Abortion, stillbirth, neonatal death, and nutritional myodegeneration in a rabbit breeding colony.

Vitamin E deficiency was found to be the cause of reproductive failure and nutritional myodegeneration in a rabbit breeding colony. The diagnosis was based on the low vitamin E concentration of doe liver (5.73 micrograms/g) associated with myodegeneration of tongue, skeletal muscle, and heart and the absence of other abnormal microbiologic and parasitologic findings. Supplementation of the diet with wheat germ oil returned the does' fertility to normal, and abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal death ceased.