Hi there! So Teddy’s been doing quite well the past week or so, eating nicely, until today. He didn’t eat many greens overnight (whereas normally he does), and though he ate his medicine plate readily at lunchtime, he spent from like 1pm-8pm or so napping in the same spot, which is quite a bit longer than usual. Then, an hour or two after waking up, he went under the bed and has been camped out there for the past few hours — that’s his “not feeling social” place. He hasn’t wanted to eat much today, but he took another nap around midnight, looking quite comfortable, and then he did eat the medicines off his midnight plate after some coaxing. But he will only accept his favorite, dried plantain leaf; not even oats are tempting him.
On the other hand, he is not as far under the bed as he usually goes when he wants to really hide, and he is not doing any of the discomfort behaviors (changing positions a lot, etc.) that he does when he gets classic stasis. When he has stasis I never usually see him in a proper nap (lying down with his head on the floor), as he’s been doing today. When I watch him, he seems fairly normal in terms of disposition/behavior, although he is still under the bed. He also got a good report from the vet a couple weeks ago based on the clinical exam (including of his teeth), but of course things may have changed (though his foot looks better).
What do you think — have you seen this kind of thing in older buns? (Teddy is almost 13.) After the vet visit almost two weeks ago, he didn’t get full stasis but he did eat less of all his normal food (though a good amount of oats) for almost a week — but we got such a strong “leave me alone, let me do my thing” vibe from him that we didn’t intervene to give him fluids or Critical Care as we would have in the past. And it seemed to work out, in his case! He was hiding a lot more than normal, but he got better as or more quickly than during times we’ve been more aggressive. So I’m wondering if for him, at this age, maybe the range of “normal” for him will just keep getting wider, and that maybe I actually shouldn’t intervene aggressively every time he diverges, if he does not seem distressed? I know this is risky but also want to protect his quality of life at this stage. Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing?
Or, alternatively, is there anything else you’d recommend I do for a senior bun who is both napping a lot and suddenly eating much less? I don’t want to neglect his health, but I also want to protect his comfort and dignity and not harass him with too much intervention.
Thank you so much!!
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