Hi. My bunny Toasty loves his food, like any other rabbit. But this morning I noticed something was different.
Usually, when floorboards creak around our house, Toasty is slightly startled and will sit upright for a few seconds to investigate. But today, when I came downstairs, he didn’t even twitch an ear. He was lounging on his bed, eyes open and ears drooping carelessly. I said his name three times, but he didn’t respond. He was still like a statue.
He’s lived with me for about 7-8 months, so I know him pretty well and what he likes. And one of his favorite times of the day is when he hears the crinkly noises from the bag of pellets. Usually, as soon as he hears it, he jumps up and leaps off his perch to twitch his nose excitedly until I give him the pellets. But this time he didn’t even jump up. His ear moved slightly, filling me with relief that he was still alive, and then finally sat up to get his pellets. But he stopped before stepping in the overflowing, disgusting litterbox (that I was planning on changing as soon as he finished eating).
By now I was concerned, so I called my mom over to observe him. She suggested we try getting him his favorite treats, so we got a carrot, some carrot greens, and a broccoli stump. We offered each one to Toasty. He would sniff them curiously, then move his head as though he were about to start nibbling, then turn away and lose interest.
There was one last hope: the banana chips. The shuffling sound the bag makes always gets him excited, even more excited than with the pellets. So I shook the bag, opened it up, shook it some more, and waited. But Toasty didn’t even care.
Finally I took a banana chip out of the bag and set the bag aside to try and feed Toasty. He couldn’t care less about the banana chip, his #1 favorite treat.
I have anxiety issues, so by now I was crying from being overwhelmed by all the things I could be doing wrong. He always ate, and he was always perky. But all he did was chill in his cage, not even bothering to come and see me in the pen like he always did, or eat any of his food. He still lets me pet him normally, but he has so much less, well, energy.
I pulled myself together and decided to think about the causes. One thing I noticed when I was dumping in his pellets was that he didn’t get any closer due to the heaping pile of hay, poop and more in his litter box. (I did go ahead and change it, so that is resolved.) Is it possible that a messy litter box can destroy eating habits? But while his bowl was indeed behind his litter box, we were able to offer treats right to his mouth that he still declined. So was it the litter box in general that made him upset?
Another thing I worried about- this was also the overwhelming flood of anxiety and worries when I began to break down- was his stomach. He’s always been difficult when I try to groom him, so was the fur finally getting to him? I studied his poop, and only a few of the poops were connected by stringy fur, but the most recent ones were normal. But I’m still nervous about that part, and I’m going to do everything in my power to give him a long brushing session today.
I was also worried about less likely but still worrying things, like contaminated water and overeating, but I don’t think those are the culprits. But you never know.
He’s had a day like this before, several months ago. And he was okay ever since. So maybe he just wanted a sleepy day. Maybe he just wasn’t tired last night or something.
Finally, my mom came to my room and told me he was eating his broccoli, which is great. I’m going to continue cleaning, caring, and monitoring him for now, but if anyone might know what’s to blame for this situation I would really like to know. Thank you so much!
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