7 year old bunny breathing hard

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RoryBean

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Nov 6, 2007
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Location
Shiloh's House, Alaska, USA
I haven't posted here in months, but my beloved Rory is having trouble, so here I am! I should note that my usual username is SnowyShiloh, but I couldn't log in properly, so am using this account.

Background: Rory is a 7 1/2 year old neutered Mini Lop who lives inside. He's been a pretty healthy bunny, but is prone to intestinal slowdown sometimes when he sheds. He eats timothy pellets, timothy hay, and fresh veggies and fruits. About 6 weeks ago, I increased the amount of pellets he gets because he lost a little bit of weight, which I chalked up to him getting older. He is eating, drinking, pooping, and peeing like normal. The only thing that's changed in his life is that we're getting ready to move, so I've been packing and his cage has moved to a different part of the room. I know pets can pick up on stress, but I haven't been feeling very stressed, and he hasn't been around where most of the packing has happened.

Last night (Friday) around 9:30, I noticed that Rory was breathing hard and fast through his nose with rapid nose wiggling. I took him out of his cage and in addition to breathing hard and fast, the area around his nostrils was a little damp (from the fast breathing, not a runny nose) and his ears were hot. His tummy also felt/feels a little full and firm, but not awful. He is not shedding right now. He looked a bit worried and refused to eat a grape. Let me note that it is not hot at all in the house, so he's not overheated.

After snuggling with me for about an hour, his breathing slowed down to a more normal rate (still a bit faster than usual, but not too bad) and he ate his grape. He's spent the past few hours hopping around his cage, washing himself, eating, and acting fairly normal. I've been checking on him frequently and he's now snuggled up with me again and breathing quickly again, but not as bad as earlier. His ears are warm, but again, not as much as earlier. I fed him a couple of hours ago and he ate some of his pellets, but not all. This isn't especially unusual since I've been feeding him more lately.

He's not acting like his tummy hurts. When that happens, he tends to lay in a certain way, and he's been laying down/moving around pretty normally. The one other detail is that his eyes are waterier than usual, but that often happens to him when he's really nervous and breathing hard (like at the vet office). He also looks worried and has been jumpier than usual the past couple of weeks. Usually he's like putty in my hands and does not struggle at all when I pick him up, put him down, or hold him, but he's been a little antsy lately for him. In spite of acting distressed, he's cuddled with me fine with his chin resting on me like usual and has been licking me a lot (standard for him).

Does anyone have any idea what's going on? I opted against taking him to an emergency vet because the emergency clinic here is not very good and doesn't really do rabbits. Luckily, our vet clinic is open on the weekend, so I'm going to do my best to get him an appointment tomorrow.

Thank you for reading!
 
What's his output like? Peeing normal, any incontinence or straining? Any change in fecal poop size, quality, and quantitiy?

If increased respirations are the only symptom you are noticing, it would be hard to make a guess, as pretty much any increase in pain or discomfort can cause it to occur. It could be as simple as a bit of gas or stomach upset, or be a much more complicated health problem. Hopefully you can get in to see your vet today.
 
This is just my opinion but, since he was breathing hard and then wouldn't eat the grape and then after a short while was normal again I think he was having a pain of some sort, maybe a sudden stomach cramp or bout of gas or something and it must have gone away so he started acting normal again. Maybe the pain wasn't the normal pain he usually has when he sits a certain way but sounds like he was in pain.

I don't know if the pain he had for sure has anything to do with the usual gut issue he has though— but my advice is, since he has a slow gut issue whenever he stops eating always hydrate him by syringe feeding him 15-20mls pedialyte or electrolytes (must be low sugar). Dana Krempels ( PHD in vet medicine who works with the house rabbit society, and specialises in rabbits) believes that when a rabbits gut slows down and gets a blockage it can be because of dehydration, and also causes dehydration, and syringing water/electrolytes helps hydrate the gut and losen any blockage and keeps the gut clean so bad bacteria doesn't take over and cause gas and stasis. Also, if your rabbit isn't eating, its probably not drinking either and syringing some fluids can only help can't hurt anything. Also, you can make your own homemade low sugar pedialyte easily, there are recipes on the internet.

Another tip, if your rabbit is a little under weight instead of feeding more pellets you could give him flax seeds as a treat, like 1/2 teaspoon a day, they are very fattening but healthy. People believe they are very good for gut motility, Angora breeders who have problems with wool block always recommend them, they have really healthy oils, and are very fattening, loaded with vitamins including vitamin E which rabbit need to be healthy.
 
Thanks for the tips, you two! We couldn't get in to the vet today, no bunny vets there. I've found it's useless to go in if there's no bunny vet. Another vet is always willing to check out my bunnies, but if they don't know anything about rabbits, it doesn't accomplish anything except to stress out the rabbit and cost us a couple hundred dollars. I always end up taking the rabbit in question back to see a rabbit vet the next day. We are going to wait until tomorrow.

He's drinking and eating fine. By the time I went to bed (I was up until 4 worried about him), he had eaten all of his pellets and has been munching hay. He's pooping and peeing normally, too. He's even been playing with toys. Today he is still breathing a bit hard, but not really bad, and his ears are not as hot. I am keeping a close eye on him to see how if the harder breathing comes in cycles or what.

One thing about the grape. He has never been willing to eat if he's being held, not sure why. When we offered him the grape the first couple of times, he was snuggled up on me. I was lying on my back and he was positioned with his butt next to me and his front paws/head on my belly. I don't often give him food when we're snuggling. Wish I'd thought of this at the time, but he may have turned down the grape in part because he felt like he was being held. When he did accept the grape, he was back in his cage.

Thanks for the tips on how to fatten him up! I will try the flax seeds. When my baby lop, Tallulah, had a hard time maintaining her weight (she had multiple health issues from the day we brought her home), it was suggested to feed her a little bit of oats every day. She got maybe half a teaspoon, and it really helped. This advice was from 6 years ago, though. Are oats still deemed a healthy addition to fatten a bunny up? I'd be perfectly willing to feed him both oats and flax seeds.

SquidPop, I will try the PediaLyte thing next time he isn't drinking/eating. He's doing fine right now, though. I will make my own Pedialyte, have done it before. When he gets gut slow down from shedding, he completely stops drinking and eating anything other than a little hay, so my approach for years now has been to basically pile as much salad on him as he will eat. He doesn't attack it with the usual gusto, but he will eat greens (which I soak in water so they're very wet) and other veggies even when his tummy is like that. I feed him salad twice a day and have cucumber in his cage at all times during times like that. It's worked every time so far, thank goodness! And of course I brush the heck out of him every day to get the loose fur off- once I accidentally brushed a bald spot onto his back with the Furminator, oops.

Wish my poor boy could tell me what's wrong! I would do anything to make him feel better.
 
Thanks for the tips, you two! We couldn't get in to the vet today, no bunny vets there. I've found it's useless to go in if there's no bunny vet. Another vet is always willing to check out my bunnies, but if they don't know anything about rabbits, it doesn't accomplish anything except to stress out the rabbit and cost us a couple hundred dollars. I always end up taking the rabbit in question back to see a rabbit vet the next day. We are going to wait until tomorrow.

I feel exactly that way, last time I went to the emergency vet it was such a waste of time/money because the vet seemed like he had not treated a rabbit since he was in vet school 20 years ago. I live in a small town so not many people bring rabbits to the vets enough for them to bother knowing about them.

He's drinking and eating fine. By the time I went to bed (I was up until 4 worried about him), he had eaten all of his pellets and has been munching hay. He's pooping and peeing normally, too. He's even been playing with toys. Today he is still breathing a bit hard, but not really bad, and his ears are not as hot. I am keeping a close eye on him to see how if the harder breathing comes in cycles or what.

One thing about the grape. He has never been willing to eat if he's being held, not sure why. When we offered him the grape the first couple of times, he was snuggled up on me. I was lying on my back and he was positioned with his butt next to me and his front paws/head on my belly. I don't often give him food when we're snuggling. Wish I'd thought of this at the time, but he may have turned down the grape in part because he felt like he was being held. When he did accept the grape, he was back in his cage.

Some of mine are like that too, don't eat treats if I'm holding them, or if I take them out of their room even. I'm glad he seems to be doing better.

Thanks for the tips on how to fatten him up! I will try the flax seeds. When my baby lop, Tallulah, had a hard time maintaining her weight (she had multiple health issues from the day we brought her home), it was suggested to feed her a little bit of oats every day. She got maybe half a teaspoon, and it really helped. This advice was from 6 years ago, though. Are oats still deemed a healthy addition to fatten a bunny up? I'd be perfectly willing to feed him both oats and flax seeds.

I personally think oats are good, but it seems like a lot of people on this forum are anti-oats though, don't know why— maybe because they are high in carbs? One of the other forums I go to is Rabbittalk.com and on there, the people recommend oats all the time for putting condition onto rabbits. A lot of them breed for meat or show though, so their rabbits aren't mostly pets like on this forum.

Flax seeds probably don't have as many carbs as oats, and probably more vitamins. My rabbits go absolutely crazy for flax seeds —like its the best treat in the world! So its fun to give them the flax seeds, they go nuts! Another thing about flax seeds too is, they get really slippery after they are chewed up, people who have digestive problems, constipation, use them as a substitute for metamucil, so flax can help with gut motility and wool block.

SquidPop, I will try the PediaLyte thing next time he isn't drinking/eating. He's doing fine right now, though. I will make my own Pedialyte, have done it before. When he gets gut slow down from shedding, he completely stops drinking and eating anything other than a little hay, so my approach for years now has been to basically pile as much salad on him as he will eat. He doesn't attack it with the usual gusto, but he will eat greens (which I soak in water so they're very wet) and other veggies even when his tummy is like that. I feed him salad twice a day and have cucumber in his cage at all times during times like that. It's worked every time so far, thank goodness! And of course I brush the heck out of him every day to get the loose fur off- once I accidentally brushed a bald spot onto his back with the Furminator, oops.

It sounds like you are just as in to hydration as I am :)

Wish my poor boy could tell me what's wrong! I would do anything to make him feel better.


It would be so much easier if they could communicate, or even point with their paws to what hurts :)
 
The problem I see with using oats is that it is high in carbs and may contribute to digestive issues. It can slow down a rabbits digestion, as well as lead to microflora imbalance in the cecum. It's not going to cause a problem for all rabbits, but ones that have digestive issues and especially if prone to stasis, I would be very reluctant to feed it to. The flaxseed may be a better alternative, as it is higher in fat and lower in carbs, but even then high fats can also slow down digestion. Another alternative food for weight gain that is better on the digestion usually, is alfalfa. The leafy stuff is high in protein, but it is also high in calcium. So for rabbits with kidney or urinary issues, it wouldn't be good. Feeding a leafier hay can also help with weight gain, as it contains more protein than the stalkier stuff, and grass hay doesn't present the excess calcium problem that alfalfa does.

Each comes with it's own possible issues, so you just need to consider the individual rabbit and any health concerns, and pick the best thing. Then keep an eye on the fecal droppings. If they get smaller, darker, and harder, it is a sign your rabbits digestion is slowing down. Which will happen a little even with leafy grass hay, but it's deciding when it is slowing too much for your bun that it could potentially lead to a digestive problem. It can be a bit tricky when dealing with weight loss, keeping their motility at a good level but also providing enough calories to keep their weight up. You just kind of have to find the right balance for your individual rabbit.

It's also possible that the weight loss is tied in to what ever health concern might be going on with your bun right now.
 
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Okay, I figured out how to access my regular account and wanted to update! Rory is doing fine now :) Back to breathing normally and acting 100% his usual self, PHEW! Mama needs you, Rory, you gotta stay healthy! :)
 

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