Would you say this is a weird position for a rabbit to sit?

TL/DR: The lawn was sprayed with weed killer 2 days ago and the bunny ate some. He seems mostly fine but sits weird.


I found out today that my sister let my bunny outside in the morning. 2 days ago the lawn was sprayed with weed killer (2,4-D). I can't find any clear data on how toxic it is, but I did some math and there was ~100mg per square meter of pure 2,4-D, and the product sheet says lethal dose is at least 400mg/kg for guinea pigs (no data for rabbits unfortunately). I highly doubt he ate a whole square meter of grass (my sister says he barely ate anything but I can't be sure).
Anyway, he seems to be eating fine but is kinda lethargic. It is also a pretty hot day so that could be the reason. He jumps around when he sees me with treats.
He peed a bit but since I found out that he ate the grass he made no poops (it's only been about 3 hours though). His breath does seem a bit laboured but again, it's a pretty hot day.

It's Sunday and the only rabbit savvy vet I know is already closed.

I know I am probably freaking out about nothing but still.

What do you think?

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Zephyre said:

TL/DR: The lawn was sprayed with weed killer 2 days ago and the bunny ate some. He seems mostly fine but sits weird.


I found out today that my sister let my bunny outside in the morning. 2 days ago the lawn was sprayed with weed killer (2,4-D). I can't find any clear data on how toxic it is, but I did some math and there was ~100mg per square meter of pure 2,4-D, and the product sheet says lethal dose is at least 400mg/kg for guinea pigs (no data for rabbits unfortunately). I highly doubt he ate a whole square meter of grass (my sister says he barely ate anything but I can't be sure).
Anyway, he seems to be eating fine but is kinda lethargic. It is also a pretty hot day so that could be the reason. He jumps around when he sees me with treats.
He peed a bit but since I found out that he ate the grass he made no poops (it's only been about 3 hours though). His breath does seem a bit laboured but again, it's a pretty hot day.

It's Sunday and the only rabbit savvy vet I know is already closed.

I know I am probably freaking out about nothing but still.

What do you think?

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The position he is sitting in is not as relevant as the fact that you say he is 'lethargic' and has had no fecal output. Although 3 hours is not at the 'critical' stage' it is something to monitor closely.

A Rabbit resting in the position shown in your image may be doing so due to pain, a loss of sensation as to the position of the limbs (ie a neurological issue). But Rabbits on a surface with poor traction (ie the bare plastic cage your Rabbit is currently in) may also rest in a similar position.

Poisoning is a possibility

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/archive/2,4-DTech.html

In short it is impossible to say whether your Rabbit has been effected by ingestion of a toxin. Are you in the UK ? If so I'd suggest contacting these folk

http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/?id=-312925

No, I am not in UK unfortunately [emoji853]

I try to push him to drink more water but other than that I am unsure what to do. He still hasn't made any poops, and still sits still when left alone, but if I get him out of the cage he runs around and eats hay on his own. I guess I will just wait a few more hours.

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Zephyre said:

No, I am not in UK unfortunately [emoji853]

I try to push him to drink more water but other than that I am unsure what to do. He still hasn't made any poops, and still sits still when left alone, but if I get him out of the cage he runs around and eats hay on his own. I guess I will just wait a few more hours.

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I would keep him out of his cage as much as possible and encourage him to eat hay and drink water. If he appears to be uncoordinated when hopping about then unfortunately that would not be good news. Is there any out-of-hours emergency veterinary services available in your country ?

There are two that I know about, but I tried both and they are of no help. They can give iv fluids but they won't / don't know how to do more.

I will let him out this evening then. Thank you for your advice.

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He made some poops! [emoji173]
I will keep watching him of course but I already feel so relieved.

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I hope he will be ok . I'd never use a weedkiller where bunnies have access to .

kattymieoww said:

I hope he will be ok . I'd never use a weedkiller where bunnies have access to .

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I live with my parents and they can't be bothered about it. They just say to wait a few days and it will be fine - which it was, until now, since I always waited at least 7 days.

Turns out my little sister not only let him out on the lawn but also took him to see our other rabbit, a (yet) unspayed female, through a fence. She apparently spooked him and I guess that could also explain why he was so out of it today. So far he doesn't seem to show any signs of poisoning so I put him in his cage for the night.

Thank you everyone for the advice!

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