Aggressive Rabbit :(

Hi. My rabbit went to the vets last week and they said he had a fever as his temperature was high. When we got him home, he became very aggressive towards the other rabbit and continually started to chase and attack him. We have seperated them. I have to give him Baytril antibiotics (sweetened with a little juice) twice a day.

Yesterday he nearly bit threw my finger as he is so desperate to avoid having the medicine. I have been gently wrapping him in a blanket to try and keep him still and covering his eyes. If he can see the medicine coming, he bits the syringe and throws it to one side. I cant complete the course of antibiotics.

I am now concerned for the safety of my children. I rang the vets and they were very dismissive and didnt want to know at all. He only started being aggressive after being at the vets.

What's wrong with him? I am too worried now that I cant trust him and need to rehome him but is it safe to do so and how do i go about doing that. The vets wanted to see him again on friday but I darent even put him into his box let alone hold him while they examine him.

At my wits end with worry about him. Can anybody help????

Welcome to the forum.

Chances are that he is either being aggressive because for whatever reason he is hurting (or some other issue relating to his iillness, such as maybe going blind for some reason), or because of the stress and absolute fear due to going to the vets and the ordeal after. It's his way of communication.

So, to work out how to progress forwards you need to work out what is causing his aggression.

If you choose to rehome him, then you will also need to rehome your other rabbit to be rebonded with him. Hopefully once he is better and less stressed they will rebond which will help him greatly. Please remember this isn't his fault. It's nothing personal, he is just trying to cope with a difficult situation.

:wave:

can you mix the medicine into something he likes to eat? (mashed banana, grated apple or carrot etc?)

If you choose to rehome him then he will likely spend his years in rescue along with the other thousands of rabbits who probably wont ever get homed even without 'aggression' issues

Can you tempt him into the box with something yummy rather than pick him up? he sounds quite scared/stressed

Sounds like he is either in pain or very stressed and frightened like the others said. Where is he kept? Is he neutered? Perhaps if he is in quite a "busy" part of the house you could move him to a quiet room with his partner, separated but able to see each other, so he can calm down.

It might be worth trying the Baytril on a bit of something tasty. I've been medicating one of my rabbits twice a day for about a month and found using the syringe an absolute nightmare. I now gently squirt it onto a basil leaf, a piece of spring greens or a tiny piece of bread (which I know they shouldn't really have).

Does sound as though your rabbit is either very frightened or in pain, or both - there is usually a reason for a rabbit to suddenly become aggressive.

Mix the baytril with some mashed banana. It's liver flavoured so understandably rabbits hate it.

I expect it's being ill that making her aggressive, after all who us can say we are all sweetness and lgiht when we're not feeling well!! Is she spayed though? As that can make a difference.

Hi there I might have some useful suggestions, for the medicine you could try instead of juice goats milk it's really for baby bunnies but I find they really enjoy it from hand rearing my little guy. Also for the feeding it is probably more distressing for him being wrapped up cuz bunnies hate being confined like that he'll get more nervous and from that aggressive, the best way to do it (though this may be a lot harder with an older bunny) is to hold him with their back against you on your lap slightly upwards leaning (put you hand under him front legs on his chest) while gently feeding the syringe into his mouth, he will probably be very unhappy being put into this position initially but once he's settled he'll stay still and he might bite it at first but just push down slowly and he'll start to drink it - it will be messy though rabbits are sloppy!

Also, if you are bringing him to the vets in a car don't put him in a box, this might sound strange but I've done it many times, let him sit on a seat or even your lap, he'll stay still through the journey and the car motions will relax him (this is great for bonding bunnies with each other as they huddle together).

After the medicine is done he'll probably go back to his old personality, it's just a tough confusing time for him and he needs some patients and love to help him through.

I'm so sorry Bexxy because I know you're trying to help and I know you have found what works for your crew, but I do have some concerns about your suggestions.

I'm going to just say what my opinion is and then the OP can decide what she wants to do

Rabbits are lactose intolerant, and whilst goats milk isn't lactose it can cause all sorts of issues with their guts. It's not ideally used for baby rabbits either and has previously nearly killed one of mine when someone prior to me was feeding them it.

It's important to give your bunny meds while they are four feet downwards because otherwise there is a significantly increased risk of choking when the head is titled back and the body is in an abnormal position.

The reason carry cases are suggested for travelling is for two reasons, 1, to try and keep your bunny secure, in case of an accident, and 2, to make it safe for the driver because of the bunny starts moving or jumping around then that can be very dangerous (I have some who move about frantically whilst the car is moving, some get angry, some trash, some are interested). It can be done if someone is travelling with you and holding him, but otherwise it is far too risky.

I feel really bad because I feel like I've sort of pulled your post apart. Please remember these are only my views and learnt experiences and the OP is welcome and free to choose to try what she wishes

No that's ok Sky-O, it's very important to make sure people get the right information but also from different perspectives cuz like people bunnies are all different and different things work depending on the bunny.

I should have mentioned that the goats milk should be partly diluted but anything about it being bad personally I can't agree with, I was so so careful of what to feed my baby bunny when i found him because I knew nothing about his history apart from that he needed food urgently or he'd die and he made it through and has always been very healthy while my other pet shop bought bunny has a lot of gut issues while I'm told he was brought up like any regular bunny. Though a baby bunny fed on only goats milk will have gut problems because it lacks some nutrients so it needs to be mixed with certain other things. The goats milk is I think the only safe milk for a bunny but for a baby bunny there are many mistakes that'll make them sick during the early weeks like overfeeding most of all or irregular timing and more that isn't necessary to get into for this case.

On the actual feeding I did not mean to tilt the head back if that's how my phrasing sounded, definitely don't do that his head should always be level, I meant to hold him up, like standing/sitting straight so no choking can occur and the medecine can be swallowed quickly and easily but I'm not sure how that method would work on a fully grown bunny so it's only a possible option I thought worth mentioning depending on how your guy likes to be held and what positions he would relax better in because one of my guys would sit very well and respond well to that, while the other would not at all, it's all about knowing his personality.