Theo’s a bit wobbly on his feet – worried about him

[Theodorusrex]

Hi everyone!
It’s been a long while since I posted, lovely to see some familiar faces still posting here 🙂

Theo recently turned 8 and despite being plague with GI issues in his younger years has been mostly doing really well for the past 3 years or so. Eating like a champ!

Last night he had a bit of a weird episode where he struggled to stand up after a nap. I noticed then once he did stand up he was sitting oddly – putting all the weight on his bum rather than back legs. He was able to hop around a bit but looked a little wobbly. He then refused food for around 30 mins (we had just given him his greens for dinner which he normally devours but he wasn’t interested, he wouldn’t take offered treats either). I popped him up on our table to take a look at his legs and he didn’t seem to be in obvious pain although I know it’s hard to tell with a rabbit.

Then after a while, he started to eat again and was hopping around pretty normally. Seems alert and happy enough today. Eating well etc.

Any ideas? I’m worried this is the start of something more sinister and can’t bear the thought of him being unwell.

TIA!

[Bam]

Hi Theodorus! Lovely to hear from you (although I of course wish Theodore wasnt having a problem) 💚

Hopefully this is nothing grave, “just” a bit of age-related arthritis, making him stiff and less agile. Elderly rabbits with joint problems often respond well to a low maintenance dose of meloxicam.

A more sinister cause for a balance issue would be ec. It can affect any part of the nervous system, even if it’s mostly thought of as a cause of head tilt. It can affect the spinal nerves to the hind legs.

Another possible cause for a balance issue is an ear infection. Lops are prone. Sometimes wax and debris collect in the outer ear canal and it can be so much that it puts pressure on the ear drum. You can feel (gently obviously) under his ear base for a lump, which would be a telltale sign. At that stage it can be resolved by using eardrops to soften the wax plug so it can be expressed. We cant see into the ear canals, a vet would have to do that with an otoscope.

Do you see him straining to pee? Any (sudden onset) incontinence issues? Is he moving around seemingly without undue effort? (Except for when he had this wobbly spell).

Rabbits can also get vascular strokes. Its not very well known (some vets still call ec “bunny stroke”, which is rather confusing) but vascular strokes in rabbits are probably under-diagnosed. Rabbits can probably get a TIA, a transient ischemic attack from natural causes (dogs can).

 

[LBJ10]

If he was wobbly immediately after getting up and then became less wobbly after moving around a bit, then I would be more inclined to think arthritis. If he is wobbly all the time, despite trying to get him to move around, then that suggests something else is going on. As Bam said, there is EC or a stroke… things like that can cause weakness in the back end.

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