My bunny changed and I’m not sure what’s wrong with her

[Emily]

I have a 3 1/2 year old female bunny at home named olive. Before she used to be very cuddly. She’s the sweetest bun in the world. But lately when u try to pick her up she grunts at you, which she never did befor. She still lets you pet her tho. I noticed that her stomach is round and hard. Her poop in the litter box looks normal but she has, what looks like to be diarrhea, stick to her butt all the time. She started licking her privates a lot, she licked a patch of her fur off!! She’s eating and drinking normal, and she doesn’t act like she’s in pain. I’m very confused and I’d like to just get an idea of what it could be. I’m not trying to diagnose my bunny. I’m taker her to the vet July 5th. But I wanted to get an idea of what might be wrong with her. I’ve had her for about a year now and none of this is normal. I have some ideas, maybe bloating, or maybe she’s just fat or maybe wet tail? Or maybe pregnant…? We have a male bunny at home as well and we were told he was fixed. They get along very well. There like best friends now.

[jerseygirl]

Hi Emily

Good to hear you are getting her seen by your vet, especially since she has messy poop and odd tummy. Do make sure they check all her teeth well. A good rabbit vet should always look at their teeth. Dental issues are such a common problem for rabbits and can lead to messy poop and gut problems. 

The vet may want to test her poop also, for intestinal parasites.   

How long have you had the male rabbit now? WIll you be taking him in for the vet visit also? Good idea for them to confirm he is desexed or even a male!   

Hopefully Olive is not pregnant, but a false pregnancy is also possible and can cause some behaviour changes. If you have a good rabbit vet, I really recommend you look into getting Olive spayed once she is in good health. This will prevent things like false pregnancies but more importantly, it will be better for her long term health. Intact females are high risk for developing uterine cancer and/or uterine infections. The likelihood increases as they age, from 3 years onwards.

[Emily]

We have had the new bunny for about a month now. We got him because olive started to seem depressed because she didn’t have another bunny friend. There both the same age. We’re going to bring him (lucky) into the vet after olive. We are low on money and have to save up but health is a first priority.

Could a hard tummy be a sign of pregnancy? I read somewhere that I can but I’m not sure.

[jerseygirl]

From what Ive read, it’s not easy to detect pregnancy from just feeling the abdomen. There is only a small window of opportunity (around day 14) to be able to feel any kits.
Since you’ve had the male 1 month and now she is acting differently, I do think you could be looking at real or false pregnancy. Im afraid you will need to separate the rabbits until you have confirmation that he is actually desexed. If he isn’t, he can potentially impregnate her right after giving birth, if she does.

Have you found some of her fur around? You mentioned she licked a patch of her fur off. Was this down near her privates or elsewhere? When rabbits nest, they pull their own fur out from dewlap, tummy and around their hind end. I suggest you give her some newspaper and cardboard box just in case she feels the need to nest.

Is she eating and drinking okay? Is the poop that gets stuck to her butt dark and smelly and hard to get off? If that is the case, it may be unformed or excess cecals (the ones they’re supposed to eat) that have gotten stuck to her fur.  Has she been eating more then her share of the food since youve had the 2 buns together?

[Emily]

It’s just the one tiny spot by her private that’s gone. She isn’t nesting. She seems to be eating and drinking regularly. I saw her doing both. And the poo is hard to get off and smells. It smells like a sick person. If that makes sens. Kinda like a throw up smell and I’d say it’s kinda…some parts of the poop are light color and others are dark color. And I think they both eat the same amount. We weigh each of them from when we first got them and they are both pretty much the same weight from then to now.

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