RoryBean
Member
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!
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!