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Oscar has started making a muttering noise, worried

J

Jem_John

Young Bun
Hello all I hope you and your buns are all well!

I hope maybe you can help me figure out what's going on with Oscar, I have booked a vets appointment also...

In the last couple of days iv noticed him making a little muttering noise, it seems to be while he's eating hay or cleaning, both of which he is doing normally, with ease, and with his usual gusto, he's still a hay eating machine! He's running around, binkying, leaping onto the sofa, attempting to raid the bin as usual, mooching for his tea at the usual time and seems happy, healthy and content in every way apart from this noise which I have never heard him make before, it's very frequent now and very quiet. It's not the play noise, or a growl, I haven't heard any loud tooth grits just the soft happy ones when he's being snuggled, in all my rabbit owning years I have not heard this sound before...

A few minutes ago my husband was snuggling him on the floor when he made the noise a few times in a row...

Does anyone have any idea what it could be? I'm worried...
 
Hello, sometimes bunnies can make this noise when they are happy and eating something they really like. My two have never done it but my friend's french lop does it when he gets his greens. Obviously best to get it checked out if you're concerned though as it could be something else.

Hope it's nothing to worry about.
 
Thank you Kate, I wish I felt it was a happy noise but because iv never heard it before I am concerned, I'm not sure what my vet can even say or do about this but a general health check would be a good idea!
 
Snowflake-George said:
How old is Oscar and is he neutered?
Click to expand...

Just wanted to add, I never thought rabbits made any noises but since I got into owning rabbits again I've found this to be incorrect. There can be various reasons for the noise from happiest to hormones, etc.

George use to make a loud honking noise before he was neutered. He still honks every now and again if he is happy.

Harry make gentle muttering noises when she gets a cuddle.

Hershel will make little muttering and squeaking noises all the time. He is just the squeakiest little guy.

And Maggie is currently quite hormonal and grunts at me if I do anything she doesn't like.
 
He's around 5 or 6 and was neutered a few years ago....

His vets app this morning brought up a couple of things, he found slight spurs on his back teeth which he didn't feel needed any action for and saw no soft tissue damage (Oscar has always had unlimited hay and wood so I can't up these) the other problem was signs of slight sensitivity on a certain part of his spine...

The vet recommended metacam with a view to trialing it, if Oscar stops with the noise it will prove that the noise is due to pain. My concern now is that iv just been reading up on metacam and the potential side effects which seem awful. He's running around, jumping on furniture, bright, alert, loving his food, should I risk his apparent good health by giving metacam and potentially giving him stomach ulcers, liver or intestinal damage or a potentially life threatening allergic reaction?

Also should I just insist on him having his teeth filed? It's a big op with him having to go under anaesthetic, the vet didn't think we should do it unless they get worse...

I would really appreciate your advice and past experiences thank you so much xxx
 
I have given Metacam to numerous Rabbits over many years and not one has had a bad reaction to it. Some are/have been on it longterm to manage chronic inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.
 
Thanks for the reassurance jacksjane :) I think I will look into how to do a patch test first, I'm also reading about it having artificial sweeteners in it which I wouldn't put into my own body so I'm cautious giving them to my boy, but thinking about it all evening I think it's best for him if we try this...

I found a video of a bunny making the same noise and have found a few threads of others experiences with this, a couple that iv found resulted in a diagnosis and treatment for pasteurella, a few others had people replying saying that their buns make this noise when cleaning and eating and that it is normal. I'm still concerned though because it's new for Oscar to make this noise.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lW3Z2z8y3yA
 
Jem_John said:
Thanks for the reassurance jacksjane :) I think I will look into how to do a patch test first, I'm also reading about it having artificial sweeteners in it which I wouldn't put into my own body so I'm cautious giving them to my boy, but thinking about it all evening I think it's best for him if we try this...

I found a video of a bunny making the same noise and have found a few threads of others experiences with this, a couple that iv found resulted in a diagnosis and treatment for pasteurella, a few others had people replying saying that their buns make this noise when cleaning and eating and that it is normal. I'm still concerned though because it's new for Oscar to make this noise.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lW3Z2z8y3yA
Click to expand...

Regarding the Metacam, it's fairly well tolerated in rabbits. Any issues with it will show up in a short space of time (but I suppose that's not very reassuring)

The one time I would be wary is if a rabbit has existing kidney problems. Without a blood test it's impossible to confirm if this is the case, so it's a matter of weighing up the benefits against possible problems.
 
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