if unfortunate, about giant rabbits and abscesses.

I will have to look up the KIT gene too – sounds fascinating, and I love border collies!! Totally off topic too, but I’m also fascinated by the marble gene in betta fish – the fish change colour throughout their lifetime. They’re totally healthy. It’s strange how some outward patterns are associated with disease and others are not.

[Author]

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