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Paranoid owner?

Sarah1989

Warren Veteran
I can't make my mind up about Blueberry. I have this niggling feeling that won't go away that something's "off" with him. He's been to the vets twice - once in August & then his annual health check in September. Both times they thought he was fine. I can't even say what I think it is, it's just this feeling I have which won't go away :?

How do you know if one is bullying the other? Slipper & Blueberry have a double decker hutch - sometimes one is flopped out on each level, other times they're flopped out together. Slipper barges Blueberry out of the way when food is around so I feed them separately to ensure Blueberry gets fed.

So I don't know. I trust my sixth sense more & more as I get older as it's always right. But this time, i have nothing to go on to go to the vets with. So maybe it's not my sixth sense this time, maybe it's just sheer paranoia as I lost Badger so suddenly & Blueberry is all I have left of him, being his brother.

Wise advice appreciated please!


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i am the same, after losing two rabbits suddenly i am constantly on edge and always paranoid. i check them over every day and take them to the vet twice a year for a check up, and hope that's enough. i think as long as you are vigilant you should try to relax! i know it's hard and losing buns suddenly is so difficult to get over xx
 
I honestly don't know
You have a good vet but bunnies are tricksy
I think you need to analyse what you think has changed about his behaviour or physicality or is making you think that

I think you have good instincts and know your pets well but you've had a lot to deal with this year, and are probably super worried about leaving them when you go on holiday

Hope he's ok though xx
 
You may be being a bit more protective of Blueberry for the reason you mention. However, I am a great believer in instinct.

If you can't put your finger on it now, and nothing is seeming to gel in your head as to what may be going on, I suggest you observe carefully for a little while longer.

It's the little things that give a bunny away as being not altogether happy. You may be sensing something that isn't happening now, but is somehow 'in the air' ...

I hope this makes sense :shock:
 
Something is different, I just can't tell what. To all intents & purposes, he is a perfectly normal bunny. It's just a feeling I have that I can't even begin to describe. He's more submissive - he was always my bouncy little spring & was the dominant bunny with Badger. Now he's with Slipper, he's the submissive one. He just doesn't seem to be the same nosey bouncy bunny he was. He always ate faster than Badger, now he's not as interested in food. He eats, don't worry, if he stopped he'd have been straight down the vets! But he doesn't eat as quickly as he used too. Or he does, but now it's noticeably slower than Slipper who inhales his food. He just seems less lively & more subdued over the past few months. About July/August I can't quite remember the dates but I know exactly when it was if that makes sense. I just went in one day & took one look at him & went "you're not right". I took him immediately to the vets then & they couldn't find anything wrong at all. Since then he's had days where I look at him & say "yep I was imagining it" but usually, I just have this feeling everytime I see him that there's something wrong, but I don't know what or how. I mentioned it when he went for his vaccinations early September & they have him a good checking over. He'd lost a few grams in weight, but nothing to worry them. He just seems more fragile & delicate than normal, like I have to be careful with him or he'll shatter like glass.

Yes I've had a horrendous year, but surely I'd be equally paranoid about all my bunnies? But no, there is something screaming in my gut that there is something wrong with him so either I've gone completely insane or I'm right & there's a silent, unobvious thing that is v e r y s l o w l y eroding him away with no symptoms :?


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Do you think that he's not happy with slipper? Or is missing badger still? Or do you think it is a physical illness rather than a depression one?

Could you try him with the girls?
 
None of them battered an eyelid at Badger dying, I didn't know how to react to that actually. Obviously I didn't want them to be upset, but I was upset they didn't care although I'm anthromorphsizing (sp?) there :oops:

They still snuggle up together and they're not fighting, nor have they so I assume they still like each other? After he fell out with Blackavar, I'd be loath to try him in a trio with my girls as a) what would I do with Slipper? And b) what if the girls fell out & I had 4 single bunnies? :shock: the six I have is more than enough so if I had singles, I'd have to give bunnies up instead of getting more :cry:


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I missed this earlier. My bunch don't seem to miss Ginger at all :cry: Blueberry always looks a happy bunny to me, it might just be that he was top bun of him and badger, but that slipper is top bun of this pair :? Probably me losing Ginger unexpectedly has spooked you as well? It has me, I'm analysing every animals behaviour in a very paranoid way today :cry:
 
I missed this earlier. My bunch don't seem to miss Ginger at all :cry: Blueberry always looks a happy bunny to me, it might just be that he was top bun of him and badger, but that slipper is top bun of this pair :? Probably me losing Ginger unexpectedly has spooked you as well? It has me, I'm analysing every animals behaviour in a very paranoid way today :cry:

Oh Zoobec ... I'm so sorry. I never realised you had lost Ginger recently :(

I tend to avoid health and rainbow bridge since losing Bobby.

I'm very sorry to hear this ((((Hugs)))) xx

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I'm sorry Sarah that you are feeling uneasy about Blueberry. Would your gut feeling on bunny health usually be good ?

Losing bobby made me very paranoid but in a different way. I didn't get paranoid about Rosie. I got anxious about taking on another bunny. I was afraid to get a lop because they are more prone to ear infections and I didn't want to go through what I did with bobby again.

I was equally paranoid about ec and didn't adopt a lovely bunny from assissi because one of his siblings had ec.

I was wary of adopting an older rabbit in case it had not got the right diet as a youngster and might have digestive problems.

I was afraid of getting a mini lop in case there were dental issues down the line and also a nethie for the same reasons.

The list was endless ..I viewed every bunny as a potential problem. I know our situations are different but losing a bunny is very distressing and sometimes it can make us see problems that aren't there.

But you know blueberry better than anyone. Just be vigilant , like you are being anyway and that's all you can do really xx

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That sounds like a really tricky situation :( I'd say if there are no symptoms there's not much that you or your vet can do, maybe you could ask your vet to do blood tests to look for anything abnormal?

How old is he? Do bunnies come out of their teenage/young adult stage like this? I assume some rabbits just mellow out with age so maybe he's just decided to be a little lazier?! The change in apparent dominance might be as a result of Badger dying, rabbits will reorganise their hierarchy.

I also don't think that they didn't care about Badger dying, they just probably have no concept of death, so as far as they're aware he's just gone away, they'll know that they no longer have him there and may have gone looking for him or wanting to find him which is their own way of "missing" him, but I doubt as prey animals they'd show significant outwards signs even if they do get sad when loosing a member of their family because in the wild it would have happened frequently and they wouldn't want to make themselves vulnerable (Lilly only showed signs when Harvey died because she had no other rabbit company then, so she has been stressed at the lack of grooming to/from a friend and as a result has resorted to asking me for more attention, if she had other rabbit friends I doubt she would have shown anything despite how close her and Harvey were)

I hope you get to the bottom of this x
 
He was 1 in July. So I wondered if it was an age thing but a 1yo isn't exactly an ancient bunny :? Slipper is 3 now & has always been the same bunny he has been.

Ugh, I don't know. I know I'd be devastated if I lost him - I'd be obviously devastated if I lost any of my bunnies - but I feel I'd be extra devastated at losing Blueberry because he's all I have left of Badger. When losing Badger is unbearable, I cuddle Blueberry. He's soft & fluffy like Badger & I feel closer to him as they're brothers. Blackavar is the same size & a lop & I love snuggling him, but he feels different if that makes sense. I used to cuddle both Badger & Blueberry when they were babies, they both fitted in my arms & so I can pretend for a moment they're both still here with me.

I'm almost always right when my sixth sense tells me something, & it's telling me now that Blueberry isn't well. But I have no evidence of that to take to the vets. I'm terrified of waking up one morning & finding him dead. I always tell people that nobody knows their bunny better than them & if they think their bunny is poorly, then he is & it's better safe than sorry. But I've had Blueberry to the vets twice & both times they can't find anything wrong. I always say to myself "do whatever you think is best so if they do die, you don't have to love with regrets & what if & if only". If Blueberry did die today, I'd kick myself for not acting, but I'd also know deep down, I couldn't have done more because he has no symptoms & he went to the vets twice & they couldn't find anything. But I don't want that to happen. I want another 10 years with him!


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What have the vets done to ensure nothing is wrong? Has he had blood or urine tests or anything? Or is it just based on an external exam?

I'd be hesitant to put him under ga for an X-ray etc based on a hunch as it's risky but urine tests are non invasive and might indicate something
 
What have the vets done to ensure nothing is wrong? Has he had blood or urine tests or anything? Or is it just based on an external exam?

I'd be hesitant to put him under ga for an X-ray etc based on a hunch as it's risky but urine tests are non invasive and might indicate something

He's been weighed, ears & teeth checked and general thorough external exam. They said about running tests on his urine so I took a sample in, but I never heard back.

Both he & Slipper have dirty noses. Like a little bit of snot, but it's damp fur instead & a bit discoloured. I pointed that out in their last visit, and they said to keep an eye on it, but not to worry otherwise :?

Maybe I should take him back & be a bit more insistent. I feel a bit of a prat taking him in & going "I think he's ill but there are no symptoms or anything to indicate, I just have a feeling" :?


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Ok so maybe you could follow up the urine sample and get them to swab the noses and test that?
Hopefully will all come back clear and you'll feel reassured although slightly poorer! x
 
He's been weighed, ears & teeth checked and general thorough external exam. They said about running tests on his urine so I took a sample in, but I never heard back.

Both he & Slipper have dirty noses. Like a little bit of snot, but it's damp fur instead & a bit discoloured. I pointed that out in their last visit, and they said to keep an eye on it, but not to worry otherwise :?

Maybe I should take him back & be a bit more insistent. I feel a bit of a prat taking him in & going "I think he's ill but there are no symptoms or anything to indicate, I just have a feeling" :?


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Hmmm ...I would definitely follow up on that urine sample and push them on the nose issue xx

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Ok so maybe you could follow up the urine sample and get them to swab the noses and test that?
Hopefully will all come back clear and you'll feel reassured although slightly poorer! x

Hmmm ...I would definitely follow up on that urine sample and push them on the nose issue xx

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I think so too. It's "only" money at the end of the day. I'd rather be even skinter than I am now & have a healthy Blueberry then lose him. You can't put a price on that :thumb:


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Oh Zoobec ... I'm so sorry. I never realised you had lost Ginger recently :(

I tend to avoid health and rainbow bridge since losing Bobby.

I'm very sorry to hear this ((((Hugs)))) xx

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Oh no zoobec! I hadn't heard about ginger either
Hugs to you and rip ginger x

How is boots?

Thankyou both. I have Sarah giving me bereavement counselling :love: which has helped.
Boots is fine thankyou, I'll post some pictures sometime soon :thumb:

Sarah, sorry for derailing your thread :oops: I reckon it would be a good idea to go to the vets re the nose discharge and ask for further tests, I'm sure it will put your mind at rest if nothing else :thumb:
 
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