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Dementia in rabbits...............

Mrs. Bunnykins

Wise Old Thumper
...............well actually in any animal.

Could it exist?

The reason for my question is that Peggy guinea pig is 6+ years old. Fit and well, but with fading eyesight. Recently she seems to get a little confused. I keep their daily routine and layout exactly the same to cause the least anxiety for her.


Modern day technology and medicine means that our animals have a much better chance of living longer lives, like ourselves.

By living longer many will have the usual age related physical problems.:(:(

Just wondered about their mental state.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had any similar concerns and what brought them about.

Many thanks.
 
One of my rats definitely went senile. Her behaviour changed alot and she started doing strange things. She refused to sleep in her house, she would line all her toys up to pen in one carner of the cage (loo roll tubes would be upended) and she would make a nest in there. She began sleeping on her back with her legs in the air (put the fear of God in the first time she did it, she was pushing 3 and I really thought she'd passed bless her). She also began to sort her food into piles of the same colour. She seemed quite happy though. Any old animal can get dementia just like we can.
 
A friend of mine had a dog that seemed to have dementia in his later years. Poor thing would walk into a room and then just potter round and round in circles.
 
Many years ago we thought that one of our rabbits went senile. With hindsight and more knowledge I can't think of any other signs he had that indicated another health problems. He was a very fit little boy but he started to get really confused and then frail, and then died within a year or so. He was a nethie who was nearly 8- back in 1996 that was quite a good age for a bunny.
 
It's so sad to see when animals develop such symtoms.:(

We all do our very best for their physical and emotional health, but senility is something we can't help with.

Frustrating!
 
We had a cat that went senile, she became very confused, stopped cleaning herself, she would stand a few inches from the wall staring at it and meowing. It was very sad :(
 
I have had a piggy get confused and my Sweetie is currently very frail and a little confused. I think that it is not just mental confusion, but partly also the result of failing eyesight and hearing. Last night I put some peppers in the cage and the other piggies formed a scrum. Poor Sweetie couldn't find where they were and I had to give her one.
 
It definitely can happen apparently. I was talking to our vet about it (just came up in conversation, we were discussing how comparable the neurology of a rabbit or cat would be to that of a human) and I was told about a few instances he'd come across in discussions with other vets. He didn't mention seeing a case of dementia himself though.

In cats and dogs they can prescribe the drugs we'd give humans for subcortical types of dementia, and neurodegenerative disorders. Didn't mention anything about the treatment in rabbits though. If you're worried it might be worth talking to your vet as they might be able to dig up something useful with regards to treatment for you.

xoxo
 
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