Today I had my first big health scare with my bunny. She is 7 months old and so far it’s been smooth sailing with her, that was until this past weekend.
On Saturday night I noticed a shift in her behavior. She was eating less, popping less, denying her favorite treats. This isn’t my first bunny, so I knew that I needed to keep an eye out. I stayed up with her until 2:30 am to make sure she was okay. I didn’t go to sleep until I saw her eating. Her appetite was better the next day, but I still wasn’t seeing a lot of poop and that was concerning to me.
At this point I had already tried everything. Gas medication, water, malt paste for bunnies, and nothing. I was in contact with my vet the whole time and she advised me to get an xray today as it could be the start of GI stasis.
I took her to get an X-ray and that was when everything derailed. The results were “inconclusive” and “there could be liquid in her abdominal cavity”. I shared the results with the vet and she immediately told me that we needed to get an emergency ultrasound.
At this point I was freaking out. Liquid in her abdominal cavity could be serious, very serious. The drive to the clinic was horrible, it felt like forever, and it was so painful to see her so stressed. She already hates car rides, even when she’s okay. It broke my heart to put her through it knowing that she wasn’t feeling well.
We got the ultrasound and to our relief there wasn’t liquid like they thought there would be. The vet that did the ultrasound said that there was an extremely small amount that could be caused by stress or mild inflammation. At this point I was already feeling better.
The conclusion is that she is constipated and gassy due to stress. Last week we adopted a new bunny to be her friend and she didn’t take it very well (yes, she has been spayed for almost 3 months now). The bonding process really took a toll on her health.
Now we are in the process of treating the condition and get her guts back to normal. We will also try some natural medication for anxiety that was prescribed by the vet, fingers crossed that it will work
I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. Both my husband and I are extremely anxious people undergoing treatment 😅 sometimes it feels like I really birthed her
Anyways, just wanted to share my story and reinforce to any new bunny parents that there’s never “too cautious” when it comes to bunnies. Take them to the vet, get them tested, even when it seems like it’s not a big deal
by pixxie_alpaca