• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

I need help to understand what is happening to my bunny

Izabela

New Kit
Frodo is 4 years old lion-head bunny. We have had her since she was 6 weeks old. She is house trained and has loads of freedom, to much extend that she sleeps in my bed drawer. Since Thursday last week she suddenly changed. I know that something is wrong but I just don’t know what. My partner says that “she is just spoilt, that’s all” but I know that that’s not the case. I know Frodo. She loves her food, especially her Rabbit Food, bread and hey. Unfortunately since Thursday last week she hasn’t touched any of those. She hardly ate anything. The strange thing is that on Saturdays and Sunday she had plenty of parsley and beetroot leaves, which is very unusual of her. She normally wouldn’t even touch it. It drew to my attention the fact that the only time when she did eat parsley and beetroot leaves it was after she gave birth to her babies, two years ago. In my opinion that would indicate that her body is trying to “restore” itself. There is something else, she jumped on our bed (which is quite normal for her) and she treated it as a toilet tray (which she has NEVER done it before). Could I be right saying that she may suffer from infection? The question is what can I do to help her to recover? I am off to the vet today, but I am not sure how much he knows about rabbits. I need advice from someone who maybe has been through a similar experience. What is there that I can do apart from relaying on my vet to help my bunny?
PLEASE HELP

Additional information: Frodo lives indoors and doesn't like going to the garden (so she couldn't catch anything from other animals)
 
It could be the hot weather, my indoor rabbit didn't eat much in the past week, he is on and off due to the hot weather.

You should force feed him w/ baby food Heniz, 3 - 4 times per day x 6 cc of baby vegetable food from heniz. (No meat content, just vegetable like carrot, potato, apple, etc.)

Is there "stomach movement noise" in his stomach all day? Like there is water pouring from one point to another?
 
Get your vet to check Frodo's teeth. The sudden reluctance to eat hard foods like hay, and the increase in the consumption of softer foods like leaves might suggest that her teeth have started hurting her.
 
It does sound like she is sick and a trip to vets is important - where are you based as we may be able to recommend a rabbit specialist in your area? When my Zeus got sick and developed gut stasis he refused his pellets and hay and would only eat grass and celery.

My vet gave him a gut stimulant, some painkiller and I had to massage his belly to help the food to pass.

Is she pooing/weeing normally? If she is not pooing or they are small and hard it is a rabbit emergency! Is she sitting hunched up grinding her teeth in pain? Is her stomach making loud gurgling noises?

If she is eating something you shouldn't need to force feed as long as she doesn't start to loose lots of weight. Just make sure she gets lots of whatever she is eating and get her to the vets for assesment. You could try mashing up some rabbit pellets in water and feeding on a spoon or in a syringe if you are really worried.

Peeing on the bed could be a sign of discomfort or it could be she is marking your territory as hers, although if she hasn't done it before it may be connected with not eating.

Good luck!

Caz
 
Rallybunny said:
Get your vet to check Frodo's teeth. The sudden reluctance to eat hard foods like hay, and the increase in the consumption of softer foods like leaves might suggest that her teeth have started hurting her.

Good point - is she dribbling/is her chin wet?

If she has molar spurs she may be reluctant to eat hard food!

Caz
 
hi

If she's not spayed she may have something wrong with her womb - your vet can do an ultrasound maybe to find out? Hope you get her better soon - she sounds adorable and not spoilt at all :)
 
Aww i hope that your vet can find out whats wrong i would agree with all the above probs that it could be. Let us know how she gets on XX
 
Hi again Izabela!
Just read through what people have said here and it sounds like it's all the same things I suggested in my email to you. Let's get her checked out at the vet first - then if it's nothing medical we can try sorting out her mental problems!!
Best of luck to you both x
 
Back
Top