Does anyone know what are the signs of imminent natural death due to old age in rabbits? If there even are any.
My old rabbit of 11yrs old now lives in the dining room, since the end of November. Since then he has mainly stayed in one area where there are mats, a little house, litter trays etc and where we feed him (initial experiments with feeding further away led to too many puddles!) However, in the last week or two, he keeps emerging beyond this area and going beneath the sofa and other furniture, where there is a gap of about 5 inches height but where he's never been before. He is eating a bit less, or perhaps more accurately not eating as much in one go, though the food does mainly get eaten but over a longer time period. He is pooing, a bit smaller than normal but plenty, and weeing, perhaps a bit less continent than before but not significantly so.
Maybe now that he's discovered these low areas he just enjoys sitting in them, as he feels sheltered and secure, but I also wonder if he might be on his way out, given he is quite elderly. He is not in any obvious pain, but I don't feel I can take him to the vet: "hi Mr Vet, my rabbit is sitting in a different place to usual and taking longer to eat his food". Also, if he is getting to the end of his natural life, I don't want to extend it through vet intervention, nor have him put to sleep if he's not there yet as I don't think he is suffering in any way. But it would be nice to know if this might be normal towards the end of life - although I've had long lived rabbits before, they've generally been ill before they died.
My old rabbit of 11yrs old now lives in the dining room, since the end of November. Since then he has mainly stayed in one area where there are mats, a little house, litter trays etc and where we feed him (initial experiments with feeding further away led to too many puddles!) However, in the last week or two, he keeps emerging beyond this area and going beneath the sofa and other furniture, where there is a gap of about 5 inches height but where he's never been before. He is eating a bit less, or perhaps more accurately not eating as much in one go, though the food does mainly get eaten but over a longer time period. He is pooing, a bit smaller than normal but plenty, and weeing, perhaps a bit less continent than before but not significantly so.
Maybe now that he's discovered these low areas he just enjoys sitting in them, as he feels sheltered and secure, but I also wonder if he might be on his way out, given he is quite elderly. He is not in any obvious pain, but I don't feel I can take him to the vet: "hi Mr Vet, my rabbit is sitting in a different place to usual and taking longer to eat his food". Also, if he is getting to the end of his natural life, I don't want to extend it through vet intervention, nor have him put to sleep if he's not there yet as I don't think he is suffering in any way. But it would be nice to know if this might be normal towards the end of life - although I've had long lived rabbits before, they've generally been ill before they died.
has just wee'ed under the sofa but this has reminded me that the vet gave me some Metacam last time to give to him as and when required, given his advancing years. He is definitely slower moving than before, so I will try him on that and see if it helps.
