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bunny is eating but only lying down with feet stretched out

A

Andie

Young Bun
Hi,

My bunny is behaving a bit unusual this morning and I'm wondering if it is anything to worry about or maybe I just woke him at the wrong time...

Basically when I put his food down he didn't sit up as usual to eat it but stretched his back legs out behind him as he does when relaxing and then ate from that lying position, it looked rather odd.

He always likes to sit with his tummy close to the ground, maybe to stop me from lifting him up (which I don't do but he was a rescue bunny so might have a bad experience), but this was unusual. He ate less than usual but did then hop to the hay box which looked normal and started eating hay.

So I'm happy that he is eating but I wonder what this could mean if anything. He let me touch all of his back, legs, tummy, so I don't think anything is hurting him. I'll keep an eye on him of course but I wonder if this is something to worry about? I don't want to scare him with the vet either if this is nothing... He is a mini-lop, about 2 years old, and lives indoors by the way.

Thanks very much!
Andrea
 
A small update, he did the same for his lunch but then sat up when I moved his lunch around a bit. I'll see what he does with his dinner a bit later, I'm hoping it's just me being paranoid since everyone always says that anything different is not usually a good sign... :)
Andrea
 
I'm sorry your bunny is worrying you. I always think any new behaviour like this is worth checking out with a bunny savvy vet . I've no experience of these issues myself so can't advise - hopefully somebody else can. Good luck
 
If he is eating and pooing then that is a good sign :) My rabbit Peter did a lot more lying around than usual before he got bloat, but we were more concerned when he had an "accident" in the living room as he's normally very good with his litter tray, so I knew something was wrong then. They do sometimes press their tummies down if they're in pain. Is it worth giving your vet a call to see if you can speak to someone who will be able to give you more help? I appreciate it might be an out of hours service now in which case I would say that if he's still eating and moving around then you could wait and call them in the morning.
 
joey&boo said:
I'm sorry your bunny is worrying you. I always think any new behaviour like this is worth checking out with a bunny savvy vet . I've no experience of these issues myself so can't advise - hopefully somebody else can. Good luck
Click to expand...

I agree that you may want to have your bunny checked by a bunny savvy vet.
 
Thanks for your replies! It seems my last update did not come through... He did sit normally now and moved around almost as usual too, and his appetite was back to normal too, so I didn't bother scaring him with a trip to the vet in the end, and now he seems his usual self again. So I have no idea what that was but he seems fine to me now, luckily.
 
There is an update to this, in case someone finds this thread later. He was completely back to his normal self again for about 6 weeks when he suddenly didn't want to move around again, although slightly differently to before. I took him to the vet and she thinks it's probably EC although apparently there is no real conclusive test. She put him on antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and something for EC, which she said would cover it in case it's an infection or bacterial instead. By the next day he was barely moving, he falls over after every hop, if you can even call it a hop, it's more like he's dragging himself, poor thing... :( But he is still happily eating at least, so I just put food, drink, and hay around him in his favourite corner, and hope that the medicine will kick in soon (it hasn't yet, he's only been on it for a couple of days). Keep your fingers (ears? ;)) crossed that he will recover soon. The vet was quite hopeful at least...
 
Andie said:
There is an update to this, in case someone finds this thread later. He was completely back to his normal self again for about 6 weeks when he suddenly didn't want to move around again, although slightly differently to before. I took him to the vet and she thinks it's probably EC although apparently there is no real conclusive test. She put him on antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and something for EC, which she said would cover it in case it's an infection or bacterial instead. By the next day he was barely moving, he falls over after every hop, if you can even call it a hop, it's more like he's dragging himself, poor thing... :( But he is still happily eating at least, so I just put food, drink, and hay around him in his favourite corner, and hope that the medicine will kick in soon (it hasn't yet, he's only been on it for a couple of days). Keep your fingers (ears? ;)) crossed that he will recover soon. The vet was quite hopeful at least...
Click to expand...

Could it have bee Panacur that the vet gave in addition to the antibiotics and anti-inflammatory?

I'm really sorry to hear that your bun is still having problems, but glad that he's happily eating. If you feel you need a second opinion on this (though by the sounds your vet is doing all possible) then do post again in 'Rabbit Chat' with a title of 'SavvyVet needed in ... (your location)'.
Just a thought.

Sending recovery vibes xx
 
Dear Andie,

Is the anti-inflammatory also a pain medication? I am glad to hear he is eating on his own. With his lack of coordination is he able to drink from a bottle or bowl? If he is not drinking enough on his own, it is not difficult to give a bunny sub-Q fluids from the vets.
 
Thanks for your replies. Yes, it's Panacur, and the anti-inflammatory is Metacam and apparently for pain as well, even though I don't really think he is in any pain as far as I can tell. Apparently the vet is the vet hospital's expert for rabbits and she sounded like she knew what she was talking about, so I believe he is in the best hands there.

I put a shallow bowl with water within reach of him, he seems to drink fine from that.

The only problem I noticed now is that he doesn't seem able to clean himself properly any more. Can I just wipe him off a bit with a wet kitchen towel for instance? Or would that be a bad idea since it might leave his fur damp? I'm just hoping the medicine will work soon. He doesn't seem any better, but at least he doesn't seem any worse either...
 
Andie said:
Thanks for your replies. Yes, it's Panacur, and the anti-inflammatory is Metacam and apparently for pain as well, even though I don't really think he is in any pain as far as I can tell. Apparently the vet is the vet hospital's expert for rabbits and she sounded like she knew what she was talking about, so I believe he is in the best hands there.

I put a shallow bowl with water within reach of him, he seems to drink fine from that.

The only problem I noticed now is that he doesn't seem able to clean himself properly any more. Can I just wipe him off a bit with a wet kitchen towel for instance? Or would that be a bad idea since it might leave his fur damp? I'm just hoping the medicine will work soon. He doesn't seem any better, but at least he doesn't seem any worse either...
Click to expand...

Re cleaning him up - yes, if you can get away with a bit of wet kitchen towel then use that. However, remember it's coming into the warm season and flystrike etc. You want to keep him clean and the best way may be to clip the fur around the back end and tail really short. You could get one of the vet nurses to do this for you.

Otherwise, give him a little butt bath in half an inch or so of water, and then dry gently with a hair dryer.

Good luck xx Sounds like you are in good hands :)
 
He lives indoors in a room, no hutch or cage or anything that he could have hurt himself on really. And nobody picked him up either, so I don't think it can be any injury as such causing it.

So far it seems only a very little bit dirty, so a bit of kitchen towel will probably do it, I'll try. Hopefully he won't get flystrike etc indoors....
 
Just a quick update, finally after about 10 days on medication my bunny finally is getting better, hooray. :) I was beginning to wonder if he would ever get better when he suddenly started moving a little more. Now he is actually hopping although not quite back to normal, he is still dragging his feet a bit, but he is definitely finally on the up!
 
Andie said:
Just a quick update, finally after about 10 days on medication my bunny finally is getting better, hooray. :) I was beginning to wonder if he would ever get better when he suddenly started moving a little more. Now he is actually hopping although not quite back to normal, he is still dragging his feet a bit, but he is definitely finally on the up!
Click to expand...

This is fantastic news! Thank you so much for posting :D
 
I'm glad you rabbit is getting better. My rabbit starting acting like this last week. My vet thinks it's a spinal injury or tissue damage. I'm due to go back with her on Tuesday. I am going to ask him about EC as she is not getting much better really. X
 
Oh poor rabbit, I hope they'll find out what it is and she'll improve, definitely ask about EC. My rabbit just seemed to loose all power to his legs, but the vet said EC can affect almost anything as it's a neurological problem. All the best!
 
Andie said:
Just a quick update, finally after about 10 days on medication my bunny finally is getting better, hooray. :) I was beginning to wonder if he would ever get better when he suddenly started moving a little more. Now he is actually hopping although not quite back to normal, he is still dragging his feet a bit, but he is definitely finally on the up!
Click to expand...

Wonderful news. Your persistence is paying off! Topping off the positive vibes.
 
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