Bunny Stress!!

[Bunnies4ever]

Hello,

There was a fire yesterday that came VERY close to my home.  Two windows were shattered from the heat and my fence burned down.  The window that shattered was my bunny’s room!  When I got home, they were very scared, hiding in their hidey boxes and wouldn’t come out.  They finally came out when I coaxed them with veggies.

Today, my NZ Nonny won’t eat!  He hasn’t touched his veggies, although he seems to be eating his hay.  My other bunnies seem to be over the worse of it. I’m sure it was scary for them with the firemen coming through the window and all the noise and heat.

I’m so worried about him since he LOVES his veggies.  Do bunnies get PTSD?  Thanks.

[Sarita]

Oh, no! I’m glad you are okay. Is it possible he inhaled some smoke? I would take him to the vet for a check-over just to make sure he didn’t injure himself during the commotion as well. Vibes to Nonny. And yes, I imagine the whole ordeal was quite stressful for all of them.

[Monkeybun]

Oh dear! I would take him in also. Just to be safe.

[Bunnies4ever]

It’s possible he did inhale some smoke. Although the firemen used blowers to blow out the smoke, there was a very thin veil of smoke in the house when I got home. I have to take the day off to wait for the claims adjuster, so I’ll see if I can make an emergency appt with my vet. He did inhale his veggies yesterday, so I wondered about the post traumatic stress. Thanks!

[Bunnies4ever]

UPDATE:

I checked on Nonny and his veggies are gone! I guess he’s ok! I think he was still a little scared and didn’t want to eat in front of me! My bunnies are not use to people. Their whole world is their bunny room and me. Thanks for all suggestions!

[LittlePuffyTail]

That must have been scary! Was that a wild fire in your area? I’m glad to hear your bun is eating now.

[Elrohwen]

Poor bunnies! That must’ve been so scary. I’m glad Nonny is eating again – sounds like he was just a bit freaked out.

[RabbitPam]

What a terrible ordeal for all of you! Glad he’s eating again. They don’t get PTSD per se, but they do learn to be afraid from strong stimulants that cause a fear reaction. Example would be someone who picks them up in a way that hurts them, so they get afraid when they see a hand coming at them in a certain pose from then on. It imprints negatively in their brain. I would imagine that a siren might cause him to hide from now on, as a possible sense memory reaction. But any animal is going to go on red alert in the presence of fire and smoke. (Remember Bambi when the forest animals fled the fire?) It’s just a self-preservation response. I wouldn’t expect him to be unusually traumatized after this except around smoke or crashing windows.

There still may be some smoke inhalation issue, so it would probably be wise to get him checked by the vet even though he is eating again. Bunnies do react from stress, so one day off his feed is quite normal.

The clean up for you must be horrible, btw. So sorry and don’t underestimate that you can use some help there, too. I am concerned that any flying glass may have gotten in his living space, so I think (unfortunately) a really thorough clean up of all of his space, dishes, bedding, toys, litter stuff might be a good idea.

[Bunnies4ever]

Thanks RabbitPam! That totally makes sense to me. Of course as soon as I got home, I ran to their room to check them out. There was soot from where the firemen came through the window and his x-pen had been moved out of the way. Nonny was in his bunny cottage and wasn’t coming out! There was no debris in his space, so believe it or not clean up was minimal. Most of the glass was outside (dual pane windows). I vaccuumed and cleaned everybody up and gave them treats. I felt bad for them that I wasn’t there. They don’t know what caused the fire. There is a lot of dry bushes and weeds in the lot. I think I will take all five of them to the vet this weekend. My trio seems to be fine. They were loafing around as usual. My foster bunny Phoebe seems okay (she’s very shy), but Nonny is the one I was most concerned about. His xpen is right by the window!

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