Something really weird happened to Toby

Something really weird happened to Toby last night, and it was about 12 o clock last night. All of a sudden Toby changed in character it was really strange and scary. His little heart was really beating as he was breathing very fast, his ears where pointed right up straight, his eyes where wide open and his nose was pushed back as he was breathing so fast. He was laid down while this was happening, and I noticed that he would now and again, every few seconds jump up really quickly and try clean himself or itch (he reminded me of a dog chasing his tail, stressed with himself) not like Toby at all. I also noticed that he couldn’t stand on his 2 back feet, they kept sliding back so he'd end up laying down again, and he wasn’t eating either. I can’t really explain what happened last night.
I was really upset, and I didn't expect him to be alive today, I really didn't – a part of me feels he should be gone today. I was really scared to look if he was alive or not this morning, and he was. He is fine, eating, and back to himself again, though his not as active as he normally is, though he might be recovering today…I am just confused. I am going to keep an eye on him though. Have any of you had this before with your bun? I was thinking that he might have had heat stroke?

Also, Do you have a pic you can show me by what you mean as"a rabbit hunched up" as I think he was a bit last night, but I am not sure.

Oh Dear :? I am so sorry to hear you had a worrying time with Toby last night.
Without being there it is difficult to say what happened.
There are many possibilities...firstly, perhaps he moved awkwardly and pinched a nerve somewhere? Or,
Was it like some kind of fit? If you compare it to someone who has epilepsy..was it like a seizure? If so, you need to speak to your Vet, as different things can cause this, interference with a nerve, an infection or parasite, amongst other things.
If he is elderly then it could have been a very mild stroke that temporarily caused him to loose movement in his hind legs.
We had a 10 year rabbit who had many very mild strokes over two years, but recovered well each time afterwards.
I believe drugs can now be given by a Vet to reduce the risk of another stroke?.

Please do not worry too much, if Toby is fine today, eating and toileting normally, then it cannot be too serious, you can put it down as a one off incident.
I would perhaps make an appointment to see your Vet and explain what happened, and see if he/ she can offer some advice.

Poor you! I know it can be really scary when these things happened out of the blue, especially when you do not know the cause.
The fact Toby is well today, is a good sign though

Awww poor Tobe
I agree with Adele, given Toby's marvellous age it could well have been a mini stroke. As you may know, strokes can affect people and animals differently and the damage done can be mild or severe. I had a rabbit many years ago that suffered several strokes in his last year. Unfortunately for him, each stroke left him more disabled and we eventually had to have him pts as there were no drugs available at the time. Medicine has come a long way since then.
The only other thing I could think of is maybe he was spooked by something you didn't see or hear, and as he is getting on a bit, maybe he has a touch of arthritis and couldn't get up because his joints were stiff?
Anyway, I hope the little fellow is ok

~Lisa~ said:

The only other thing I could think of is maybe he was spooked by something you didn't see or hear.

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It's funny you should say that, because my bf said that last night. He thinks our flat is haunted as we live in an old house that has been converted into flats. People have been spooked when sleeping over and staying in the living room over night, including my mum.
Toby is fine this morning, eating, jumping about, and begging for food - his normal self. I am keeping an eye on him though.

Was Toby awake at the time? The reason I ask if I've seen my buns dreaming before and they chew, twitch and run in their sleep (whilst lying on their sides in normal snooze position). When poked they spring to life with a "huh, what was that for look".

As an older bun if he'd been lying in one place for awhile he could have seized up and been a bit stiff walking.

I'm glad to here he is ok today

Tam

Tamsin said:

Was Toby awake at the time? The reason I ask if I've seen my buns dreaming before and they chew, twitch and run in their sleep (whilst lying on their sides in normal snooze position). When poked they spring to life with a "huh, what was that for look".

As an older bun if he'd been lying in one place for awhile he could have seized up and been a bit stiff walking.

I'm glad to here he is ok today

Tam

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Everything is a possibility. It’s hard to say if he was asleep or not, as he was fine one minute then the next he was strange. I went to feed him and he ate his treats (from my hand) as normal, but he didn’t eat the food in his bowl - that wasn’t so normal for Toby. However I just thought he wasn’t hungry and came back into the living room. Then about half hour later we went to bed, and I went to check on him before hand (as I always do) – this is when I saw him laying on his side (laying down in a dogs kinda way) panting really fast. It didn’t look right to me so I cooled him down (as I thought it may be the heat for some reason) and put his cage in a much cooler room. About 10 minutes later I looked at him again as I was really worried and couldn’t sleep because of it. I sat near his cage and he was still laying down, panting fast, nose pushed back, eyes wide open, ears pined upwards, and then he started to twitch and kept getting up really fast (in a clumsy sort of way) and then slowly reached to his tail to clean himself, then “fell” back down in the laying down position again. He did this a couple of times, and then calmed down. He couldn’t control his back legs very good either, as before I went to bed I picked him up to try and calm him down and when I put him on the floor, his back feet moved in a weird way as if he was “wiping his feel”. None of it was Toby at all, he acted as if he was senile (if that’s how you spell it); it was if I owned another rabbit. The whole thing lasted about an hour.

He has been resting today, and seems fine now.

Hello there, How is gorgeous Toby today?
Has Toby been eating ok in the last few days? Reason I ask is that I have seen this a few times with Sooty my little Netherland who is a bit prone to statis now a days. He often displays the symptoms you have described. As far as I can figure its a pain reaction, probably similar to when we have trapped wind and get those horrible pains. If I see Soots doing this I immediate give him Infacol and this last time (last week) gave him a dab of kittymalt on his paw and left him in peace to clean that off after that he stopped lying stretched out and breathing fast. Next day he still hadn't pooped so I gave him more kitty malt and a little while later he started pooping again. Also gave him a chunk of carrot to see if he would eat it and hoped with carrot being wet it would help move things along. Seemed to do the trick thankfully.

Angela