What’s wrong with my bunny?

[Rabit]

Hi you guys, I thought some of you may be able to help me.  My bunny for about the past couple days has been acting very different.  More so today that’s been an obvious difference.  She literally hasn’t come out of her cage (where she usually hops right out when I’m home.  She hasn’t touched her food and didn’t really go to the bathroom except to urinate just outside the litter box.  She mostly is sitting motionless (except for bouts of grooming on the top floor of her cage).  Even raisens don’t seem to excite her.  The only odd thing that she’ll inhale is a few carrot slices I gave her. 

Any ideas on what it might be?

She’s an 8 month mini lop rabbit, that usually is pretty social. 

The only other abnormality was that about a week ago she started to be active in attempting to hump my arm.  So I’m not sure if it’s somehow hormonal.

Any insights would be much appricieated.  

Thanks. 

[Free2Dream]

If she’s not eating/pooping, I would be very concerned. I’m no expert on rabbits, but I know a lot about horses, and their guts can get tied up very quickly if they stop eating their roughage. From what I have read, bunnies are the same way. Since she’s acting depressed/lethargic, she might be having tummy trouble. I would bring her to the vet. Good luck, I hope everything works out.

[mocha200]

she needs to see a vet ASAP if she has not pooped or peed 12- 24 hours!

[jerseygirl]

Peeing outside the box sometimes indicates urinary or bladder issues/infection. That she is hiding and lost her appetite indicates she is harbouring something. She needs to see a vet I’m afraid. They might treat for gut slowdown (GI stasis) if she hasn’t been eating or pooping. This could be the cause of her behaviour or secondary i.e. resulting from her discomfort due to something else. Hope you can get her right again soon!

[RabbitPam]

She definitely needs to see a vet right away.
Please let us know what your vet says.
{{{{{{{Healing vibes}}}}}}}}}}

[Rabit]

Thanks so much for the info. I was just on the phone with the emergency pet center ready to bring her in when she finally jumped out of her cage and started to run around. She did poop an unhealthly looking load just prior. She may be feeling better after that. Any idea what my next steps should be or what may have caused it? The only thing I can think of is over eating her pellets vs hay or her feast for computer paper. She also usually recieves about 20 raisens a day if that may also be an issue.

I still plan on bringing her into the vet tomorrow.

[Monkeybun]

20 raisins a day is far too much for her. There’s alot of sugar in raisins, and bunnies can have serious problems with their digestion if they eat that much sugar. Definitely cut waaay down, to maybe 2 or 3 raisins a day max.

[jerseygirl]

Ditto! You can cut them up so it seems like more. Also offer some alternative treats that don;t have so much sugar. Good to hear she’s pooped. Try her on just hay until your vet visit.

[BinkyBunny]

Isn’t that just like a bunny to pull the sick card until the carrier is brought out! Rucy used to do this to me. I would take her to the vet and all of sudden she was fine. Sort of scared the sick right out of her. Regardless, though, with rabbits you never know and so it was very good that you called the vet as it is much better to be safe than sorry as they can go downhill VERY quickly and it really can be risky to wait and see if all will be fine.

I am glad that she has pooped and I ditto what they others have said about the raisins. Too much sugar and richness in the diet can cause an imbalance —the good versus bad bacteria in the Gi tract,  and that can become very serious. And sometimes grooming, especially if they are grooming their stomach area, can be a way to self-sooth stomach pain.  NOT always, but when combined with the other symptoms you described, that could be part of it.

I’m glad that you will be taking your bunny to the vet tomorrow because even though she may be coming out of a bout of digestive upset, it is a good idea to have the vet check her out, including her tummy and administer any supportive treatment for further recovery if necessary.

[lashkay]

Not that i’m that expert, but feasting on computer paper may enter a problem to the digestion as well as too many raisins as I believe it is treated to make it shiny and all that and too much of that it seems to me wouldn’t be that good. An old phone book or plain cardboard with soy dyes better. Glad you’re taking her in to be checked. Best wishes to your happy healthy bunny and you!

[LoveChaCha]

Especially paper that has been printed on…

Newspaper and paper from the phone book (rip the covers off) is alright, even if a bunny ingests a little.

It is hard to withhold snacks from such a cute animal, but self control needs to be done if we want our bunnies to live long and healthy.

I’m happy you are taking your bunny in Let us know how it goes.

[Beka27]

If she really likes her pellets, you can also withhold a small amount from her feeding (maybe a teaspoon) and then offer those to her individually thru out the day as a treat. A treat can be anything that you feed from your hand to the bunny, it doesn’t have to be sugary or fruity. My pair was getting 2 or 3 raisins a day, but I figured out my mini rex couldn’t even handle that small amount, so they haven’t had a single raisin in well over a year. Every rabbit is different with what they will tolerate.

Can you tell us what her daily diet consists of, type of pellets and amount, type of hay, type of veggies and amount…

[RabbitPam]

Did she get to the vet today? How’d it go?

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