Stressed bunny probably - please help!

Hello! I am the proud mummy of a 2 years and a half old Netherland Dwarf bunny named Maria. I love her very much. She is my baby and I spoil her as much as possible. Mafia is a free roam bunny and she never had any health issues. She is free roam and litter trained. She has a cage, but it's always opened.. She only goes there to eat, use her litter tray and drink water. Yesterday I had to take her with me at work. She has been there before and she was fine. I had to do that because I live in a rented flat and the landlord needed to come with some electricians to sort out some issues. Unfortunately, he said they will not be able to do that between the hours I was at home and I wasn't comfortable to leave Maria on her own with strangers. As I said, she has been at my workplace before and she was ok, but yesterday she seemed a bit stressed. First, the Uber driver drove quite quickly and she didn't like it. I tried to keep her in quiet rooms in school (I am a teacher), but it was impossible to have a room only for herself.
People passed by, talked, some stroked her. About one hour before going home, she started having soft stools. However, as soon as we got home, she was fine.. She ate well, lots of hay, drank well and her poop was normal again. I went to bed calm, believing she is fine. Being free roam, she comes and sleeps in my bed most part of the night. She did that last night as well, but I woke up at about 5 and I was a bit shocked: she urinated in lots of different places in bed, had some soft stools all over the bed.. So, I cleaned her up and put her in her cage so I can keep an eye on her stools. I checked the rest of the flat and she hasn't peed or left any poop in any other place. She is eating and drinking, she is alert... I don't know what to do.. This has never happened before.. How can I help her? I feel terrible.. Took the day off the stay with her... Please help! Any advise is appreciated!

If she is bright and alert and her normal self it might be just the stress of the journey and different surroundings. Could anyone have given her any food she isn’t used to? A large amount of carrot etc? Did she have an excessive amount of her pellet food for example ? Hopefully it will settle down and she will be fine. I would stick to giving her plenty of hay and hopefully everything will return to normal. Are the soft stools like uneaten caecotrophes? Or true diarrhoea? If it’s uneaten caecotrophes I’d be less worried if she is otherwise normal. If it is diarrhoea then I would ring the vets and get her seen ASAP as that’s a very different scenario.

Zoobec said:

If she is bright and alert and her normal self it might be just the stress of the journey and different surroundings. Could anyone have given her any food she isn’t used to? A large amount of carrot etc? Did she have an excessive amount of her pellet food for example ? Hopefully it will settle down and she will be fine. I would stick to giving her plenty of hay and hopefully everything will return to normal. Are the soft stools like uneaten caecotrophes? Or true diarrhoea? If it’s uneaten caecotrophes I’d be less worried if she is otherwise normal. If it is diarrhoea then I would ring the vets and get her seen ASAP as that’s a very different scenario.

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I agree with Zoobec's advice. I would think it likely that some well-meaning person has given Maria something which has caused this digestive upset. Lots of hay and observation would be my plan, unless the soft stools are more like diarrhoea and they continue. It's a good sign that she is eating and drinking OK and also acting normally. Hopefully she will settle during today, however, it's best to watch her carefully as this episode could be completely unconnected to taking her with you yesterday. It's sometimes very difficult to tell with rabbits.

I didn't make any changes in her diet yesterday and I haven't seen anyone feeding her, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay with her all the time. I think it might be soft caecotrophes.. Also, I don't really understand why she has peed in bed and in about 3 different areas of the bed.. She hasn't done this before.
I hope she will be ok.. I am so worried.. Thank you for answering to my post! x

She's possibly just settling in at home again after the disruption. Keep an eye on her and visit the vets if it doesn't improve.

If she does need to leave the house again for maintenance, then I would consider seeing if a boarding place could take her in for the day, just to give her a quiet place.

MiniC said:

She's possibly just settling in at home again after the disruption. Keep an eye on her and visit the vets if it doesn't improve.

If she does need to leave the house again for maintenance, then I would consider seeing if a boarding place could take her in for the day, just to give her a quiet place.

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I agree, It sounds as though she was stressed by the events of yesterday. Hopefully she will be fine now all is back to normal re her routine

MiniC said:

She's possibly just settling in at home again after the disruption. Keep an eye on her and visit the vets if it doesn't improve.

If she does need to leave the house again for maintenance, then I would consider seeing if a boarding place could take her in for the day, just to give her a quiet place.

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Thank you! I will take her to a boarding from now on, if needed, of course. Her poop is back to normal. She seems ok. Still alert. I just think I might have her sleeping in her cage tonight, just to make sure she has settled in back and she is ok 100%.

Jack's-Jane said:

I agree, It sounds as though she was stressed by the events of yesterday. Hopefully she will be fine now all is back to normal re her routine

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Thank you very much for getting back to me. I appreciate it! Maria's poop is ok now. She is alert and still eating hay and drinking water. x

Mariasmummy said:

Thank you very much for getting back to me. I appreciate it! Maria's poop is ok now. She is alert and still eating hay and drinking water. x

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Fantastic, it sounds as though she is fine

I'm pleased that Maria seems back to normal. It sounds to me that she may have had an overload of everything. Rabbits love to have a settled routine - they like things to be just so and any amendments to that can cause them stress and their bodies react differently. I agree that she may have been given some food that she wouldn't normally have, but you've done everything right and from what you say, Maria seems to be back to her routine, eating hay and water. Well done to you.

Craig 1965 said:

I'm pleased that Maria seems back to normal. It sounds to me that she may have had an overload of everything. Rabbits love to have a settled routine - they like things to be just so and any amendments to that can cause them stress and their bodies react differently. I agree that she may have been given some food that she wouldn't normally have, but you've done everything right and from what you say, Maria seems to be back to her routine, eating hay and water. Well done to you.

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Thank you so much for the support! xx Yes, Maria is well now. She is next to me, in bed, having a nap while I am watching a movie. I am so happy she is well. ��
Still, not sure about the peeing on the bed last night... Do you think she felt like marking her territory in our home again? Or was she cross at me..?

Mariasmummy said:

Thank you so much for the support! xx Yes, Maria is well now. She is next to me, in bed, having a nap while I am watching a movie. I am so happy she is well. ��
Still, not sure about the peeing on the bed last night... Do you think she felt like marking her territory in our home again? Or was she cross at me..?

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I’m so glad she is ok, she probably was remarking her territory!

Zoobec said:

I’m so glad she is ok, she probably was remarking her territory!

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Thank you so much for the support! xx