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Do bunnies suffer from dementia?

BevBunny

BevBunny

Mama Doe
Hi everyone, my Charlie bun has started to show some slightly different behaviour recently, such as:
  • forgetting he has been fed, and begging for his vegetables again
  • running around appearing confused
  • staring into space
  • taking a treat, dropping it on the floor, taking a second one which he eats and then ignores the first one (in the past he'd have gobbled the lot up in a flash)
  • being generally less settled
He's 9 years old and had EC very badly last summer, but has outwardly fully recovered except for a v slight head tilt when he's tired.

So, I am assuming its some form of senility or dementia, due to his age but potentially also due to some lasting damage from the EC. Is this right? Anyone got any other ideas? Any similar experiences?

Btw he seems happy, is eating/pooing fine, still loved up with his bunny lady so I don't think I need to panic just yet. He had a check up a few months back, but perhaps its time for another one.
 
sounds like it could be, but i would probably get a blood test done, if possible, as some other conditions can show signs of confusion.
hope this helps.
 
EC affects the brain and causes lasting neurological damage when the protozoa spreads through certain internal organs causing granuloma's to develop.

These leisions cause inflammation and swelling which can also affect the central nervous system and present with the symptoms you are describing. In a sense it can cause 'brain damage' or dementia.

So given that he is known to have had a severe EC infection before it seems logical that he is now experiencing lasting side effects as sadly the use of fenbendazole can only prevent further damage, not undo that which has already been caused.
 
I *think* my Winston (aged approx. 10 to 12 years) has the bunny equivalent to senility.

He does the same as Charlie, i.e. begging for food when he has food available, and staring into space.

He also spends literally hours digging at the lino floor in one spot. He'll never manage to scrat up the lino though, so it's like he's just digging without any sense of purpose :roll:
 
B has always done that and shes not even 2 yet!!She'll have a bowl of food next to her which she wont touch but if i hand feed her the same food out of the same bowl,she eats it greedily!!!:lol:
 
Thanks for the replies, I think I feel more assured that my initial thoughts are correct. My grandma past away last year, she had alzheimers and the last several years were really quite distressing for her, I guess I'm aware of the fact that if Charlie does have dementia that he may get increasingly unsettled and potentially as far as being distressed, so I'll keep a very close eye on him and probably will go have a chat to the vet too.
 
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