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Bunny has started growling

yesheadjon

New Kit
We have two rabbits Ralphie who is about 6 and Rosie who is about 3. They have been very happy together, sitting together etc until about a week ago. Ralphie is getting old and has some arthritis in his right front foot, he had also become incontinent and not being able to clean himself we ended up having to bring them in and give Ralphie a bit of a bath once a week and dry him off with towels and a hairdryer. Our local vet gave us a worming syringe and said that the incontinence might be down to that, we therefore took him in each night to dry him and give him the medicine leaving Rosie in the hutch for about 15 minutes.

Well the worming stuff worked and although he still wees all over the place it is not half as much and he is now pretty much dry and looking a lot better. The problem is that suddenly Rosie has started growling and won't let Ralphie near her, she also growls sometimes when we go near her. Sometimes it is an outright growl and sometimes more akin the the noise a ginea pig makes. Although she isn't really agressive and fighting (although we did find a tuft of fur in the hutch this morning) she just seems to avoid Ralphie and runs away whenever he trys to go near her. It is curious because although she has always been timid she lets us stroke her and doesn't try and box us or anything. She is also eating and drinking normally.

Sorry for such a long ramble but we really don't know what is wrong or what to do. Should we take her to the vet? Has anyone experienced anything similar?

Any advice would be much appreciated as it is so sad to see Ralphie sitting on his own looking dejected.

Thanks

Jon
 
Hello

I would definitely get her checked over by the Vet as any change in behaviour can indicate a health problem.

It appears that the Vet considered EC (Encephalitozoon Cuniculi) to be a possibility with regards to Ralphie's incontinence. In which case I am very surprised that you were not advised to treat Rosie too. EC is spread via spores in an infected Rabbit's urine so *if* EC was the problem Rosie will have been exposed to it too.

http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/S/00dis/Parasitic/Encephalitozoonosis.htm

How long was Ralphie on the worming treatment for ?

Is he on any treatment for his arthritis ?

Rosie's apparent aggression could be triggered by her feeling poorly, or it could be that she detects a vulnerability in Ralphie (ie his compromised health) and is bullying him.

Is Rosie spayed ?
 
Firstly may I say a big thank you for the advice, especially on boxing day.

Rosie has been spayed, we had her done a couple of years ago in response to her hassling Ralphie and also the threat of uterine cancer. We have had no behavioural problems since.

I think that we will take her to the vets as we are pretty sure that she wees all over the place as well (although to be fair she has never been a great one for using a litter tray!). Can the worming stuff do any harm if we request it as a precaution? Ralphie's dose lasted about 10 days (it had marking on a collar so you just pushed the plunger down a bit more each time until the syringe was empty).

Ralphie is not on a treatment for arthritis as the vet did not beleive that it was really giving him any problem (although he did give him a shot of metacam(?) whilst we were there. He moves OK, although he leans to one side when sitting but he likes to hop around and eats and drinks normally.

One thing that we have noticed today is that when he does go to Rosie he puts his chin on her back behind her ears. He doesn't seem to be doing anything (either nipping or licking) so I am not sure what that is, but Rosie onviously doesn't like it. He has become quite attention seeking with us and always tries to 'muscle in' when we stroke Rosie. To be honest we are not sure if she is rejecting him or whether she is a little scared of him, it is difficult to tell.
 
Well sods law, it looks like maybe they have made up. We noticed that their behaviour was very similar to when we first bonded them. Maybe with Ralphie being ill Rosie became more dominant, and when he has started to get better perhaps he is reestablishing the pecking order. May be so and maybe just amateur rabbit psychology on our part!!

Anyhow, here's hoping. Non-macho though it sounds it has quite upset us and our bunnies mean the world to us and our boys.

Jon
 
Well sods law, it looks like maybe they have made up. We noticed that their behaviour was very similar to when we first bonded them. Maybe with Ralphie being ill Rosie became more dominant, and when he has started to get better perhaps he is reestablishing the pecking order. May be so and maybe just amateur rabbit psychology on our part!!

Anyhow, here's hoping. Non-macho though it sounds it has quite upset us and our bunnies mean the world to us and our boys.

Jon

That's good news

I'd just keep an extra close eye on them to make sure there are no more squabbles. Weighing them once a week would be a good idea too. Unexplained weightloss is a reliable early warning sign that something is amiss, either health wise or with the relationship between the Rabbits.
 
Well I spoke to soon, the situation is no better at all. We took Rosie to the vets but he couldn't find anything physically wrong. He has given us some wormer (Panecure?) for her to see if it helps so we will try that this week. She just won't let him within about 18 inches of her. When they are in the hutch they sit in the top at the same time but not together like they used to. Most of the time if Ralphie sits in the hutch then she sits outside. If he noses towards her she sort of lunges with her nose just to 'back off'. The vet has said that our only two options if the problem does not go away (either on it's own or with the wormer) then the only thing to try is a kind of anti-depresent. If it gets worse we will have to split them up.

Don't really know what to try apart from the wormer, she has been unrecognisable the last two weeks. :(
 
sorry not really sure what to say but just wanted to pass on my thoughts for you and hopes that this gets sorted quickly and happily
 
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