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Ageing rabbits

Tinsel

Wise Old Thumper
What happens as rabbits age? Do they slow down visibly or become more susceptible to illness? Do they need more regular vets checks? What age do physical changes start to show?

Just wondering about other people's experience of this...
 
I've only had one rabbit reach a good age and that was Sooty. She never slowed down or looked "old", she just died suddenly overnight aged 8 :(
 
Rodney lived to be 10 years old. He was a house rabbit. When he was old we had the fur trimmed around his back legs because it became matted easily. We didn't do much else different with him but because he was a house rabbit it was very easy to spot any changes in him.

At the moment we have Poppy aged 9 and 3mths. She still lives outside with her companion and I do not plan to bring her in. She is in far better condition at 9 yrs than Rodney was. I think that living outside with another rabbit has done her the world of good. All she has is a drop of metacam because she possibly has a liver tumour, but that was diagnosed in October 2008 and she is still going strong!

I think that as an owner you know your animals and can act on any changes in them.
 
In my experience, old bunnies never really looked or acted 'old' until they were in the final stages of life. Mopsy was my oldest bunny aged 9.5 and it was only in the last 2 months of her life that she started to appear old. Most of my other bunnies have been aged 8 when they've passed and have shown very few signs of age. I think it can be harder to keep weight on them and old joints can suffer more in cold, damp weather.

I wouldn't say my older bunnies have required more vet checks than the youngsters but clearly if they have an ongoing problem they're going to require more frequent health checks. But no more so than a youngster with any other problem. I think it's just of case of how much do you put them through when they're in their twilight years? Only you as an owner can weigh up the pros and cons when it comes to intensive treatment vs quality and length of life.
 
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Bugsy was nearly 9 when he had to be pts earlier this year....he'd become slow,spent most of his time asleep and he really didn't cope well with the cold last winter so we brought him indoors.

Other than that he didnt really look different or anything ,I suppose he just behaved a bit more like an elderly gentleman.
 
My elderly bunnies have always acted bright as a button and have been hard to pick apart from the younger ones. Tubby was nearly 12 when he died and you could tell he was an old bunny physically (he was quite frail and also his siamese smoke pearl fur had taken on the colour of the dominant gene and gone sable, so he was brown around his muzzle).

He was so full of life though and had the biggest spirit for such a small, old bunny. Even on the day he was PTS he still had bags of spirit. We did everything wrong with him though, and I suspect, had things been done right, then he would have not had struggled so much physically.
 
I think some people in the states recommend doing yearly blood tests for rabbits over 5...not sure if I would go this far though.

It really depends on the age of the rabbit, their genetics, and how well they've been looked after....although in general small breeds like Nethies and Dutches fare much better as they age and aging signs can be minimal.

My lops haven't done so well, and the females usually start to feel the effects of gravity and all their wobbly bits head south (a bit like us human females :roll: )

The signs I look for in an older bun are:

1. You can feel their spine more easily due to muscle loss

2. Front feet start to turn in slightly and claws start to twist, due to arthritis (see the photo at the top of this page: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Bone_diseases/Osteo/arthritis.htm )

3. Eyes may become cloudy with the start of age related degeneration

4. The rabbit may become less bouncy and active...i.e. do less binkies or sleep more.

Not all elderly rabbits will have all the above signs though.
 
if rabbits slow down, i dread to think how much lazier alvin will become. hes only 3 and already slowed :shock::shock::shock:

id give anything to see a bunny in old age, but i doubt i will tbh :cry::cry:
 
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