Bunny Shaking

[KellyPrz]

My 4-5 year old lionhead dwarf has been acting very odd since the passing of our 5 1/2 year old dutch rabbit. They were not bonded. In fact, I never thought they were very fond of each other. They were always trying to fight each other through the bars of their cages. Although, they did like to lay in front of each others cages when they were out( they were never out at the same time because they fought horribly.) When Bunny (dutch male that passed) was getting ill Friday night Callie (lionhead, female) kept going over to his cage worried and curious. Seconds before he fell over and screamed on Saturday(day he died) she was at his cage with him.(unfortunately, we were having a blizzard, which we received 40 inches of snow and were seriously snowed in and couldn’t even leave our house until Tuesday)  We didn’t let her inspect the body because we were afraid she would attack him. My husband did let her watch as her wrapped the body in a blanket. We have removed his cage and rearranged the furniture and her cage because Callie kept looking for Bunny. We thought it would be easier on her if we changed things up a bit. Since then, we have this bunny condo (similar to a cat condo) which she lies perched on top of. She has also recently started to shake or tremble slightly as she lays there. I am nervous that she is getting ill too. Her temprature seems fine, her ears are normal and clean, there no mucus discharge from her mouth or eyes. She is still eating, drinking, pooping and peeing. My husband believes it is stress due to the loss of our other rabbit. He thinks in her bunny head she thinks he is out and roaming the house and going to get her at any moment, She still looks for him..where his cage use to be…his favorite spot on the stairs. What can I do to help her with this loss/ stress? or is she getting sick? 

I appreciate all and any help in this matter. Thank you 

[KellyPrz]

She has also been acting like she cant get comfortable in a laying position. she keeps flopping from one side to the other. hoping on and off the bunny condo.

[Elrohwen]

Hmm, the flopping from side to side makes me think she’s uncomfortable due to gas. If she’s still eating and pooing it might not be time for a vet yet, but keep a close eye on her. Feeding some critical care and simethicone gas meds can’t hurt.

[KellyPrz]

I just gave her some of the infant simethicone drop, as soon as I gave them to her she went over to the corner where the other rabbits cage was located and bunny flopped. She’s been laying spread out like that for a about 15 minutes. Her ears are perked up nice and she seems to be watching us attentively. Thanks for the advice. Do you think she could be upset over the loss of her friend?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I would imagine it could be both-upset and illness; It’s very possible there is something communicable, or even completely unrelated ailing her. It’s important to see a vet right away; although you don’t see mucous etc, there is a big change in behaviour and that often is your indication of illness.

Keep us posted, I’m sorry Bunny passed so suddenly,

**Binky Free Bunny**

[KellyPrz]

We took her to the only emergency bunny vet in CT last night at 2 A.M. it took us an hour to get there and it was snowing and roads were horrible. The bunny vet gave Callie injections of penicillin, bene-bac, fluids, and a gi med. SHe still has a lump on her right side from all the fluids. They sent her home with us with some bene-bac, gi med, and critical care food(from oxbow). I fed her this morning with the critical care food. 25cc’s every 6 hours. she wasn’t overly thrilled with it but ate it pretty well. The doctor said to keep her moving so afterwards I chased her around the living room and she dropped a couple poops. At one I gave her the gi med. Chased her around again, she ate a couple leaves of the spring mix and has been chewing off and on some hay. She pretty much seems back to her normal self.
The doctor said that it is very possible that she went into stasis due to stress from the loss of her friend and that her only had a couple poops and mostly fluid in her belly. But that she was very optimistic about her condition, as she was still alert and active.
Thank you for responding.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My condolences on the loss of Bunny.

Just getting to this thread now and wanted to say I’m very glad Callie seems better. Stress can often cause GI upset so perhaps that’s what happened. Even though they weren’t bonded, she was used to Bunny being around and the change most likely upset her.

[KellyPrz]

Thank you. The loss of Bunny was very difficult on us. It hurt even more that there was nothing we could do. we were literally snowed in the house for four days and could not get out(side streets were the last to be plowed and with over 3 feet of snow you were not going anywhere) And with rabbits illness seems to set in so quickly. I think he may have had a stroke from the stress of the storm. He always hated big storms and this year we had a hurricane, a couple big snow storms, I just think it was too much on his little heart. His back leg seemed to loss movement in the last hours.

As for Callie, she is doing soo much better today, She is even up to her old tricks and bad habits. One of them being eating the carpet…usually when she does this I just put her in her cage for a “time out” but the vet said to keep her mobile.. any suggestions? we have tried loud noises to scare her away and squirting her with a water bottle, nothing seems to work.she is a very adventurous bunny who gets into EVERYTHING! She’s never had problems with g i stasis in the past and I do not want this to be a common condition she suffers from.

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