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can rabbits have ocd? at my wits end

willowflower27

Mama Doe
I have come to the sobering realization that Evan is ruining my life.
I love him dearly but can't keep him happy I had him outside in a 8x6 shed with 10ft run he hated it so I brought him into the house which he is ok with but he is so destructive but more than that he's obsessed he fixates on a piece of carpet,skirting board couch etc and is like a bun possesd. He is free range but it's getting to the point I hate coming home/waking up because I'm afraid of what he's destroyed.
He's so intelligent he gets round most of my bunny proofing or will just attack it til it's destroyed. I keep giving him more and more space but it's never enough.
I know he has a terminal abdominal mass and I've been over lenient with him ive even stopped people visiting as he gets stressed and goes into stasis :cry: I just don't know what to do anymore I LOVE him but don't LIKE him I will do anything to make him happy in his final days but I seem to be failing he hates me as I'm always giving him meds etc he bites scratches kicks and in general is really unpleasant.
He is the kind of rabbit that puts you off having rabbits and after my current 2 are gone there will be no more.
I'm at my wits end anybody any idea how I can relax him and make him happy? I've got hidey holes and chew toys galore but he shows no interest.

I know some of you might find this hard to understand but I want to stress I love Evan more than words and will always put him first and care for him as long as he has however I've realized it's not doing me any good and if anyone has any ideas how I can improve my situation I'd be grateful
 
Aww, must be a really awkward situation. Could you restrict him to an area when you aren't there with puppy panels or something, so he can't damage things?
 
Could his behaviour be pain related ?

I have seen this happen before where a Rabbit with permanent but low grade pain-more a dull ache I guess- will become destructive and sometimes may also overgroom/self harm. It is as if the 'dull ache' is not bad enough to cause anorexia, but 'just' very annoying and never going away.
 
my Buster gets like that if I let him free range, he fixated on chewing a hole through the dining room door. I have sectioned my dining room off now and they stay in "bunny jail" And to be honest I think they like it better that they have a part of a room rather than the run of the kitchen and dining room as when I open it up for them to have a run around they always end up back in their "home" themselves! Maybe its a bit too much for some rabbits to have so much indoor space? I think that maybe they cant find their "home" as there are too many smells and not enough smell of them to place it if that makes any sense, but I know my bunnies seem to be happier having a space of their own :wave:
 
Could his behaviour be pain related ?

I have seen this happen before where a Rabbit with permanent but low grade pain-more a dull ache I guess- will become destructive and sometimes may also overgroom/self harm. It is as if the 'dull ache' is not bad enough to cause anorexia, but 'just' very annoying and never going away.

Oh I'm not sure he gets regular checkups and does still appear sore when they touch the mass directly he's on metacam,tramadol,zantac and cisapride the behavior is getting worse so it is a possibility I will talk to my vet. He has always been destructive but not in the obsessive way he is now he chewed the mesh on the bunny proofing for an hour I would stop him he would sit 2 seconds then go straight back to chewing
 
Oh I'm not sure he gets regular checkups and does still appear sore when they touch the mass directly he's on metacam,tramadol,zantac and cisapride the behavior is getting worse so it is a possibility I will talk to my vet. He has always been destructive but not in the obsessive way he is now he chewed the mesh on the bunny proofing for an hour I would stop him he would sit 2 seconds then go straight back to chewing

That sounds to be very much like the behaviour I have seen in a Rabbit with chronic low grade pain/discomfort.

When Lady Lydia's hocks are very bad she will become ultra destructive. She will dig until she makes her front paws bleed :cry:

Also, Tramadol can have an adverse psychotropic effect on some humans. It makes me go even more loopy than I already am :roll: I dont know if the same adverse effects can apply with Rabbits though :?
 
That sounds to be very much like the behaviour I have seen in a Rabbit with chronic low grade pain/discomfort.

When Lady Lydia's hocks are very bad she will become ultra destructive. She will dig until she makes her front paws bleed :cry:

Also, Tramadol can have an adverse psychotropic effect on some humans. It makes me go even more loopy than I already am :roll: I dont know if the same adverse effects can apply with Rabbits though :?

Exactly my thoughts - I am dealing with a bun at present who is self harming obsessively due to low grade pain.

and the description of Evans behaviour makes me think he has some pain issues.
 
I spoke to my vet and she agrees that it is likely pain related however she is unwilling to give more painrelief as he wi end up sleepy on the other medication vetergesic is the next step but we are not there yet I'm going to see if acupuncture may be an option unfortunately vet needs to come to Evan as he can't travel
 
I spoke to my vet and she agrees that it is likely pain related however she is unwilling to give more painrelief as he wi end up sleepy on the other medication vetergesic is the next step but we are not there yet I'm going to see if acupuncture may be an option unfortunately vet needs to come to Evan as he can't travel

has he tried ketamin? My vets now use it and Frances Harcourt Brown also recommends it. FHB also use a type of slow release pain relief patch on one of my buns recently - but not sure that would work on buns not sedated -

we have always found ketamin excellent though.
 
Oh I might look into that however I think that drug is highly regulated so I may not be able to use it at home. As Evan won't get better I'm trying to give him quality time at home hopefully pain and stress free but I fear I am failing miserably
 
No advice I'm afraid, but just wanted to say I hope you can get Evan more comfortable so you can enjoy your time with him. I agree with Jane about the tramadol. I have had it before and although its a good pain reliever I tell doctors I can't take it - had awful side effects.
 
No bunny advice as such, but Tramadol drove me nuts. I didn't know what to do with myself when I was on it (I believe it's opium based?) I hope that you find a way forward, you clearly love him :wave:
 
As this is a temporary situation, could you clear out a room for him? Move anything destructable into a different room - this way he can be inside but when not supervised can still have space and you won't have to worry.

I wonder if deliberately putting things in his way to detroy would help? Not with the pain, but with the destruction. E.g. line walls with several layers of cardboard.

Have you tried food balls and scatter feeding for enrichment?
 
Oh I might look into that however I think that drug is highly regulated so I may not be able to use it at home. As Evan won't get better I'm trying to give him quality time at home hopefully pain and stress free but I fear I am failing miserably

I have had it for home use but it is, as you say, very regulated.
 
It sounds as though you are really doing your best. It must be horrible going through this.

I have a bun that sounds like your rabbit. He will still obsessively dig and chew things, so I have had to rabbit proof absolutely everything...he will dig in a corner of the room for hours if I let him. I had to throw out a rug because he completely obsessed over ripping up a certain bit of it after it being in my room, untouched, for months and he destroyed all my efforts to block it off. He no longer has a cage in the room because he sits and bar bites for hours, this is when it is simply in the room, not when he is locked inside it or anything. He has always been a very obsessive bun, and the only thing I have found that helps is getting him a friend, spending lots and lots of time with him, giving him my bedroom to free range in, and having lots of sticks and toys to chew. Every week or so, I put them in the front room for a few hours, just so that he has somewhere else to investigate. He loves going in the front room and will race about and binky etc. In the Summer they get to go outside in a run and have supervised free range time. If he doesn't "get out" of his room, he starts to act up and becomes aggressive and destructive. He is not in any kind of low grade pain, he is just a very, very intelligent bunny and he needs a hell of a lot of stimulation to keep him happy.

I think this might apply to your bun, I also think that the pain will be making things ten times worse. I can really sympathise with you, as it is so exhausting having a rabbit that is THAT destructive. I would also mention that Fiver does need dentals every 8-12 months, he becomes very angry and aggressive when he is in pain/discomfort. It must be horrible having to medicate him daily when he really hates it so much. :( Will he not take the medication if it is hidden in something tasty, like baby food or some smelly herbs?
 
I have had it for home use but it is, as you say, very regulated.

My vet has agreed to look into using ketamine in patch form so hopefully this might work.
Thank you for the replies he has a whole room with wire to protect the walls I try to avoid cardboard and newspaper now as he eats it and it makes his condition worse he's incredibly stressful to look after :roll:
 
I hope things improve now. I'm another one who detests tramadol from when I was on it. It also messes with your brain, as when I had knee replacement surgery we discovered morphine no longer had any effect. Luckily the hospital pharmacist had read a recent paper (since the doctors had no idea) and said it was the tramadol which interacted badly with morphine, and they switched me to something else. Not for a very horrible 24 hrs though. Obviously I have no idea how it behaves in rabbits, but I'm very wary of it.
 
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