Depressed bunny?

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with my rabbit parenthood-- but I have one unhappy bunny on my hands.
No binkies. No bunny 500's. No bunny kisses.
She doesn't want to run around and play, she doesn't want to even step out of her cage. All Nessa does is gorge herself on hay and pellets. She is eating SO much hay it's crazy. She's not shedding currently so I'm not sure why her hay intake has skyrocketed. She is eating pellets like crazy as well. I used to only give her 1 cup a day (like her breeder recommended) and she did fine with that, but now she licks the bowl clean and begs for more. I caved and have been giving her an extra 1/2 cup and she still acts like she's starving. I don't want her to gain weight but she seems so hungry?
I try so hard to entertain her and get her moving around: but to no avail. She ignores the toys I give her, if I somehow drag her out of her cage and try to have her exercise; she doesn't move. If I try to make her move she'll squeal/grunt and nip at me. She just hunkers down and eats the kale I give her. (I try to give playtime incentives)
Eat eat eat eat. Oy.
It makes me upset to watch her be a seemingly miserable bun and not know what's wrong?
Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Azerane]

Every bunny is different in activity levels, but it does seem a little odd. Firstly I would cut back the pellets again, even 1cup is a lot, I would cut it to 1/2 cup max. Bandit weighs 2.9kg and only gets 1/4 cup of pellets per day, he acts like he's starving but he's maintained the same weight for the past year.

Secondly, what flooring surface is she on when you bring her out? Maybe she doesn't like that for whatever reason. My other thought is that she may be in pain. Though if so she probably wouldn't be eating so much.

 

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

1/2 cup max-- okay I can do that. Hopefully I didn't come across as irresponsible giving her that much food. I only stuck with the 1 cup originally because that's what I was instructed to do, but I always thought it was a bit much. She never gained excessive amounts of weight (actually not really ever gained too much weight) so I didn't think much of it. My house is all carpeted floor, so I didn't think that'd bother her?

Update: She now has liquid poop. anic: She's been eating less than her (recently) usual glutinous amount today. So I thought maybe she was going back to normal?? But now this! I just walked in to check on her and she has diarrhea all over her bottom and a small pool of it in the bottom of her cage.
I don't understand this? If she's eating huge amounts of hay why would she be having diarrhea? She's not been so eager for her pellets today, which had been concerning me. I haven't been giving her any treats or iceberg lettuce or anything out of the ordinary.
She obviously doesn't feel great. The local vet is closed today (no idea why). What do I do??

 

[JBun]

You need to take her to a vet. If she has watery diarrhea, you need to do it immediately! Watery diarrhea(when not just a tiny amount and a one off thing) is usually an indication of a very serious problem, usually bacterial enteritis or coccidiosis, both of which can be life threatening if not treated correctly and right away. This could also possibly explain the odd eating behavior. You will need to take a fresh fecal sample for the vet to test.

I hope you will be able to find a rabbit vet that can see your bun right away. Try these lists too.
http://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/forumdisplay.php?f=21

 

[Azerane]

I agree with JBun, the watery poop is very serious. I hope you can find a vet to take her to.

There are many rabbits that are fed largely on pellets, so it can be done, but it's generally not recommended as it can cause issues. How long ago did you start giving the extra pellets? And it's difficult when breeders tell you something, naturally you assume that it's healthy for them, although keep in mind that a breeder's rabbits need more nutrients for breeding and growing of babies etc, whereas a pet rabbit doesn't so much.

 

[JBun]

How's Nessa doing today?

 

[pani]

ray: Hope Nessa is doing better today. Let us know.

 

[ashleyxxpiano]

I do hope you brought her to the vet. I had one bun that despite being severely ill she would not stop eating. She wanted food 24/7 and we gave it to her because we knew she wouldn't be with us much longer. Her issues had nothing to do with what you're describing so don't worry. But on rare occasions they CAN in fact eat more when they are not well.

 

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

Thank you all for your concern!
After advice from Nessa's breeder, me frantically searching for a rabbit savvy vet that was open, and having the idea to interrogate everyone who had been around her in the past 24 hours: I discovered what was wrong with her.
A bunch of factors contributed. Firstly, my brothers had come to visit her, and proceeded to feed her 2 ENTIRE apples when I wasn't present. :banghead (Hell hath no fury like how I reacted.. :X )
Nessa also just has a bad case of cecal dysbiosis. I've switched her diet to high fiber everything, as advised. And no more treats. At all.(Sorry Nessa!)
She had an all hay diet for 48 hours, which ended this morning. Her poops have gone back to relatively normal.
She also got some "Ben-bac" to "replace good bacteria."
All in all, she's okay now. We're not sure why she was gorging herself-- the assumption is she's just a piggy.
Bunnies. I swear.

 

[pani]

Oh boy Nessa! Way to scare us all! I'm glad she's back to normal now. Does she seem active and happier in comparison to the behaviour she was showing before?

 

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

I think Nessa delights in worrying me.
I'm glad I took the precautions/found medical help for that silly rabbit, better safe than sorry.
Her behavior has improved, yes. She's a lot happier. Still a bit sluggish, but I'm working on that. Maybe some special outside privileges will perk her up.

 

[JBun]

TWO WHOLE APPLES!!! No wonder she had the runs :foreheadsmack:

Lots of hay and the benebac will all help to set her right. If she continues eating excessive amounts for her size, you may want to still get her checked out. A cup and a half of pellets, in addition to lots of hay, is enough for a 15-20 lb rabbit, and Nessa doesn't look quite that big to me.

Glad that she is alright

 

[whiskylollipop]

That's wonderful, I'm glad Nessa's okay! 2 apples and she finished it? That's pretty incredible. I agree with Jbun, a cup and a half of pellets daily is a LOT. Even greedy buns should have some sense of when to stop eating. Maybe she has a case of worms? I've been pondering this possibility with Merlin (Nessa's twin!), who gets 1/4 cup of timothy pellets and 1/6 cup of alfalfa pellets daily in addition to 1 cup of greens and of course hay. This diet has caused Sasha to put on weight. But Merlin is so skinny and always has been. I'm taking a fecal sample to the vet when our annual checkup rolls around. I wonder if Nessa is in the same boat.

 

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

Hmmm, a case of the worms is possible, it would explain a lot.. I'll have to look into that definitely. Might follow the fecal sample route when I take her to the vets for a possible spay (fingers crossed) around February.
Nessa is an utter pig sometimes. Some days she hardly wants to eat, and others she's trying to rip into the pellet bag. I've always wondered about her lack of restraint when it comes to food. Those 2 apples just had me ripping my hair out. Oy vey. I'm worried she'll explode her tiny stomach with all this eating, hah.
I had only started the cup and 1/2 for a few days. She seemed content, but I won't be doing that anymore. She already seems disappointed with her new 1/2 cup rations..