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Depressed Bunny...needs advice

Blackyrabbit

Blackyrabbit

New Kit
Hi there,
I am hopeing that somebody can help me. My house rabbit Blacky will be 5 this yr. I have had him since 2006 and he was netured in the same year. He was always happy to run around the house and would always eat his food.
A few months ago I posted about him having sore hocks, and as suggested purchased him a soft bed to lie on. His feet have really improved and he loves his bed.......so much that he never leaves it....this is now the problem!!!

He has gone off his food slightly and a family member has mentioned to me that he has lost weight. This really concerns me as he very rarely leaves his matt under the kitchen table so I would have thought he would be putting on weight??? He is drinking and going to toilet ok but he is so protective over his matt. He grunts when I clean around it and will only leave it to eat, go to toilet or for the occasional treat. Yesterday he went for me when I went to pick up one of his toys off of the matt.

My worry is that he could have cancer and was wondering if anybody else had seen this behaviour in their house rabbits??

Many thanks
 
Is it possible the mat could be his bunny friend substitute? If he had a real friend it might make him more interested in being up and about.
 
some rabbits can be very terratorial even after spaying and neutering, my bunns space is under the bed if i go under there i get grunted at, not to sure what to say about cancer worries, signs in rabbits are usually lethargy, weight loss and appitite, if your worried consult your vet.
 
The first thing with any change in behaviour is to get a vet to examine him for physical problems. Cancer is a bit of a jump but many problems can cause discomfort that shows up as a change of behaviour. For example a sore tooth, bladder infection, any other infection, sprain, injury....

Get a vet to check him and rule out these issues before you look at behavioural ones :)
 
IME sore hocks can be caused by urinary problems, not just unsuitable substrate in the cage/hutch. Blood tests might be a good idea given the weight loss and lack of appitite. If they come back clear, at least you can rule out kidney disease (which is very common in rabbits).

Hope you get to the bottom of Blacky's problem
 
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