Radiology is a frequently underutilized diagnostic tool in the medical and surgical care of rabbits.
Following is an excerpt from Dr. Sam Silverman's radiology lecture at the HRS Veterinary Conference last March, discussing radiographic interpretation of some common clinical views of the rabbit thorax. I was amazed at how aerobically fit these guys must be. But when you look at their thorax, it's absolutely amazing, because there is very little aerated lung for the size of the animal. Notice there's no retrosternal lucency of cranial lung lobes inflated with gas, and the cardiac borders are often relatively indistinct, especially if a large amount of fat is present. It is essential that the front legs be fully extended cranially on the lateral projection to obtain optimum radiographic detail of the cranial thorax.