Here’s the thing – we have no idea how old Kylie is. We got her and Keelie 3 1/2 years ago from the shelter, they were part of a big group of bunnies that had been rescued from a hoarder. All we know is that they were adults when we adopted them.
I was cleaning their cage yesterday and Kylie was in the way (which she often is, she’s a stubborn bunny) so I went to move her. Usually I just have to touch her and she storms off in a huff. Yesterday I was able to just pick her up. That was my first clue. Her underside was wet, and filthy. Now she’s never been very good about grooming, but this was way beyond that. So I scooped her up and put her in the bathroom sink (where she thumped once, but didn’t try to get out) and I washed her. And she let me. And then I towel dried her and blow dried her a bit, and she let me. She did struggle a bit, but not much. And honestly as I was doing this I thought okay she’s got to pretty much be driving up to the bridge right now because she HATES being held. She feels to me like she’s lost weight, and I can feel her spine.
When I put her back I noticed the water dish was completely empty. They have a dish and a bottle. So I filled the dish, and she drank some water. So even though it wasn’t their dinner time I gave them some pellets, and she ate some. I put a towel in the cage (because she was still a little damp) and she’d spend time going between the towel and the food & water.
By last night she was looking a little perkier, but still definitely not back to normal. And her pearl-grey nose is all brown now because she’s been dipping it right into the water and then eating pellets. She got some pellets at their regular dinner time, and we gave them more going to bed. Her appetite is quite good. She’s drinking water. She’s taking treats. She’s pooping. She’s moving about, although not as much as normal. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain, but she doesn’t look “happy”. Mind you she’s always been a really grumpy bunny. Frankly she’s starting to look like my mother’s very senior cat.
We haven’t taken her in to the vet yet because a) we don’t have an emergency vet here that will take bunnies apparently and b) we’re not actually sure that she’s SICK, and not just old. Her symptoms are she’s lost some weight, she’s not quite as active, her grooming is atrocious. Oh and she’s letting Carbun stay close to her instead of chasing him away. Right now they’re sleeping next to each other, which is quite unusual for her. So we have no real concrete symptoms to take her to the vet for, they’re going to have to just run a battery of tests to figure out if there’s anything wrong or if she’s just naturally nearing “that time”.
Any thoughts/advice? For those who have had senior bunnies that passed, how did you know when their symptoms were age vs illness? If she had other symptoms – if she wasn’t pooping well (she definitely is) or wasn’t eating or drinking well then there would be no question, we’d have her in to the vet ASAP.
– Annette
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