Weird Random Movements

[Suivezmoi]

I’ve been noticing some odd behavior from Moonpie. He’ll be laying normally on the ground, then slowly he’ll start tilting his neck back. Then he’ll kind of shoot/hop forward, it almost seems like he doesn’t have control of this. He’s done it and fallen out of his litter box, smacked into the side of the cage, and landed with his foot in his water bowl. During this he lands in that same position, with his head tilted back. Then he’ll get up and move normally. Is this something you guys have seen your buns do?

 

It just looks so different from him moving around his cage, or even running away from something in fear. I thought maybe he would fall asleep and it was something like sleepwalking, but there are times when he has done this weird shooting forward 2-3 times in a row.

[peppypoo]

From your description, that definitely sounds kind of weird…I’ve never encountered anything similar with my bunnies. I recall you said that he was blind in one eye from an infection? Has he been doing this consistently since you adopted him? If he received treatment while at HRRN, I know that you can ask them for vet records to see if there’s anything that might stand out.

[Suivezmoi]

It was supposed to be from an abscess in his eye. The last checkup he had the vet said he was totally healthy other than the blindness. He has done this maybe 4 or 5 times (that I’ve seen), with one to 3 weird hops. It doesn’t seem to happen frequently, and he goes right back to normal after.

I looked up seizures because it really freaked me out, but it doesn’t look like that at all. I’d rather not drag him down to Houston to see my dad if I can avoid it (2 1/2 hour trip and I only have 1 day off a week); it doesn’t seem to cause him pain. After he’ll usually groom himself a bit then go right back to laying down, or if he has moved him self towards to litter-box, will go in and start eating hay.

[Suivezmoi]

I was thinking maybe it was some neurological condition, like with some epilepsy you’ll have tics or contort your body. When I have a weekend off I can bring him to see my dad and get some testing done, but I was just trying to see if anyone had ever even seen this kind of thing before .

[peppypoo]

Maybe it’s possible that he suffered a bit of neurological damage from the infection? My first bunny, Tammo, would have seizures but they were more protracted, always preceded by very stereotyped movements, and followed by exhaustion. However, we never got a good answer from the vet regarding what was wrong with him. I think this absolutely should be evaluated when possible, but as long as these episodes aren’t progressively longer or increasing in frequency, it’s not something you need to make emergency plans for (as long as you don’t hold out too long either).

I understand it’s easier and cheaper for your dad to see your bunny for the occasional checkup. However, rabbits are great at hiding serious illnesses and often present very acutely. I encourage you to at least be familiar with local vets in the case that an emergency situation should arise and a 2.5-hour drive to Houston might be too much stress for him. Not saying this is the case right now, but just precautions .

[Suivezmoi]

I have the vet that the shelter used who I will be going to for an emergency. They are only 15 min from where I live, and have the benefit of being an actual emergency clinic (if something happens on off hours).

I have the second weekend of every month off, so I will be able to go down there soon. I thought it might be a seizure, but I read about the exhaustion and that doesn’t seem to be the case. They all seem to be similar in length, and in the past three days I have had been home all day and have only seen him do it once, so I think he should be able to wait two more weeks to get checked.

[RabbitPam]

Glad to hear you have a local vet for emergencies. You might try taking a video of him when it happens again with your camera or phone, and sending it to your Dad to see his behavior ahead of time. You can write what you told us about it in an email. It may be helpful to view the behavior, and give your Dad an idea of what tests to perform when you actually get there.

[Suivezmoi]

Could he be “sleep hopping”? I let the lady at the shelter know, and she has noticed one of the other Californian buns doing it. They both only seem to do this when they are laying with eyes closed. I’m going to call his eye vet, and see if it is likely that he could have had any brain issues resulting from either the abscess or the meds he was on.

I’ve been trying to get a video of it, though of course he has yet to do it now that I am really watching for it. Which is good.

[Ameigirl]

Did you ever figure out what was going on with your bunny. I’ve been plagued with this in my bunny but it’s more severe and scary. I can’t find help anywhere, no one’s heard about this. He’s starting to flop over now and not move.

[Bam]

[Author]

Messages