Could Coco be a bit depressed/sad

through being manhandled so much?

I was just wondering. It's following on from my thread about Coco being poorly.

When Thumper's had colic/stasis/gut problems and the vet has given her the relevant jabs, once back home I might give her oral meds for that first day, but then stop. This is because Thumper gets so stressed out merely at the sight of me (she quite literally shakes like a leaf and tries to hide) that catching her to give her medication would just push her over the edge and hinder her recovery, so with vet approval (and in fact it was vet advice) I don't give her any. And she recovers just fine.

Coco however has been okay to handle, has been swallowing 99% of her meds, but is very quiet even though her poops are much improved and she has started to eat treats, herbs and a bit of muesli.

I'm wondering if her reaction to being caught and force-fed these meds is to be incredibly quiet - sad, almost. She did stamp the floor tonight in protest when I was holding her, just before I dispensed any of the drugs.

Has anyone else come across this before?

I was going to continue the meds until and including Friday, but have decided to ring the vet in the morning, before I give Coco any more meds.

It was just a thought.

Thanks

I think it's a possibility.

All three of mine hate being medicated and hate it even more to have to go to the vets. If I have to continue with medication at home I do not consider they behave "normally" again in themselves (leaving any medical symptoms to one side) until they are fully confident they will be left alone again. I also have been thumped at. My doe particularly looks at me with large sad eyes. So yes, it seems for some rabbits these things have a large impact. Also if your two are from the same litter, they will possibly have similar fears, which could manifest themselves in slightly different ways.

I think I would do as you have said and phone your vet tomorrow before giving any more meds.

Thanks, Omi. Thumper seemingly "hates" me for a good 2 days after she's been poorly before she realises that things are back to normal - she won't let me get within 6ft of her when in the garden, and that's no exaggeration. When in the shed, she visibly shakes when I approach her, which is very sad to see as she's evidently very stressed out because she can't get away. So I tend to talk to her but not try and stroke her, which seems to help. The treat box helps too .

They're sisters, our 2 girls.

Coco looked at me a bit warily just when I went in to give them their supper of herbs and put the heat pads in but did let me stroke/pet her before hopping off.

She did show much more enthusiasm when the herb box came out though, pushed her nose into it next to her sister's, which is 100% improvement on last night, so that's excellent .

After having some herbs though, she wouldn't let me pet her again . I think she was half asleep when I first went in as they were both cuddled up together and I disturbed them. She went back to the herbs and I left them both munching away, like nothing was wrong, which was such a relief to see.

I will definitely ring the vet in the morning. Including Sunday she's had 5 different meds for 4 full days so as she's much better I'm hoping that the vet will okay me stopping them.

Might seem like an odd question, but have you checked Coco's hocks ?

Jack's-Jane said:

Might seem like an odd question, but have you checked Coco's hocks ?

Click to expand...

They both get sore hocks on and off but I do actually check them daily when they're hopping away from me and they're fine

To be honest, that's the reason we put the thick layer of hay down on the shed and run floor to begin with - they both had sore hocks, the creams weren't working and the vet told us to put hay down. They then healed, though took a while. But thank you for that thought

I phoned the vet this morning. She also agreed that Coco was probably fed up by now of being manhandled and given medication but said just one more day, so she's had meds this morning (took about 80%) and then tonight and then that's it. She did actually chase Thumper while in the garden this morning (only a couple of hops though, but still), and although it's not nice for Thumper it means that Coco is feeling more like her old self, so in a back-handed way it was good to see.