Rabbit in Mourning– Maybe not Pooping?

[Hannah]

So, I haven’t been in here for a long while because of grad school, but now I need everyone’s help because of a very sad maybe-emergency. This morning, one of my bunnies passed away. He hadn’t been eating and was lethargic yesterday, so I brought him to the vet and he was hospitalized. Unfortunately, everything progressed extremely quickly and he didn’t make it through the night. It was incredibly sudden. However, now I’m absolutely terrified that something is going to happen to his bunny friend.

Humphrey isn’t quite himself today– he seems a little listless, and is cleaning himself neurotically and flopping a lot. I assume this is because his bunny friend is gone and he doesn’t know why, but I’m worried that it might be medical rather than emotional. Last time I cleaned his litterbox was Wednesday night, and it was filled with poop, but I’m not entirely sure how old. I emptied his litterbox to make sure he was pooping today I think sometime between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm (everything is a little hazy today, you might imagine), and he does not appear to have pooped since then (it is now 6:15 pm here), which has me extremely worried.

However, his tummy seems normal texture to me (Perry’s was not at all when I took him to the vet), he does not seem to be in pain or hunching or anything (in fact, he did some binkying a few minutes ago), and he has been eating normally (in fact, ravenously– greens, hay, pellets, a “popsicle” made of parsley, water and a drop of pineapple juice, a timothy cube, etc). I also saw him eat his cecals also sometime between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm-ish– for all I know he pooped right before I changed his litterbox and is now just not pooping because I’m stressing him out with all my watching and prodding and worrying.

Regardless, I’m on high alert right now and I really don’t know if I could handle it if something happened to Humphrey, too. Part of me wants to just bring him right to the vet and say “fix him now,” but part of me is worried that if he’s stressed out that’ll only further upset him. On top of that, I’m a little gun-shy about going to the vet right now– yesterday was something of a trial. My real vet is now the only doctor at her clinic, and so they’re closed all weekend. So I went to VESCONE, where the vet told me “to bring him home and watch him” which sounded very wrong to me, so I waited an hour and then called them again and told them he didn’t seem any better; they told me to go to Angell Memorial, so I called Angell and explained and they said that they had no exotic specialist on duty, so I called the Weymouth VCA and asked abotu Dr. Dyer since my mom’s bunny has seen him before, but he wasn’t on duty… but they said they could possibly get him if it was dire, so I drove the 40 or so minutes to get there and deposited Perry with them and they seemed to know what they were doing but whether they did or did not Perry didn’t make it. Most of the emergency vets around here are only ‘eh’ with rabbits, and I no longer feel I can trust VESCONE and don’t know if either Angell or the Weymouth VCA ‘s rabbit person is on duty, and both of those are fairly long drives, so I don’t want to subject Humphrey to that if I don’t have to.

So basically, should I take him to a vet (if I can find one with a bunny person on right now) now and try to nip anything in the bud, or should I administer home care and go buy some simethecone or something similar to give him? Should I just watch since he’s still eating and responsive?

I don’t want my Humphrey to die, too….

[Hannah]

Update– Humphrey pooped about 7 normal-sized poops around 7:30, and ate some cecals. He hasn’t pooped since then, but hopefully things are looking up. : / I’m still worried, but somewhat less so.

[BinkyBunny]

It is normal for a bunny to not be completely himself after a buddy passes. Since he ate quite a bit, did binkies and otherwise seems okay, he should probably be pooping more soon or at least tonight. Does he normally poo the most at night? I know my bunnies do.

With that said, I am not comfortable saying “no need to go to a vet” as only you know if something is really wrong with your bunny and if you feel something is off, then that decision is up to you.

I know when my bunny Jack lost his bonded buddy, Rucy, he ate less. For about the first week, he would only eat if I hung out with him and petted him. After five minutes of petting, he would normally get up and get some greens. Sometimes, I would bring the greens over to him. So you may want to just try to keep calm and pet him. Also, put your ear up to his tummy — you can just put your ear up to the side of his gut, not to the bottom of his tummy. You should be able to hear very light gurgling..make sure you wait at least 15 seconds as gurgling isn’t constant, but just gently happens about every 10 seconds or so. (It’s very light too— not like when a bunny has an upset stomach as that can be very loud and you can hear it without putting your ear up). And if you hear nothing after several attempts, then that might be something to keep an eye on.

Keep us updated.

Sending out “poop” vibes! LOL.

[jerseygirl]

You poor thing! I’m sorry to hear. *Binky Free Perry*

As BB said, you know Humphrey best so the decision is up to you. I think if me facing the options you’re facing, since he is eating and pooping, I’d wait and get him seen by your own vet when you can if he is still worrying you. Being at home and minimising stress would help him I would think. Please trust your own instincts in this though. You are the one there with him, watching how he’s progressing.

I don’t want to cause you extra concern but it might be wise to check over hay, pellets and veggies you feed just in case they may have caused any GI issues

{{{Humphrey}}} Keep us updated.

[Hannah]

Sorry I dissappeared! Things have calmed down somewhat now, and Humphrey is doing better. After that first day his pooping habits went back to normal, and my boyfriend and I have been keeping a hawk’s eye on him (except, you know, that’s sort of a bad metaphor for bunnes, and we don’t want to eat him, just love him). He started out nervous and jumpy, and then spent a few days absolutely depressed, and then got extremely angry at my couch, and now is more or less back to his old self, except that he seems very lonely and has been MUCH more affectionate and groomy to my boyfriend and I.

Thanks for all the vibes! In about a week I’m going to be starting to look into bunny dates and potential bonding partners for poor lonely Humphrey (this coming week is, unfortunately, the annual family trip– terrible timing, but it can’t be helped, as everything has been booked for months), and so I hope to actually stick around on the forums this time…..

[Author]

Messages