Can anyone help me with my rabbit?

[DutchBunny19]

I got home today and found my lion head/angora cross mostly unresponsive. She would usually leap up at the sound of you coming into her room, but she didn’t even flinch. She was like a limp doll when my partner picked her up to check her too, and refused food from us (which is highly unusual for her). We called the vet immediately, who suggested we bring her down straight away. The vet took about 20 minutes-ish looking her over, and when they brought her back out to us they said they couldn’t find anything drastically wrong. Her joints were fine, her abdomen felt fine, her heart apparently sounded fine too, but they did note that her core body temperature was low and she seemed to be in discomfort. They let us take her home again with painkillers and anti inflammatories, and suggested we keep her warm with a hot water bottle covered in towels.

Since getting her home I’ve noticed that she is absolutely freezing cold, even under several blankets and cuddled into my partner. She is also still fairly unresponsive (though this could be exaggerated due to the heavy painkillers). She’s spayed, has no ongoing health issues I’m aware of, and is 4 years old. Until today she was being her is usual self, and appears to have just really rapidly gone downhill from nowhere. Does anyone have any ideas? I really want her to be okay, she’s my everything :’(

 

[Hermelin]

Might be GI stasis, try to massage her stomach and syringe feed her. My own buck got really cold when he had GI stasis and refused food, my vet took him i. because I couldn’t get food into him at all and he turned really weak. They manage to make his stomach work after 48 hours and he was back to normal a week later.

You can at least try and see if she will turn to the bette with a bit of massage and food. I hope everythings will go good with your girl.

 

[DutchBunny19]

The vet checked her stomach over when we were there, and she’s been doing normal poops, so it isn’t GI stasis

 

[Hermelin]

The vet checked her stomach over when we were there, and she’s been doing normal poops, so it isn’t GI stasis

I hope she will turn for the better and someone have an idea. You can fill a bottle with warm water and wrap it with a towel. So your bunny can use it as an heating source to keep herself warm and lay next to it.

 

[JBun]

What do you mean by unresponsive? Is her body limp with no limb movement but she is awake and alert, is she limp and not alert or responsive? If she is awake and alert, does she have any control over her body or limbs?

What are the exact meds prescribed, was she given sub q fluids at the vet to rehydrate her, did the vet give you a feeding mix to syringe feed her?

 

[DutchBunny19]

She was limp and not very alert. She definitely wasn’t unconscious, as her eyes were responsive and she could move with control of her limbs to an extent. It sounds weird, but it was almost like we had caught her sleeping, and she was just lethargic and sleepy, but without “waking up” again. She was a bit like a sleepwalker almost. Really groggy and not really responding to anything unless she felt she absolutely had to (like when the vet picked her up).

She wasn’t given any fluids, and I’m not sure on the dosage or prescription of pain medication as we couldn’t be with her when the vet was working, and had to wait in their lobby downstairs (sadly part of the lockdown rules in the UK for coronavirus). I should have really asked, but in my panic it totally slipped my mind. As for syringe feeding we keep critical care at home anyway, so I gave her some of that a few hours after we got her home. She did take it, but not an awful lot, and after a while she just stopped swallowing it and started dribbling it back out of her mouth. My partner and I also wrapped her up in several blankets, with microwaveable heat pads hidden underneath them, so she was warm. We also took it in turns checking on throughout the night, but she mostly just slept through everything.

She seems to be doing a little better this morning, and is interacting a little better with the world, but she still isn’t her normal self. I’ve seen her drink and eat by herself today, but all she seems to want to do otherwise is sleep (which is unusual for her normal self).

 

[DutchBunny19]

I should probably add that this is just her, my Dutch (her bonded mate), and my Belgian Hare are their normal hyperactive selves and don’t show any signs of being unwell or stressed. They also all eat the same food, hay and veggies as each other, so it’s really unlikely to be something she’s eaten causing this. Likewise, there haven’t been any dramatic changes to her normal environment or living area.

 

[softcottoncloud☁️]

Where do you live? I think it's a reaction to the heat. She will be lazier and sleep more, I posted a similar thread last year.

Edit: I would rule out things like having issues maintaining body temperature due to the change in heat of the surroundings

 

[DutchBunny19]

Where do you live? I think it's a reaction to the heat. She will be lazier and sleep more, I posted a similar thread last year.

Edit: I would rule out things like having issues maintaining body temperature due to the change in heat of the surroundings

I live in Warwickshire, UK It’s been fairly sunny for the last two days, but otherwise it’s been fairly windy outside. All three of my buns are indoor though, and the bonded pair have their own room. I did set up a fan in there for her, and trimmed her fur a little shorter so she wasn’t just a little cotton ball of fluff anymore, also added some ice cubes to their water bowl and they have an animal safe gel pad that gets cold when they lay on it Originally I thought it was heatstroke, but when I asked the vet they said it wouldn’t be that as her internal temp was low :/

 

[JBun]

I would have suspected something called floppy rabbit syndrome, but with her being lethargic I'm not sure if it would be that. With FRS their body will go limp but they usually remain alert and responsive, almost normal except for not being able to move their body. As long as they are assisted with feedings, recovery is pretty good, and usually within a week or two.

But even though she doesn't fit how it typically presents, she could still have FRS. In which case it's just a matter of assisting feedings as needed until recovered, which is usually a week or two.
https://www.caldervets.co.uk/pet-help-advice/case-studies/32-marley-floppy-rabbit-syndrome
Link to article on FRS towards bottom of page.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Neurology_main.htm
If it was me, I would think about stopping the pain med if it's an opiate. Reason is that it will just tend to make her more lethargic, have a cooler body temp, and slow down digestion. All opposite of what you want happening. And I would think it's probably not even needed as this isn't likely a condition causing pain.

The other med if it's an anti inflammatory, I would continue with that one.

 

[DutchBunny19]

I would have suspected something called floppy rabbit syndrome, but with her being lethargic I'm not sure if it would be that. With FRS their body will go limp but they usually remain alert and responsive, almost normal except for not being able to move their body. As long as they are assisted with feedings, recovery is pretty good, and usually within a week or two.

But even though she doesn't fit how it typically presents, she could still have FRS. In which case it's just a matter of assisting feedings as needed until recovered, which is usually a week or two.
https://www.caldervets.co.uk/pet-help-advice/case-studies/32-marley-floppy-rabbit-syndrome
Link to article on FRS towards bottom of page.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Neurology_main.htm
If it was me, I would think about stopping the pain med if it's an opiate. Reason is that it will just tend to make her more lethargic, have a cooler body temp, and slow down digestion. All opposite of what you want happening. And I would think it's probably not even needed as this isn't likely a condition causing pain.

The other med if it's an anti inflammatory, I would continue with that one.

They gave her both the medications as injections, so we weren’t given anything to take home with her. They should both be out of her system by now, and she seems to be doing a little better than the other day again. I will definitely look into FRS though, thank you

 

[DutchBunny19]

Just thought I would post an update that she seemed to have another episode of being floppy and strange again this morning, but seemingly recovered by herself within the next three hours. She’s eating and drinking normally, and her ears feel a normal temperature (unlike when they felt very cold the first time). I don’t know if that confirms FRS, but reading about it the symptoms seemed to fit about 80% of what I saw, and would explain why the vet got completely normal vitals from her.

I would have suspected something called floppy rabbit syndrome, but with her being lethargic I'm not sure if it would be that. With FRS their body will go limp but they usually remain alert and responsive, almost normal except for not being able to move their body. As long as they are assisted with feedings, recovery is pretty good, and usually within a week or two.

But even though she doesn't fit how it typically presents, she could still have FRS. In which case it's just a matter of assisting feedings as needed until recovered, which is usually a week or two.
https://www.caldervets.co.uk/pet-help-advice/case-studies/32-marley-floppy-rabbit-syndrome
Link to article on FRS towards bottom of page.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Neurology_main.htm
If it was me, I would think about stopping the pain med if it's an opiate. Reason is that it will just tend to make her more lethargic, have a cooler body temp, and slow down digestion. All opposite of what you want happening. And I would think it's probably not even needed as this isn't likely a condition causing pain.

The other med if it's an anti inflammatory, I would continue with that one.