Shock

[mamabirdsong]

We’ve had our Bellamy for about a week. She was a stray hanging with her mom in our yard with four loose dogs. Her mother didn’t make it, our dog attacked her and she passed less than 24 hours later.

We have had her about a week or so and our little baby Bellamy(not a true baby, just very young) has been opening up to us and filling us all with joy. We have two small children ages 1 and 2, and our dog, Wesley. Bellamy is wonderful with our children, but their time together is very limited for her safety. After the kids are down for bed, we let her out to roam the whole house until we fall asleep and she has rewarded us with kisses and binkies and cuddles. She is an absolute sweetheart. She was super relaxed and lying in all sorts of silly positions and loves to eat. Her favorite so far is Basil. She had fleas and let me bathe her like a champ, which I still hope to never do again. She was even super calm when I had to clip her nails. She is filled with personality and is wonderful to be around.

Fast forward to Sunday night. She was over by the fridge with my husband trying to jump in and get a treat, so I didn’t think to look around before I got out of my rocking chair. Unfortunately, I should have, or I should have had something blocking it from rocking forward. Her head got trapped for a short period and she freaked out, then stopped moving her front paws. I was so worried I had broken her spine. My husband picked her up and cuddled her while I found an emergency vet that would take rabbits, not many places do in our area. She was in shock, but we found a vet about an hour away and my husband transported her there immediately. About 15 minutes before he got there, she “snapped” out of it and started moving around again. When he got to the hospital, they examined her and deemed her healthy, but, “depressed.” They felt no break and she has full movement and feeling in her limbs, so he opted to take her home with some pain medication. She was back to being mobile that night, but the next day she wouldn’t eat or drink. We got some pedialyte and some squash baby food and she eats that happily. She has been pooping and peeing normally, but she keeps going through very long phases where she won’t move or do anything. Then, after she eats, she gets a burst of energy and hops around and starts to act like her normal self. Earlier this afternoon, she started eating less than half of what she was, but seems to be more interested. The doctor told us that if she still seems depressed in a few days to bring her back in. We also called and requested Critical Care which my husband is picking up right now. I feel like she is going to make it, but it breaks my heart to see her like this, especially since it was my fault.

My question is, about how long does it take bunnies to recover from shock, if they do at all? All I can find is very negative, and she has been so up and down. I don’t want to imagine life without this little sweetheart. She means so much to us already.

[Bam]

Thank you for taking this little one in!

It’s not really possible to say how long it takes for a rabbit to recover from a traumatic event. We have a young rabbit here who got stuck with his head in a food-ball, I think he recovered swiftly – he didn’t have a traumatic event with dogs in his history, plus all rabbits are different.

If she is physically ok, I think she’ll get out of her depression with the excellent care you are giving her. Critical Care will provide her with all the nutrients she needs, but you did a good job with the pedialyte and squash baby food – the most important thing is of course that she gets food in her and poops and pees.

I’m guessing your vet wants to check her physical health out further if she hasn’t snapped out of this in a few days – although the bursts of energy does indicate she’s ok physically. Hopefully the Critical Care will help perk her up further. We’d be happy for updates.

[mamabirdsong]

Thank you for your reply.

Last night her ears got cold so I massaged them and found her a heating pad. She kept hopping to a certain spot in the kitchen which was out of everyone’s sight, but she stopped that after I placed her on the heating pad and covered her with a light cloth. After her ears got warm again, she sat there for a few more minutes then came over to me to get a few bites of food, rubbed my nose with hers and gave me a few kisses. She spent the remainder of the night on the pad and hopping around every now and again to say hi to my husband, my dog, and I. She started eating a thicker paste of the Critical Care out of a spoon, which was exciting for us.

This morning she wanted nothing to do with food, but I was able to get her to take her metacam as well as a very small amount of pedialyte. She still wouldn’t drink on her own, and would only eat if it’s from our hand. Instead of taking the syringe of food, she opted to hop out of her open pen and slowly hop around the living room. It was clear her energy levels were very low. We had an important errand to run today, and unfortunately it took about three hours. However, before we left, my husband was able to get her to eat 2.5 servings of her Critical Care. She wouldn’t eat it out of the spoon at first, but after the first serving or so, she finally came around to the thicker portions. We observed her for a while longer and she looked a lot better. Her dosage of metacam was a few hours late, so I’m wondering if that’s why she didn’t want to eat this morning. I was kind of hoping she didn’t need it because of the side effects, but since my husband forgot to give it to her late last night and I was asleep it became obvious that she most likely does need it.

We just got back from our errand and I decided to give her a thick serving which she gobbled up out of the spoon. We made her another even thicker serving because she was looking around for food and sniffed her alfalfa, but then came back to me looking for more which I gave her. I also had some spring greens with me since they’re soft and after the second serving of Critical Care, she was ready to start munching it down. She can’t hold it up like she used to and the stems seem to be too much, but I’m so happy that she’s starting to eat her solids.

I’m glad your bunny made a swift recovery, and if she keeps this up, ours might too.

This just in, she’s now eating stems.

[Luna]

It sounds like you’ve definitely been very observant of her behavior and condition. That’s great that she takes her medicine so easily; some buns don’t like the taste. I hope she continues to improve .

[mamabirdsong]

I’ve been trying. We’re first time rabbit owners so this is a whole new ballgame for us. We couldn’t get a good estimate of her age besides her being around 1-2 months of age when found, maybe older. She seems very trusting of us, which is why I assume she takes her medicine so well. :p Like we’re her second mother or something. I originally called a wildlife refuge when I found them because of her mothers coloring, but too many things didn’t add up, like Bellamy being blonde. So I then looked at shelters, and none of them seemed like a good fit. I want to do what’s best for her, and I’d rather not learn the hard way again. The rocking chair is now bunny-proofed, and since we have kids, the rest of the house is too.

I apologize for the super long replies. I feel like a new mom all over again. These last few hours have been a complete turnaround in her behavior and willingness to do things so I’m a bit more scatterbrained than usual, but with joy. She has eaten so much! And isn’t slumped over in a sad state. Now to try and get her reintroduced to her hays and pellets. Any tips? Or should I call the vet?

[Luna]

Has she been eating her hay at all? Definitely keep up with the critical care until she starts eating her hay again, after that, the vet should know what to do next.

[Author]

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