Reading ill rabbits' odd behaviour.

When you have have a rabbit who is ill long term or a special needs rabbit can you read their odd behaviour? Do they tell you how to make them better?

I have Grimlock who is my special needs bunny, or as I like to call him my zombie bunny. He has every dental issue ever discovered and pasteurella. He can only eat soggy pellets but does have other treats. After reading posts, specifically by Thumps_ and GrahamL I've been thinking about how special rabbits like Grim, Thumper and Ginger interact with us and tell us what they need. Grim has a very bad diet. I can see how it affects his poos when I compare them to Smoo's.

Poo piccy.



Sometimes he has slow days where he doesn't eat as much. If he was a well rabbit I would immediately worry about stasis and rush him to the vets, but I know with Grim he has these slow days and then makes up for them later. I had loads of food for over the holidays, enough to last me until Tuesday for sure, but Grim is having one of his faster days and I had to ask my friend to bring me some of her food round. :shock: I just can't believe how much he's going through. Sometimes he gets a gurgly tummy and I've noticed that during these times he begs me for bread. He knows where it's kept and if anyone is in the kitchen he goes and begs for it, running up and down, sitting under the counter where we keep it. And he won't do this normally. I give him bread and his stomach calms down audibly. It seems that he knows how to make himself better. Now I'm going to have to discuss this with my vet when I go in because rabbits shouldn't really have bread. I give it to Grim as he's a special case. Perhaps he has the opposite of stasis, a gut speed up, and the bread slows it down? He's never once had an episode of stasis. Even when he was in loads of pain with two jaw abscesses he still wanted to eat.

And know others have rabbits who help their owners to understand their needs and how to help them recover.

I'm just so amazed. It's only dawned on me today about Grim and what he's been asking for.

I've never really considered how wise buns can be.

Sue is a very thin bun with only half a working kidney and she seems to choose what she eats and when she eats it. Sometimes she will nom carrot and at others bread and oats and then on another occasion she will leave them all.

When she was free ranging for the first time this year on Friday she really seemed to know what she wanted to eat - brambles and nettles - and she was almost constantly eating the whole time she was out. The other buns ate a little grass but that was it.

I haven't consciously done it but I think by giving Sue a choice of foods I allow her to choose what she needs.

She really is a very tiny bun now and when I pick her up there is nothing of her - if the RSPCA saw her they would think I was starving her - but she still has her bunniness and loves being in the sun. I truly believe she will let me know when she is ready to go to the Bridge.