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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum THE LOUNGE Trying to carry on as if everything is OK

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    • Sr. Melangell
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        Just been told by Olly’s new vet that Olly has a few behaviour problems and this is why he has these strange outbursts, but Olly is a rescue bunny, whatever the vet says is best for Olly will have to be done, even if that means staying in and laying on the floor and letting him come to me, but these strange outbursts have only happened since the vet visit, I’ll do whatever it takes, but I don’t want the vet giving him tablets, I let Olly out of his cage and he runs round like a wild boy knocking and throwing things around, he understands the words Banana, din dins and if I say ‘Hopla’ like in magic shows he knows I want him to jump on the bed so I can stroke him if I can’t bend down because of my disabilities, to be honest I’ve never seen strange behaviour in rabbits like he is showing, he is a rescue bunny and I can’t even cuddle him to say “Poor bunny you are safe here with Mummy.” I can hand feed him and stroke him sometimes, if he doesn’t want to be stroked he does come back and let me stroke him the next time, I do know that some days even though they are our pets sometimes they need that ‘Being alone time.’


      • Bam
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          Bunnies often want some alone-time, I think. They like to be the ones that decide when it’s time for a cuddle and when it’s not.

          Has this behavior started recently? How long have you had him for and how old may he be? Young bunnies can run around like mad and that’s normal. But I’m guessing you mean he’s fearful and panicky, and that would be worse. With a rescue-bunny (or strays like my bunnies) you never know what has happened to the rabbit before in his life , so of course there may be psychological traumas that he’s not yet gotten over completely.

          We have a member (Tanlover14) who has a bunny with anxiety issues, she’s writing about him in the July Chat-thread on page 13:
          https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/139185/afpg/13/Default.aspx

          She has gotten her bunny a Thunder Shirt against anxiety and he is also getting Xanax. There are pics of this bunny in the Thunder Shirt, it’s adorable + it seems to help him. You could check it out =)


        • Sr. Melangell
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            Sounds interesting, Olly is 2 years old and neutered, I do know something’s he went through, like things thrown at him, he had a bad experience at the vets last fortnight, I told the vet to be gentle, but he grabbed him and Olly was screaming, but Olly got his own back, he scratched the vet, this was before Olly’s claws were done, I just said to Olly as the vet was putting him back into his box. “Good boy, Mummy’s good boy, good one my boy, I want bunny kiss kiss.” and Olly licked me. LOL
            The vet wasn’t too pleased.


          • Bam
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              Oh yes I remember now, you told us about that vet, NOT a nice experience =(

              Maybe Olly just had a temporary set-back by this traumatic event at the vets, it’s only been a fortnight so perhaps he’ll settle down again if you just keep giving him love, and when he needs it, his “Being alone-time”? Bunnies can need time to get over stuff. Does he eat and poop and all that like he should?


            • Sr. Melangell
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                Yes he does eat drink and poop, oh yes he hides hay in his box and goes in to eat it bam, when I let him out, if he wants to go back in his cage I leave him, because with all animals even humans well disturb and you will know, if he goes back to his cage he lets me stroke him even if he is eating he likes his nose rubbed, but if he lifts his head quickly, I know he’s had enough and I let him get on with what he wants, I don’t of course stroke him when he is in his tray, even when I’m in my chat room I’ll turn my cam to me not him, that is his private time.


              • Roberta
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                  Olly sounds like a normal bunny to me… Zany energetic bursts, quiet alone times, selective of when and who handles him and holds a grudge with the vet.


                • Sarita
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                    Sounds normal to me as well and honestly vets know about medical problems not behaviors…


                  • Lee
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                      Have to agree – unless the vet has also studied behaviour then I wouldn’t be taking their word for his behaviour being abnormal or requiring medication. As a professional dog trainer I am constantly bombarded with clients who have received awful information from a vet. They are like human GP’s (except in most cases they ave studied multiple species where GP’s only do people), you wouldn’t take behavioural advice from a GP you would see a psychologist or psychiatrist. Same same for our pets.

                      Also just a quick FYI – when animals (inc humans) experience a stressful experience such as the vet visit Olly had they have a surge of cortisone and adrenaline pump into their system (for flight/fight response) – the adrenaline leaves the system within a few hours but the cortisone can stay in the system from anywhere between 3 – 7 days, this makes them more prone to bad reactions for that period of time because they still have the stress hormone in their system. With dogs I always recommend a 7 day cool down period (stress holiday) if they have had a bad experience. I would do the same for a bunny.
                      Also if Olly is a naturally anxious or stressed bunny due to past experiences then he may be experiencing regular surges in cortisone meaning he has trouble relaxing often and it becomes a cycle of issues. For this reason it is important to try and avoid putting him in any overly stressful situations so the the cortisone leaves his system and he can learn to relax. So I would be allowing him to make all of the choices when it comes to handling and interactions with you and any body / any other animals. Choice also fosters empowerment which builds confidence and reduces anxiety.


                    • Roberta
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                        The vet is probably biased because Olly gave him a good smack.


                      • Bam
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                          If it was the bad vet that said Olly has behavioural issues, I’d just put it down to the vet being p-off because he made a fool of himself. That vet doesn’t seem to know the first thing about bunny behavior, normal or abnormal.

                          Lee, I love your explanation about stress in pets! I’d say it feels like it’s extra important with bunnies seeing that they are prone to stress (prey animals and all that). I think you mean cortisol not cortisone though.


                        • Sr. Melangell
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                            No bam, it was the new vet, I know the old vet is p-off, every time I walk past and he is in reception he will see me , then he will hold his arm as if its broken, so he has a behaviour problem, Olly’s new vet is a behaviourist.


                          • Sr. Melangell
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                              Oh and Roberta, he may have passed on information to his new vets to blame Olly, if he has I’ll pop in and have another word with him, no appointment necessary, when it comes it comes to me sorting stuff out. Lol


                            • Lee
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                                Haha Bam yes! I was in class tonight teaching and I was talking to a client about cortisol levels etc and no joke, mid way through talking to my clients thought ‘oh damn I said cortisone not cortisol on BB’ haha, I knew it looked wrong at the time but I was in a rush getting ready to go out.

                                What sort of behaviourist Pinky? Like what are his actual qualifications?


                              • Sr. Melangell
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                                  Hello Lee, she has a lot of letters next to her name, I will ask her


                                • Bam
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                                    Pinky that first vet seems to have been offended by Olly. That’s so silly it’d be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad, a vet not knowing how to handle a bunny. I’d ignore him all I could if I were you.

                                    I have never heard of a bunny behaviourist before. That’s a cool job!

                                    Lee, I know you meant to say cortisol. I’ve written cortisol when I’ve meant cortisone here on BB, then suddenly realized, just like you, in the middle of doing sth completely different =) Funny how one’s brain works =)

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                                Forum THE LOUNGE Trying to carry on as if everything is OK