Old age

Hi everyone,

This might be an overraction, but my bunny (Noel, who I found on Christmas Day) isn't herself lately. There doesn't appear to be any obvious symptoms of pain. I've gently palpated her to see if there is any tenderness and there isn't any, she's eating, drinking, pooping and weeing fine and not head tilting or dribbling so I think her teeth are ok.

She isn't as lively, and when she's out she comes over to me and either sits on my knee or on the cushion next to me to be stroked, no mad dashes across the room or jumping round. And yesterday she was sitting in the corner with her eyes wide in fear, I went over and normally she would bound over to be stroked or picked up, but she was terrified. It was like when someone has altzheimers and they have times when they are terrified and don't know where they are or what's happening to them.

I was wondering if there's anything I can do to help her? Her current diet is Burgess supa rabbit and hay, with the occasional bit of redigrass as a treat (she doesn't cope too well with fresh food anymore), are there any suppliments she should have?

I'm really scared, I love my bunny so much and I want what's best. Do you think she's just going to go downhill, i'll do anything to make her feel better, i'm sorry for waffling on, i'm just really scared, I don't want her to start suffering.

aww - she sounds like she might be in pain, so I would make an appointment at the vets and get her some painkillers - and they could maybe refer her for an ultrasound or x-ray to see if there's anything going on inside her. Hope she's OK - they do have their 'off' days sometimes, but if it goes on or happens frequently, they need an examination really. Is your vet good with rabbits? Some are, some aren't, so it's important to find a vet that has been to extra conferences on small animal care - they don't do much in vet college.

Thanks for the advise Elve , i'll see how she is tonight (fingers crossed she's ok), but i'll book a check up at the vets for her. Hopefully she was just having an off day, but by the looks of her she's not a spring chicken anymore. Wish I knew how old she was (mind you, would probably have me even more worried :? )

It might be her back teeth, Zippy just seemed off and she was eating pooing everything, she had no runny eyes and she wasn't dribling, but it turned out her back teeth were overgrown.

Thanks for that Tree, I didn't realise back teeth malocclusion could be asymptomatic :? , i'll ask the vet about xrays then, I assume like with chinchillas that xrays are the best way to tell with the back teeth?

They can sometimes tell by looking into the mouth, under GA is best for a detailed look but if they know what they're looking for it can sometimes be done when they're awake - one of mine gets a spur on the same molar so they know where to look.
For the roots, it would require an x-ray though - I think chinchillas are more prone to this than rabbits but it can happen