First photo is him now, actively withdrawing and staying pretty much just in that spot vs the second photo which was around 10 PM last night.
This is going to be long, but basically, my black bunny, Sunny, went to the ER vet last night after very concerning/scary behavior from him.
I didn’t think to get it on video which I wish I had. But I’ll try to describe it to the best of my ability.
To give some context, his behavior was not at all abnormal or concerning up until about 3:30 AM last night which is when I was woken up and took him to the ER vet.
Basically, I woke up in the middle of the night last night to him making LOUD growling/grunting noises running seemingly after my other bunny? When I’d gotten up, my other bunny was running back and forth by the door more frantic than I’d ever seen her while Sunny was staring at her and drooling, also still making those grunting/growling noises.
My other bunny was not injured visibly but she was clearly terrified and seemingly trying to get away from Sunny. In a moment of stress, I just put my body between the both of them. It was the first time I’d ever felt scared of Sunny or any of my rabbits for that matter. I honestly thought he had rabies or something and was afraid to touch him as I was afraid he would aggress.
I eventually did touch him which he didn’t seem to react but eventually hopped away on his own. After moving away from my other bunny, he stopped making those noises and stopped drooling but he was experiencing a lot of discharge from his nose.
While I was examining him and trying to figure out what exotic vet took rabbits at that moment, my other bunny never left her spot in the corner of the room though she was no longer running. But she just repeatedly kept thumping her back feet, obviously scared.
The only thing I could think is that Sunny was experiencing a health emergency that would explain this drastic change in behavior. I got lucky and the nearest ER vet able to take rabbits was 20 minutes away when I was prepared to drive up to 2 hours.
He still was able to be lured into his carrier with a treat though he seemed much more skeptical. I tried to give my other bunny a treat at that time but she wouldn’t accept anything from me, but did eat one when I left it on the floor,
So I take him to the ER vet and literally, by the time he was calm, he was eating his hay in the carrier and acting almost entirely normal again.
The vets did testing and told me that he appeared to be perfectly okay, but that the exotic vet was not on call at the moment. Which I was just like. I guess I never asked if the exotic vet was in but I asked specifically if they were taking rabbits and every other place I called would tell me that information.
I’m planning to schedule a vet visit with my exotic vet very soon to get him checked out more thoroughly. Because I am not convinced that he is okay.
I have let him interact with my other bunny under observation since and they appear to be getting on okay and not unusually.
But Sunny is significantly more withdrawn. I don’t see discharge at all and he’s still eating and drinking, but I just can’t understand what happened.
The ER vet said that it may be behavioral and that he may be trying to establish dominance, but the other symptoms were so concerning and he’s usually the more affectionate of the two rabbits I have.
He seems to have significantly less interest in his hay though he still is motivated for treats and pellets. But he’s so withdrawn and seems more skittish. He could be stressed out from the visit, but I just can’t understand and I can’t find anything like this online.
There was also a soft poop I found that I’ve never seen before, probably a cecotrope that night. He has had one pee accident since coming back as well.
Does anyone know what could have happened? For reference, they both are spayed and neutered which I even asked to ER vet to double check as I got them from a shelter and was just told they were.
I’m going to get on the phone with my vet asap anyway to schedule something as soon as I can for further tests, but has anyone experienced something like this?
by opinionatedOptimist
