bunny went from active to sitting all day long and different behaviour

[havikryan]

Good day, this is my first post here, i originally wanted to call the vet but it seems they are closed for today and as I’m quite concerned about this i wanted to ask for help on a forum in the mean time.

the problem:

normally my bunny runs around allot, as soon as i show him a vegetable or a candy he runs towards me and instantly eats it once i give it to him, today however he hasn’t done nay of that, he sits in a corner under my bed most of the time, if not then he sits somewhere else but all he does is sit, i even let him into the living room this time(can’t always do that because he tends to pull out the carpet) and previously he would always go wild and run like crazy! but this time he just sat on the ground doing nothing, further more he doesn’t eat any of the vegetables or candy, i put it right in front of him but he just doesn’t seem to care which is quite odd, and also i can pet him now, this may sound weird but usually i can’t pet him, my niece(who he first belonged to) never paid much attention to him so he never gotten used to it, so it’s really surprising i can just pet him and he doesn’t mind at all.

the only thing that has changed is that today has been the hottest day since I’ve got him(got him for about half a year now), so i looked on the internet and stumbled upon ”overheating” i felt his ears they weren’t hot, he wasn’t breathing through his mouth, mouth was closed, nose was sniffing at a normal speed, gave hi ma bottle of cold water just to be sure, but overall no signs of it at all.

I plan on calling the vet tomorrow but in case it’s something bad and I should already do something today i wanted to ask for help already.

so any help is greatly appreciated!

With kind regards,

havikryan

[Sarita]

Well, it could be the heat – do you have air conditioning in your place…if that is the case, then I would not suspect heat.

How old is your rabbit, do you know?

[havikryan]

I do not have any air conditioning however I have looked up some tips to keep your bunny somewhat cool, I put ice cubes in his drinking cup, I put on a rotary fan, have put down a frozen water bottle and a frozen water bottle in a towel for him to seek cooling, I made sure to cover the windows so that he has allot of shadow, outside that I do not know what else to do.

he’s 1 year and 15 days old as his birthday was on the 25th of May and he was born in 2013

[Sarita]

It sounds like you are doing the right thing. It is possible the heat is slowing him down – it slows me down :~) I would just watch and make sure he is eating and pooping.

[havikryan]

well he is definitely still pooping however he hasn’t eaten since the morning, he refuses to eat the vegetables, hoping he will eat tonight else it will definitely be a problem.

[Sarita]

Yes, the not eating is a problem. I hope he eats tonight too, if not you will need to take him to the vet.

[LongEaredLions]

I agree with Sarita. Does he have unlimited access to hay?

[havikryan]

yes he always has hay I pay good attention to that.

after he still didn’t eat tonight i brought him to the emergency vet for animals because I was to concerned with him not having eaten for over 12 hours, turns out he has stomach pain, we unfortunately do not know what triggered it, but the good news is that we gotten medicine to hopefully cure him, the bad news however is that we have to force feed him and he doesn’t like being held to begin with o he gets quite stressed out when we hold him =[

Thank you for the quick replies, I hope he recovers soon!

[manic_muncher]

It’s great you were so prompt in getting him looked after! I wish you luck getting him eating, please keep us updated!

[havikryan]

the force feeding hasn’t been going very well, yesterday my mother and I could do it in about 15 minutes, but today I’m alone because my mother has work and it took me well over an hour to force feed him all by myself, not to mention the mess that’s been made!

so does anyone have any tips on holding a bunny? i tried wrapping him in a towel but it doesn’t seem to work very well, mind you this bunny doesn’t like being touched at all so getting him calm down to then pick him up or anything of the sort doesn’t work, I tried it but he starts madly kicking with his hind legs to the point where I have to let go of him in fear of hurting him, even if I support his hind legs with my hands he still tries kicking and I’m not strong enough to keep holding his hind legs like that.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m sorry your bunny is unwell. I can certainly relate to the frustration (and mess!) of force feeding a stubborn bunny. It often takes a lot of trial and error, to find out what works best for your bunny. 

Here are some force feedings tips from the House Rabbit Society: 

http://rabbit.org/faq-medicating-your-rabbit/

[LongEaredLions]

I tend not to pick them up when force feeding because I a always afraid they will aspirate something. I put them between my knees with their head facing out, then lean over them to feed. Maybe try that out?
I hope he recovers soon, good for you for getting him to the vet so quickly.

[havikryan]

sorry for replying so late, had it very busy yesterday!

Thank you for the tips when it comes to ”holding” the bunny!

he’s showing signs of recovery, he’s getting a bit more active and eating a bit(though not enough to stop the force feeding sadly), no running or jumping just yet but he is walking more, hope he recovers soon, and also hope it’s before Saturday because then I had planned to try and match him with another bunny!

[Usagi1618]

Try and reschedule the matching with another bunny until he is fully healed, he is not himself (as I am sure you already know). And hopefully he is neutered yes?

[havikryan]

ok I will call them and ask it to be postponed till next week, and yes he has been neutered about 2 months ago.

[LongEaredLions]

You also will want to wait to make sure the stress from “dating” doesn’t cause him to relapse. I would wait at least a week after his complete recovery before you match him.

[havikryan]

will do, he’s looking much better now, running across the room, jumping on my bed eating much better, and turned out appointment actually gotten moved to the 28th of June because the place was full so at least then I’ll be sure he has had allot of rest!

[LongEaredLions]

Sounds like a good plan. It’s so great that he is recovering well, be sure to share pictures when you get his new buddy!

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