HELP!!!! Sick rabbit!!!

[ashley d]

OK so I picked up a rabbit last night and she was just fine, I put her in a cage last night with my lion head rabbit and this morning go check on them and she was laying her head on the food dish and breathing hard. She has no diarrhea or anything abnormal about her what is going on!!! She is cold too and Ive had her in the house for about a half an hour now and she is warning up but isnt wanting to eat anything, and isnt acting normal. What can this be? When I set her down she is all wabbly and just lays down???

 

[secuono]

You bought your other rabbit a friend??? And just dumped it in and hoped all would be ok?
You need to QT any new rabbits and rabbits do not make friends easily.
It could of been ill from the start or the other rabbit beat it and stressed the heck out of it.

 

[ashley d]

What ever it was that happened I sure wont be doing that ever again. She ended up needing to be put down by my husband. I had no idea they had to be kept in different cages or anything like that. The room mate she was in there for the night with was a lion head rabbit and is super sweet. I watched them for a while and there was no aggression or anything happening in there. I'm just not really quite sure what happened to her I think she was sick before we got her???

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm sorry you wound up losing your rabbit.

Obviously, you will now need to watch your Lionhead for signs of illness, though this rabbit may not have been ill in the communicable sense. A common problem that rabbits develop is a condition referred to as GI stasis - basically, the rabbit's digestive system shuts down. It can be caused by a lot of things, including stress. A rabbit that isn't eating can be very frustrating and disheartening to try to get started again; this is a condition that can kill within a couple of days.

 

[alsea1]

I have learned the hard way that if I change anything about a rabbits living situation I give it probiotics for a few days and some good hay. This seems to help.

 

[Bitterroot]

I hope your lionhead is okay. Watch him like a hawk.

Quarantine is incredibly important with any new animals, but especially rabbits. I just lost a whole group of mini rex because of pasteurella. Had I not quarantined them, I'd have had to cull alllllll my rabbits, not just the MR.

Good luck.