Fiver mystery. Elderly bun advice.

Hi guys. Long time no post.

Just popped by for a bit of advice. Fiver is 13 now and has had a few mishaps lately. He's a bit doddery but generally well in himself apart from glaucoma in his eyes resulting in one of his lenses luxating. This is all managed with pain relief and he's been coping fine with it.
He's recently started going off his hay. He'll eat hay cookies and readigrass but will hardly touch his hay. So I figured it must be his teeth. (He's at the vets tomorrow). I'm just a bit baffled by his behaviour. He normally goes off his pellets and hard things when his teeth are bad. But he's stuffing his face with his pellets and fenugreek crunchies. He seems like he's in pain one minute but then bouncing about and rolling his treat ball around with no issues the next. This morning he did the weirdest thing. He suddenly had a "mad moment" and ran around and binkied and then sprayed urine. He then licked the urine. I don't think I've ever seen him spray before but I've suspected he has been doing it over the past few weeks after finding dribbles of wee over the vet bed. He's also been extra humpy with Shadowfax.


Can rabbits get hormonal problems? How would I diagnose/treat it? Realistically, I don't want to really put him through much. Just wanted to be armed for tomorrow's vet appointment.

Thanks for reading. X

It sounds like he is having issues manipulating hay, so it may be dental. If he can't pick it up, he can't chew it - but he's finding more solid things easier. Have you tried a softer or a stalkier hay to see if it makes a difference? I would agree that normally they tend to go off eg pellets first with 'normal' dental issues.

He's a fabulous age. I hope it all goes well at the vet.

hello:wave: wow 13

Re: whether rabbits can get hormonal as they age I don't know but my elderly acting bunny has done things like sponatenously hump & hay gathering I'd not known her to do previously. Flicking urine is a really good way to 'stir up' (for want of a better expression) bladder sediments so it'd be nice to think he was keeping himself healthy. Alternatively maybe a regressive behaviour based on a long forgotten memory. These are obv just random musings whilst proper answers come along.

I hope the vets goes well - let us know how it goes

Hormonal behaviour in older neutered Rabbits can be a sign of Adrenal gland hyperplasia.

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/crivem/2014/239410/

Fascinating reading, Jane. I have to say that he does seem to have a lot of symptoms. He is pooing everywhere (I just put it down to his age), is honky and humpy with Shadowfax, extra cuddly and licky with me and has been spraying. He's not displaying any aggression but he never did even before he was neutered. Have you ever encountered this before?
I'll see what the vet says tomorrow and possibly discuss this. Although what we could realistically do for him, I don't know.

It may well just be dental related but tbh I'm only putting him through a dental if he absolutely needs it and tbh.. My gut says it's something else. He has had intermittent bouts of odd behaviour and going off certain foods over the past year (he had a dental last year but that was simply to rule teeth out) and then he developed the luxating lens and the glaucoma was diagnosed so I put it down to pain in his eyes.

Could it be a UTI? Hope the Vet visit goes well.

He’s an amazing age I hope the vet visit goes well, sending lots of vibes xx

Hi VB! :wave: It's good to see you again, although I am sorry to hear that Fiver is feeling poorly. 13 is an awesome age and I hope he has many more years with you.

I'm thinking sludge or bladder stones might be an issue as well, but honestly I'd go with Jane's recommendations. I really hope whatever the vet finds it'll be easy to fix. I hope you are doing well. Please give your furbabies a sunggle from me. xxxx

My Raven is a dental bunny who goes off hay before pellets-perhaps it depends on location of points on teeth. Congratulations on getting him to age 13 and counting.
Sending positive vibes.

Vegan_Bunny said:

Fascinating reading, Jane. I have to say that he does seem to have a lot of symptoms. He is pooing everywhere (I just put it down to his age), is honky and humpy with Shadowfax, extra cuddly and licky with me and has been spraying. He's not displaying any aggression but he never did even before he was neutered. Have you ever encountered this before?
I'll see what the vet says tomorrow and possibly discuss this. Although what we could realistically do for him, I don't know.

It may well just be dental related but tbh I'm only putting him through a dental if he absolutely needs it and tbh.. My gut says it's something else. He has had intermittent bouts of odd behaviour and going off certain foods over the past year (he had a dental last year but that was simply to rule teeth out) and then he developed the luxating lens and the glaucoma was diagnosed so I put it down to pain in his eyes.

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Yes, two of my previous Bucks had adrenal gland tumours. Both were treated non surgically with hormone implants ( Suprelorin), the same as is used for treating Adrenal Gland Disease in Ferrets

https://us.virbac.com/home/our-products/pagecontent/product-selector/suprelorin-f-implant.html

Both Rabbits responded well to treatment, although one had a more aggressive type of tumour and sadly only had a few months of life after diagnosis. But at least those months were good quality with no raging hormonal behaviour. He was able to be reunited with his wife Bun too, I had had to separate them as he would not leave her alone. The endless chasing and humping caused a huge amount of stress for both of them. This all resolved once the implant took effect x

OK. So typically he's doing a lot better today and is almost back to his usual self. He was in the litter tray eating hay when I went to collect him for the vets.

My bunny vet gave him a good look over. He's fine and she said he's really well for his age. His teeth aren't perfect but there isn't anything awful going on and we've both agreed not to put him under a GA unless we absolutely need to. We're going to see how he gets on. I got a dosage for paracetamol, since I'm not entirely convinced the issue isn't pain related. She got the dosage for children's calpol but it seems a lot to give him so I'm going to hold off with that for now. She gave me some dip sticks to test his urine (easier than me getting a sample to bring in and quicker).
He was happy as Larry in the carrier whilst waiting for the vet. A bit miffed about being in the carrier but he was engaging in me, asking for nose rubs and even tooth purring.

Next port of call if he doesn't continue to improve is to do bloods. If that comes back fine we'll have to do the dental. My vet agrees with my gut instinct that it isn't dental but we'd have to rule that out.

Vet did mention it could just be brain changes due to his age...rabbit dimentia in other words haha. I suppose it could be that he has good days and bad days. Who knows. I wish they could talk!

I'm glad to hear Fiver's visit went well, although I suppose at least having a more concrete answer to his issues might be more helpful, if his overall is positive that's a good sign.
Count on pets to act like there's nothing wrong with them when you get them in the office. :roll: Typical, especially for rabbits. :?

I didn't know you could give paracetamol to bunnies. Isn't that like tylenol/acetaminophen? That's usually considered unsafe for pets here.
I hope Fiver will be feeling better now. Do you have a current photo of him you'd like to share?

MimzMum said:

I'm glad to hear Fiver's visit went well, although I suppose at least having a more concrete answer to his issues might be more helpful, if his overall is positive that's a good sign.
Count on pets to act like there's nothing wrong with them when you get them in the office. :roll: Typical, especially for rabbits. :?

I didn't know you could give paracetamol to bunnies. Isn't that like tylenol/acetaminophen? That's usually considered unsafe for pets here.
I hope Fiver will be feeling better now. Do you have a current photo of him you'd like to share?

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Must admit I would not want to give Paracetamol, although I know some Vet’s do prescribe it.

Glad to hear that Fiver is doing better now x

Other option was tramadol so I might just request that if he doesn't improve and see if that makes a difference. At least then I'd know it was pain related.

Thanks MimzMum. Lovely to hear from you again. I do have current photos of him, however I have no idea how to share them onto here without an upload site. Haha. I'll ask Steph to help me!

I appear with Fiver pictures!





His tongue :lol:

Thanks Steph! Wow they're large haha! Giant Fiver! Bow to his lordship.

I resized them too, they were HUGE :lol:

Still as handsome as ever Fiver

he's lovely

Oh, I'm loving the raspberry there! :lol: I agree with Jane, a fine looking gentleman and you'd never guess he was 13! :thumb: