sudden aggression / U/D

Luna as of recent has become.. suddenly unbearable.

I'm guessing this is maybe apart of her grief, and I feel quite useless on how to even help her. its even difficult for me.

she follows everybody around like a dog which is quite cute to see and will sometimes sleep in the middle of the room where we are. its quite a nice thing to see, even quite cute how she enjoys following you to the kitchen and back. she's become almost a free range bunny apart from night where I really can't have her out so she goes back in. but even so, that is around 10/11pm at night from being out at 9am or earlier, depending on when I wake.

but that's changed the past two days quite badly. this evening is where I really did get annoyed, I've had a god awful stressful day, cleaning out Luna's poop area downstairs, and she just runs at me from the other side of the room and wham, teeth in my finger. this seemed to have happened when I moved her tissue box (I say hers, its empty, but she seems to get satisfaction from throwing it around). and now I have a very sore finger that bled quite a bit.

she charges at people and the cat. often she will then try to sink teeth in when she does. she will be grunting too.

its now very much a fight to pick her up. sadly I can not just let her run upstairs and guide her as I am paranoid of the broken stair we have. some panels are missing on the big one, and its just on by the fabric covering. I'm worried she'll jump on it and fall through, and sometimes the cat sleeps on the stairs. there are also wires I have no way of moving. its generally much safer to carry her. and if anything. she seems more than happy. her ears are often forward and even would jump into my arms when I asked her "shall we go to bed?" now though, its changed. I spent a total of 10 minutes trying to pick her up. all she kept doing was going for my hands and even quite aggressively ran at me as I gave up and walked away.

her old behaviors of digging on people, even biting them, have returned. I got her out of doing it when she understood it was a no-no and it hurt. she's become more of a little brat, that is the only way to describe. she will pee on my bed, the sofa, any wires she will chew as if she knows what they are. all of the old "bad" behaviors have come back. she also knows they're bad as I taught her out of them pretty much.

its like I've gone back to the day I just rescued her. that little 6 month old bunny locked away in a tiny cage with no toys, food, water. the little scared bunny who peed out of fear when i approached her, who didn't know what grass was, birds, planes, cars.

I'm at a loss and really quite frustrated :? is there anything I can do? or is it just a wait it out type of thing?

Bumping this for you x

I'm really not sure what's going on, could she be unwell? As she was fine until a couple of days ago, I've read before that sudden aggression could mean they are ill. Failing that could it be territorial, as she's gone from smaller accommodation to essentially the whole house and as you say you touched something that she sees as 'hers'.

Hope things calm down x

being unwell could be a possibility. she is just more difficult than most bunnies to detect if something is wrong, because I remember right she had pneumonia around 10 months old. the vet did say it was the very start of it however, so it was hardly life threatening and we got it before it caused issues. she had antibiotics and it cleared up in a week, but ever since then she's always had sneezes. been to the vet and we can't find anything wrong, changing hay and bedding didn't do a lot. so we've sorta had to accept we've got a bunny who can sneeze mid binky :lol: some days sneezing is more than others, some days we get one or two. so you sit there like is this serious, or is this just Luna? :?

I'm just so very confused. she used to be a god send with clipping nails, now its a nightmare. she won't let me at all. I cant get her harness on her either and back along she'd be like "oh okay!"

if it continues by the end of the week, I'll have to get her to a vet. I don't have the money currently which is a pain.

today she's even worse :? I can hardly even touch her. she's bitten me 6 times today, thankfully i've been quick enough to move before her teeth could break the skin.

I'm honestly confused and at a loss.

binkyCodie said:

today she's even worse :? I can hardly even touch her. she's bitten me 6 times today, thankfully i've been quick enough to move before her teeth could break the skin.

I'm honestly confused and at a loss.

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Oh no thats awful, I hope someone comes along that can offer some suggestions. But yes, it might require a trip to the vet, when you can, to rule out any pain etc x

When Arce lost Iris, she slowly withdrew into herself until we adopted Yuki. When Elphie lost Galinda, she withdrew into herself immediately (in spite of immediately getting her friends) and it took a good 6-9 months to stabilise her (and now she's older and arthritic, gah.)

Anyway, whilst some of it could be grief over losing your lovely Snoopy, I agree with TheThreeB's. Such sudden aggression would make me concerned that she isn't feeling entirely well herself.

I hope you (and your vet) can get to the bottom of this...

I'm just going to bite it and go for it. I'm under Companion Care who if you pay £7 a month you can get different perks. I'll see if I can use the discount for a free nail clip and a bit of money off of the consult.

I'm honestly concerned if its her teeth, something I can't afford currently still trying to bounce back from snoopys PTS cost of £140.

she did have spurs on her teeth last month when she had her jabs and check up. but they've never caused her problems and she eats so much hay :shock: the hay is outside so i put it in a plastic box and take it upstairs in a smaller plastic box. lasts me three days and recently she's been downstairs all day!

If it were me I would make an appointment to see a rabbit-savvy vet as changes in behaviour always make me suspicious that something physical is wrong.

went to the vets today, had her examined and it confirmed what I've wondered for a while...

Luna is actually blind!

before Snoopy were her eyes, her buddy. she followed him around and was always nearby. now however she has lost that, and to say the least is terrified and scared. she doesn't have the confidence which explains her biting me and lunging, but also adds up to her running into walls, unable to find food etc.

Aislin poked around her eye with a cotton bud and she still didnt blink then, then she went to do it in her eye (she should have realized its not nice and is uncomfortable) - nothing. her eyes do not dilate or contract depending on light levels so its likely for her the world is completely black and/or she has a neurological issue stopping that from happening.

so I guess time to look into how I can help her feel best and help her during this time.

Aww poor girlie,she must have been scared etc.No advice ,maybe some others can help with blind/poor sight bunnies.

Oh, poor Luna, she must find everything terrifying.

kattymieoww said:

Aww poor girlie,she must have been scared etc.No advice ,maybe some others can help with blind/poor sight bunnies.

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Babsie said:

Oh, poor Luna, she must find everything terrifying.

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yeah

while they did squabble over food, before Snoopy became ill and in pain they were always at one anothers side. it was in January that Snoopy began to go downhill and pushed her away fighting, almost as if he knew he would pass and was trying to distance himself from her. even so in the end she was always by his side and followed him around. one would be chewing one end of the cable, the other further down! :roll:

so her buddy is gone - and now she's completely terrified. her black world is even blacker with no way of knowing who is where and not having her buddy who helped her see.

with blind rabbits sometimes they can still register light as their pupils will expand and contract. Luna doesn't have that. so its more than likely her world is completely black as she is possibly totally blind, with or without a neurological issue. her eyes are also a bit cloudy.

I wish I had known sooner but I suppose while I did wonder, I never brought it up :/

binkyCodie said:

went to the vets today, had her examined and it confirmed what I've wondered for a while...

Luna is actually blind!

before Snoopy were her eyes, her buddy. she followed him around and was always nearby. now however she has lost that, and to say the least is terrified and scared. she doesn't have the confidence which explains her biting me and lunging, but also adds up to her running into walls, unable to find food etc.

Aislin poked around her eye with a cotton bud and she still didnt blink then, then she went to do it in her eye (she should have realized its not nice and is uncomfortable) - nothing. her eyes do not dilate or contract depending on light levels so its likely for her the world is completely black and/or she has a neurological issue stopping that from happening.

so I guess time to look into how I can help her feel best and help her during this time.

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Did the Vet mention treating Luna with Panacur given that she has previously presented with neurological problems and she now has ocular problems ? Both symptoms can be associated with exposure to EC (Encephilitazoon Cuniculi)

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/Ecuniculi_Lft.pdf

binkyCodie said:

went to the vets today, had her examined and it confirmed what I've wondered for a while...

Luna is actually blind!

before Snoopy were her eyes, her buddy. she followed him around and was always nearby. now however she has lost that, and to say the least is terrified and scared. she doesn't have the confidence which explains her biting me and lunging, but also adds up to her running into walls, unable to find food etc.

Aislin poked around her eye with a cotton bud and she still didnt blink then, then she went to do it in her eye (she should have realized its not nice and is uncomfortable) - nothing. her eyes do not dilate or contract depending on light levels so its likely for her the world is completely black and/or she has a neurological issue stopping that from happening.

so I guess time to look into how I can help her feel best and help her during this time.

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I'm sorry to hear this

I have had a lovely little blind rabbit who lost her partner. I'm afraid I felt the only option for us (which is not for you of course) was to get her another mate who could help her. She went downhill and I believe her friend saved her life.

Did the vet suggest anything for her eyes, or a possible cause? (apologies if I've missed this)

Jack's-Jane said:

Did the Vet mention treating Luna with Panacur given that she has previously presented with neurological problems and she now has ocular problems ? Both symptoms can be associated with exposure to EC (Encephilitazoon Cuniculi)

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/Ecuniculi_Lft.pdf

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she didn't no.

I personally am with the idea this is a since birth issue (as is the vet). however I am a/was new rabbit owner and didn't think much of it. Snoopy with his illness has taken up most of my time so small things with Luna did sadly go unnoticed. and its not common during health checks to check the eyes unless the owner mentions it, its the same with dogs and cats as well.

but if I look back on it, she has always lunged at me, she has run into walls, people, objects. it was only once she had Snoopy with her that she seemed to settle down and less often would she go for me. she did however still run into things but I suppose I didn't take as much notice as I should have had. its only now with the increased aggression, Snoopy not taking up all my time, and watching her behavior more that I have realized it.

thing is I don't have a clue what she's been through as I got her at 6 months from a disgusting home. it may have been a reason why they wanted rid of her, they may have even caused it as she used to pee in fear when I approached her. no idea :?

the vet did mention tests that could be done to see if we could find why, but they would be expensive and may not even find anything. and right now its not something I can afford as Snoopy pretty much ran me down with the end of his life.

MightyMax said:

I'm sorry to hear this

I have had a lovely little blind rabbit who lost her partner. I'm afraid I felt the only option for us (which is not for you of course) was to get her another mate who could help her. She went downhill and I believe her friend saved her life.

Did the vet suggest anything for her eyes, or a possible cause? (apologies if I've missed this)

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the vet isn't sure why, but we do believe this is something she has had from birth, or early on in life. when I got her at 6 mos she ran into walls, objects, people. she was also aggressive, and that only changed after she was with snoopy who I suppose became her seeing eye buddy.

she didn't suggest anything either, other than possible tests to maybe find out why, but currently I don't have the money for that. that's more of a consideration for the future.