Psychological or physical? Moody bunny...

Hi everyone,
Need some advice on my little boy Leo. Since i adopted him 1.5 years ago he's been healthy and happy, never an issue. Recently, he's been having bouts of what i can only describe as unexplained depression and moodiness. He would show little interest in his food and then run off somewhere to explore or just sit by himself. I dont see anything wrong with him physically though. He has no dental issues, eats his hay well, binkies regularly, poops fine and drinks normally. Nothing in his set up or environment has changed. He lives with his sister and they get along just fine. We havent changed his food or gotten a new pet etc. if anything ive been giving him more attention than usual.

Today he was extra moody. Ate a few of his pellets, half of his veg and then ran away to chill in the hall all day. He didnt come in to his room for his afternoon snack and hardly ate his dinner. He's grooming himself and when i fussed over him, he did his usual teeth purs. I just dont know what to do with him! My husband and i think it might be psychological issues rather than physical but is that possible?? can rabbits have psychological problems?? could he be depressed? We are going away for christmas hols this saturday and i really want to make sure hes fine before that.

Does anyone have any ideas??

Thanks!!

Has he been examined by a Vet recently ?

Is he maintaining his weight OK ?

Hi, no, its never been so prolonged or serious that for a vet trip as be gets stressed over that. Usually, he gets over it by the next day or even by the next meal. Today its been all day. No perceptible weight loss either. He still looks relaxed most of the time, grooms himself and his sister, still alert.

Of cos if he doesnt get better, we will surely bring him to the vet.

Could possibly be gut slowdown... or pain from gas?

Has he eaten enough hay today? Less than usual? He should be eating a pile the size of himself daily.

His gut has definitely slowed down. Looked at his poop just now and they were teeny tiny and very few. He ate some hay just now but only becos i hand fed him, and then a small baby carrot. He just runs away after a few bites. Im not sure if a physical condition has caused his gut to slow down or his psychological problem that has led to the slow down. In any case, i will take him to the vets tomorrow afternoon just to rule out any medical causes.

Poor Leoboy, he's never been ill with me. So worried for him now.

Thumper98 said:

His gut has definitely slowed down. Looked at his poop just now and they were teeny tiny and very few. He ate some hay just now but only becos i hand fed him, and then a small baby carrot. He just runs away after a few bites. Im not sure if a physical condition has caused his gut to slow down or his psychological problem that has led to the slow down. In any case, i will take him to the vets tomorrow afternoon just to rule out any medical causes.

Poor Leoboy, he's never been ill with me. So worried for him now.

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I would suspect gut problems then. Your vet should be able to listen to the gut with a stethoscope, and they may want to do an xray or ultrasound of the gut- these can often be done under sedation so no need for GA. He would likely have to come back in for those though.

I would suspect that the gut slowdown is making him feel sluggish, uncomfortable, and is possibly painful - which is causing the change in behaviour. What you need to do is find out WHY he is having a gut slowdown, what is causing it; then you can fix it.

nessar said:

I would suspect gut problems then. Your vet should be able to listen to the gut with a stethoscope, and they may want to do an xray or ultrasound of the gut- these can often be done under sedation so no need for GA. He would likely have to come back in for those though.

I would suspect that the gut slowdown is making him feel sluggish, uncomfortable, and is possibly painful - which is causing the change in behaviour. What you need to do is find out WHY he is having a gut slowdown, what is causing it; then you can fix it.

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We are just back from the vets, at work now. Vet says heart and lungs sound fine. Weight is still good too. But saw some 'points' (dont remember what you call that in english!) on his teeth! shocking given that he's such a good hay eater and never had a problem with his teeth. So he's going to get them trimmed today and given something to move his gut.

I am not 100% convinced that that is the crux of his problem, but hope that it is!!

Hopefully that's all it is. Get well soon Leo.

Did the vet listen to his gut with a stethoscope?

Hopefully it is just dental problems causing him to not eat much hay and have a gut slowdown, but I'd definitely be wary of it being gut problems too. My rabbit's gut problems were misdiagnosed as dental problems (he had spurs but the vet always said they were so small that they shouldn't have been causing any discomfort) for about 2 years.

Make sure that, as well as having a metacam (meloxicam) injection at the vets, you are given some oral metacam to give at home for a few days - dentals can be very painful afterwards and cause the rabbit to not want to eat.

Well, she did use a stethoscope though maybe i should have insisted that she explained more about the gut. They are both back home and both mad at me for the entire thing. Leo had his spurs trimmed. I was given critical care in case he wouldnt eat anything tonight. Thankfully, hes already had some herbs and a wee bit of hay. Also looks bright and alert.

I guess i will see in the coming few days if the problem was properly diagnosed. What causes gut problems exactly? Will changing the diet stop them?

Thanks!!

Thumper98 said:

Well, she did use a stethoscope though maybe i should have insisted that she explained more about the gut. They are both back home and both mad at me for the entire thing. Leo had his spurs trimmed. I was given critical care in case he wouldnt eat anything tonight. Thankfully, hes already had some herbs and a wee bit of hay. Also looks bright and alert.

I guess i will see in the coming few days if the problem was properly diagnosed. What causes gut problems exactly? Will changing the diet stop them?

Thanks!!

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Unfortunately many things can cause them - sometimes it is diet or a sensitive tummy, sometimes it is stress, sometimes eating things they shouldn't, sometimes illness, sometimes moulting... and some bunnies are much more prone to them than others.

For example:
I always thought my boy Barney was bomb-proof when it came to his tummy - he'd steal and eat half a packet of gum, spill my Relentless (an energy drink) and lick it up off the floor, eat borderline lethal amounts of chocolate - after each of these he was fine, no evidence of an upset gut. He always eats his caecotrophs, his poos are better than most bunnies and he's never had runny poos or stopped eating. But he goes off his hay sometimes, which was misdiagnosed as dental problems, and we now know it was likely pain from his gut. About a year ago he started to lose weight, and its been a struggle ever since. Recently it was finally diagnosed as a gut problem - loads of gas and fluid in the gut, and the lining of the gut is inflamed. Since then we have been treating just with a gut stimulant twice daily and a drastic change in diet which means that he gets hardly any pellets, a little veg, so that he eats loads of hay. Even though he is getting less calories, the hay is helping his gut, and in about 3 months he has gone from being dangerously skinny with no body fat to just a bit slim. So in this case, a change in diet is really helping.

There are other bunnies on here that have a great diet, eat way more hay than my boy does (part of the problem is that he doesn't eat a pile of hay the size of himself every day) but seemingly randomly they will just stop eating and need the emergency vets. Sometimes it is stress, often the owner doesn't know why it happened. Usually these rabbits need checking for a blockage, and then if all clear, given pain relief, a gut stimulant, and sometimes fluids. They then need syringe feeding with Oxbow Critical Care or Supreme Recovery and perhaps Fibreplex to get their guts moving again.

And then there are quite a few on here that are sensitive to sugar, or fresh food, or certain brands of/too many pellets, and will have various gut problems if fed those. The solution to this of course is diet. There was one rabbit called Twinkle I think (now sadly gone) that couldn't handle anything other than hay, and even some of the greener hays would be too much for her gut.

Other rabbits have gut issues if they eat too much newspaper or cardboard.

In other words, it can have many, many causes and symptoms and whilst changing the diet may not stop them, it can often help. Bunnies with gut problems should always have the best diet possible, and should have a fairly plain diet based on hay, with little or no change made to the diet unless done very carefully. The diet will depend on the individual bunny - for instance I now avoid sugary or gassy veg for Barney. They should also have as little stress as possible in their lives, as this is often a factor. Bunnies with bad gut problems often will continue to need prompt veterinary attention at points throughout their lives though, even with the best diet.