Rabbit health mystery

[Chelsea]

I’m wondering if anyone has any insight on what’s going on with Theo. He has been acting depressed and low energy lately. He still eats, drinks, and poops his normal amount but is picky and less excited about food, sometimes taking all day to eat his morning pellets instead of gobbling them down in an hour or picking through his greens and only eating the “good ones”. He’s less affectionate, less active, no binkies or zoomies, and his eyes just kind of look dull, which is all very unlike him.

He’s been to the vet twice and the physical exam, bloodwork, fecal test, and xray were all completely normal. He has lots of food in his belly moving through properly, liver and kidneys are fine, and no intestinal parasites. His symptoms are very intermittent, he has days when he seems to be 95% of his normal self and days when I’m really worried about him. The next thing we are trying with the vet is a course of a medicine for E. Cunniculi just in case he got that from our other (recently adopted) bunny Juniper (I forget the name he said but I’ll update when I pick it up this afternoon) and Metacam in case he’s having intermittent pain.

The backstory is that we adopted Juniper a little over a month ago and Theo’s symptoms started after that. Bonding was going well at first, then struggling to get past a standoff over who would be dominant, and then Theo started having these symptoms and we decided to take a break from the stress of bonding while we figure out what’s going on with him. They are still living in side by side x pens and she is completely healthy and happy. The vet also suggested he could be depressed about the new bunny, but if so it’s an extreme and long lasting reaction to having a new neighbor now that we’ve stopped the bonding for now….

Any ideas are much appreciated!

 

Maintenance and Housing
Is your bunny housed indoors or outdoors? Indoors
Does your bunny live with other bunnies? He lives next to a “neighbor” in a separate xpen, they can’t touch each other but could certainly pass any diseases
If yes, are they bonded? No, we were working on it but have taken a break due to Theo’s health
If you rabbit spends time outside, are wild rabbits around? He does not go outside
How much exercise does your bunny get per day? 2-3 hours outside his (large) pen
How often do you clean the litter box? Every other day
How often do you groom your bunny? He hates being brushed and has short hair so I just pick out tufts when he is shedding

Spay/Neuter
Is your bunny spayed/neutered? Yes
If so, for how long? 4+ years

Pooping and Diet – Very Important
What does your bunny eat normally:
How much hay and what type? Timothy and orchard grass hay (oxbow), as much as he wants
How much pellets and what type? Oxbow adult rabbit pellets, 1/4 cup/day
How much veggies and what types? Lettuce, kale, herbs, carrots, bell pepper, broccoli. A large handful of greens and several small pieces of veggies
How many treats and what types? Apple, banana, Oxbow “cookies”, 1-2 cookies and 1 small piece of fruit/day
Anything else not listed?
When was the last time your bunny ate? (If > 12 hours ago this is an emergency, contact a vet ASAP) about an hour ago
What was the last thing your bunny ate? a few bites of pellets
When was the last time your bunny pooped? (If > 12 hours ago this is an emergency, contact a vet ASAP) within the last couple of hours
How did your bunny’s most recent poops look (round and firm, misshapen, small and hard, soft/mushy, runny, etc.) ? Normal (round and firm)

 

[Wick & Fable]

So it sounds like, objectively, he is hitting all the needed health behaviors. He’s eating, pooping, and taking care of himself as needed, which is good.

I am leaning towards behavior changes as a result of having another rabbit there. Even if there is a break from dating, both of them are quite aware of each others presence  and can smell each other. There is a constant awareness that another rabbit is in his space and this can create behavior changes, so while you’re not bonding them, remember he still sees her and needs to assess her constantly in his proximity. He’s still figuring her out constantly across a pen and she’s a factor in his environment he cannot control.

I actually have 2 not bonded rabbits who I lowkey try to bond when I get myself to, (very bad at being consistent with having dates…). Since having the second rabbit, the first has acted differently consistently. He does behaviors he has never done before and becomes relaxed and agitated at different things than in the past. Theres nothing medically wrong, but his demeanor and behaviors are definitely different.

For an alternative perspective on one observation, the spaced out pellet eating and being more picky may be a result of simple food security (ruling out dental since I assume the vet assessed for that?). Both of my rabbits transitioned from inhaling all their pellets and veggies at once to becoming picky and spacing out the eating. I interpret it as a rabbit realizing they will always get food so they can afford to leave the food and be more particular about what they eat.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Chelsea]

Thanks! That makes sense with transitioning to eating more slowly/more picky, and he definitely has moved more in that direction over the years, but this was a sudden change from binkying with excitement about breakfast and eating at least a few bites immediately to ignoring it for hours and sometimes even turning down treats so that still worries me a little.

I’m so glad I’m not the only one who is bad at sticking with the bonding! Maybe we will get there one day.

[LBJ10]

If the vet cannot find anything physically wrong, then I’m going to go with Wick on this. The presence of another bunny can cause behavioral changes, even if this “intruder” is not in the same area. And yes, this can even include refusing treats IF said bunny is determined to be “annoyed”.

I curious why the vet suggested treating for EC. His symptoms aren’t really consistent with that.

[Chelsea]

Hi, Sorry I somehow missed the new reply. The vet is treating for EC mostly because of the new bunny in the house I think. He just finished his 10 day course of fenbendazole and metacam and it was amazing. Within hours of starting the metacam he was a new rabbit, totally back to his old self gobbling down food, eating every bite of everything offered, climbing on the couch, and binkying like crazy after weeks of being lethargic. So he was clearly in some kind of physical pain.

Now he’s off the meds and we’ll see if he stays better and we’ll just move forward probably never knowing what it was but it seems to be gone, or if his pain comes back. If it does come back I’m wondering about tooth problems? He had his teeth filed in November and usually only needs it every 18 months or so, but the way he seems interested in food but then drops it makes me think there could be something wrong with his teeth/mouth and I have seen him make weird faces/mouth movements when eating a few times. The vet said his teeth looked ok, but I’ve heard that you can’t get a truly good luck without sedation? If he seems to go back to having more pain I wonder if the next step might be to look more deeply into his teeth? Anyway, for now he’s doing better and it seems unrelated to new bunny Juniper, so I guess that’s a good thing.

[jerseygirl]

Happy to read you’ve seen such an improvement. That was a really good indicator for you that pain was present.

As he has a history of dental treatment, I do agree with you that this is something to look into by having him examined while sedated. Has he had molar spurs develop in the past? Rabbits will sometimes get things snag on these and be less able to clear it from the mouth, which is why you might see the strange mouth actions from time to time.

[Chelsea]

I don’t think he’s had molar spurs before, I think they just filed down his front teeth in the past. But it does make sense that he could be getting food stuck in his mouth because the few times I’ve seen him make kind of a “blech!” face it’s been when he was eating greens that would probably catch more easily than hay or pellets. I’m keeping a close eye on him but so far he’s continuing to do well off the meds, so fingers crossed that whatever it was has healed!

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