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Caring for an old lop rabbit

P

Pondlife

New Kit
I've got a 10 year old female lop rabbit. She was originally my daughter's pet, but she's grown up now and I've kind of adopted the rabbit.

She has always lived in a hutch outside, and seems to have no problem with cold weather. But she's getting old and I'm going to need to make some changes or make "that decision" soon.

She has two problems, which may be related. About five years ago, she got into a tussle with another rabbit (we were trying to find her a companion, but it didn't work out). She ended up unable to move her back legs, and reluctant to eat. At this point, the vet thought we'd have to put her to sleep, but we fed her with a syringe for a couple of weeks, and she managed to pull through. But now the signs of that old injury have returned, and she now drags one of her back legs. She's also not able to keep herself clean, and ends up with a wet and dirty bottom.

On the plus side, she's still eating well, and is happy to see me. She still likes to go for a run outside the hutch, but is now much easier to catch when it's time to go back in.

I'm wondering if I should bring her indoors now, and wash and dry her to to keep her clean. I'd like her to have another living summer, but I don't know if that's going to be possible. So I'm wondering whether it's time to let her go.

Are there any guidelines on caring for older rabbits that may be reaching the end of their life, and how to decide when it's best to call it a day?
 
Welcome to RU, pondlife :wave:

I think bringing her inside if you're able to, is a wonderful idea. Bare in mind though to avoid drastic changes in temperature, so moving her to a colder room of the house first etc. If you bring her inside, you'll have to be careful in the sense you wouldn't be able to pop her outside again anytime soon.

I think as she's poorly being out of the cold will help her a bit, and also enable you to keep a better eye on her. If she is dragging her back legs about and has a dirty bottom - she urgently needs to see a rabbit savvy vet I'm afraid. Without trying to be anthropomorphic, if a human was dragging their legs about we would certainly have them at the emergency room. It must be very uncomfortable and frightening for her. A rabbit savvy vet will help guide you in what the best decision for her is as far as how long to keep her going.

You can create a thread asking for rabbit savvy vet recommendations for your area. Best of luck with her.
 
Pondlife said:
I've got a 10 year old female lop rabbit. She was originally my daughter's pet, but she's grown up now and I've kind of adopted the rabbit.

She has always lived in a hutch outside, and seems to have no problem with cold weather. But she's getting old and I'm going to need to make some changes or make "that decision" soon.

She has two problems, which may be related. About five years ago, she got into a tussle with another rabbit (we were trying to find her a companion, but it didn't work out). She ended up unable to move her back legs, and reluctant to eat. At this point, the vet thought we'd have to put her to sleep, but we fed her with a syringe for a couple of weeks, and she managed to pull through. But now the signs of that old injury have returned, and she now drags one of her back legs. She's also not able to keep herself clean, and ends up with a wet and dirty bottom.

On the plus side, she's still eating well, and is happy to see me. She still likes to go for a run outside the hutch, but is now much easier to catch when it's time to go back in.

I'm wondering if I should bring her indoors now, and wash and dry her to to keep her clean. I'd like her to have another living summer, but I don't know if that's going to be possible. So I'm wondering whether it's time to let her go.

Are there any guidelines on caring for older rabbits that may be reaching the end of their life, and how to decide when it's best to call it a day?
Click to expand...


Hello Pondlife and welcome to the Forum :wave:

It's lovely to know of a pet who is well cared for into old age. I would suggest that she may be suffering with arthritis and especially as she had an injury in the past. This can sometimes make things worse. You can ask your vet to assess her and perhaps prescribe some pain medication. Metacam is usually the drug of choice for coping with pain in rabbits.

I know she isn't exactly paralysed, but there may be some helpful info here, and alternative diagnoses:

http://rabbit.org/hind-limb-weakness-in-the-rabbit/

As Jess as said, if she comes in (and bringing a rabbit into warmth is no worry) then she won't be able to go out again except for daytime playtime, until the summer/warmer months. If you're Ok with that, then I would definitely bring her in.

Regarding bathing - just an inch of water for a butt bath is OK, but you'll have to dry well, as rabbit fur is like a sponge and won't dry for ages and ages ......

Good luck!
 
My situation is similiar in some ways.

Patch is also 10, has been blind for 2 years and suffers head tilt. I brought him inside a few years ago and i think its one of the reasons he is still going. I have to clean him often as well as he tends to sit in his own mess and it gets stuck on him. Because of the head tilt he can't clean himself like a normal rabbit.

Hand baths/ inch of water is best just make them feel secure all the time. I found mines has lost weight the older he has gotten so i dont think he could handle the weather outside in his condition. He also has started dragging one of his legs around but this seems be down to the head tilt and all the circling / lack of movement he has. Unfortunately im now at the stage of deciding what is best :(
 
Hello and welcome. To me your rabbit does not sound like she is ready to go, she eats well, happy to see you and likes to have a run around, even though she is dragging one leg. Has she been indoors a lot before, as sometimes if a rabbit has been outside all her life she might feel uncomfortable inside. Apart from this aspect I think it would be a good idea to have her indoors, especially over the winter months when she doesn't want to be put back outside after being washed. Maybe a good rabbit Vet would advise you regarding the leg which she is dragging to see if she might need to be on pain relief. If you don't feel your Vet is very knowledgeable in rabbits you can make another thread asking for a Rabbit Savvy Vet in your area, and someone will point you in the right direction.
 
Thanks for all the replies and advice.

My rabbit passed away about a week ago. So she didn't have another living summer as I'd hoped; but she was over eleven years old, so had a good innings.

She was eating and happy to see me right up to the end, so in many ways it was a better end that I was expecting. We had a family reunion, as my daughter came back from her postgrad studies to help bury her childhood rabbit in the garden: I never realised rabbits lived so long when we bought her when my daughter had just started secondary school.
 
Pondlife said:
Thanks for all the replies and advice.

My rabbit passed away about a week ago. So she didn't have another living summer as I'd hoped; but she was over eleven years old, so had a good innings.

She was eating and happy to see me right up to the end, so in many ways it was a better end that I was expecting. We had a family reunion, as my daughter came back from her postgrad studies to help bury her childhood rabbit in the garden: I never realised rabbits lived so long when we bought her when my daughter had just started secondary school.
Click to expand...


I'm so sorry to hear about your rabbit, but so glad that she had a good life and also has had a good burial.

Rabbits don't often live that long, often they get taken by illness. One of my rabbits lived until she was over 14 years old, and it felt harder when she left simply because she had been with me for so very long.
 
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