please help :(

Alice my nethie is not herself at the moment. She lives in the living room and normally whenever we're in the house (which is most of the time) she's out playing and there's no stopping her. Today though she's hardly come out of her cage and she's just lying in her cage. She's been like this for a few hours now, at one point she was in her potty lied down and completely not bothering when I was stroking her, normally she'd come running out for me to stroke her. It's like she's got no energy at all.

She seems to be shaking slightly now too which is why I've rang the vet but I'm waiting for them to call me back. She seems to be eating, drinking and pooing ok but I'm so worried, I just want to make her better.

Please can someone help or have any idea what's wrong with her?

i would take her to the vets but it does not sound good but she may just be a bit porley?


how old is she

she's 10 months old, I just can't think what could be wrong with her. It really is like she has no energy but it's the shaking what's worrying me, it's not her whole body shaking but her head trembling slightly

does she look like she's grinding her teeth when her head is moving? hard grinding is a sign she is in pain. I hope your vet calls back soon. So did she eat her tea as normal?

No she's not grinding her teeth, she's just lied down and nodding off to sleep at the minute. She ate her tea fine, more than usual if anything which is why I'm so puzzled.

Is it hot where you are today? She could be very warm, how do her ears feel?

You can try freezing some water in a bottle in the freezer and putting it in her hutch, she should lie against it if she's very hot

I would normally think that a bun in that state has GI Stasis but as she is eating and pooing and drinking ok, it doesn't seem that this is the problem

Keep an eye on her and if you are really worried there's no harm in a vet trip

I was thinking she could be too hot as well, lethargy and shaking are signs of too much sun/ heat

If it is the heat and it sounds possible, dampen the rabbits ears with cool water (not freezing water though), provide water with ice cubes in for drinking and consult your vet in case it is something else.

A cheap and cheerful way to help buns keep cool is frozen water in 2l empty pop bottle. Keep a load on rotation to keep swapping. The rabbits stand on it, lick it and lie against it to keep cool.

Good luck.

Check her stomach, especially the left side, see if there is any bloat on either side.

Remove all old poos and urine, so you can count if there were any new ones.

Could be the heat,we had a similar thing going on with Boris a while ago. I'd suggest moving her to someplace cooler,if that's possible.