How can I tell if my bunny is not feeling okay? or sick?

[Tweetiepy]

I'm a little worried about my 1 year old male lionhead Peaches. His poops seemsmaller (but I may be mistaken if I compare them to my other poop machine Popcorn makes has poops worthy of a Flemish).His poops are normal, jsut a bit smaller (which could be because he's gettingdifferent types of hay)He's never been a super active rabbit, but he does like to be petted when he's in his cage, but if he comes out, he'll scoot all over the place. His appetite seems reduced a bit too - he's leaving pellets in his bowl now (he gets about 1/4 per day split in 2 meals) and all the hay he can eat. He gets veggies a few times a week if I have any around.

Like I said he's been eating a bit less lately, but I read that this could be normal for the weather (here it's been up and down each day - scorching one day, cold the next). They're in my basement and I've closed the vent over their cage cuz it was too cold downstairs because of the A/C. This morning oneeye looks "wet" around the edges (on the fur, nothing in his eye)he may have just washed or splashed himself, it dried up when I touched it - didn't look like a discharge.

How can I tell if he's sick or if something is wrong? He's happy to see us, still tooth purrs, goes crazy and eats treats and seems to eat most of his hay. Nothing really seems to worry me, because he seems "normal" but the eating less worried me until I read that it could be the change in weather. His eye this AM got me worried - his paws & nose aren't wet or runny either.

Could thisjust be a bunch of little things leading to something bigger, or am I worried for nothing?

 

[tonyshuman]

Maybe he's getting older and his appetite is reducing. 1/4c pellets for a 1yr old lionhead is on the high side. You can try to listen to his belly for loud gurgles indicative of gas which often is the beginning of stasis. This is not always very fun with the little buns because they're just about the right size to claw the top of your head and your neck when you put your ear to their belly. We call it the bunny telephone. Anyway, it might be good to give him a probiotic. You mention different types of hay--what kinds are you talking about? Alfalfa? Any huge changes in his diet lately, like a sudden switch from one type of hay to another?

I don't like the eye discharge, though, and don't want o ignore it. Keep an eye on it and see if it's a more than one-time thing.

 

[tonyshuman]

Another thing that might help is putting out another bowl of tastier water--like pedialyte or water spiked with a little juice.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We usually look for input and output changes that go for more than a day or escalate. No really good hard and fast rules to follow though as each bunny is different and hide problems so darn well.

 

[Tweetiepy]

Maybe I'm just a worried mama. tonite I came home his pellets were all eaten, more than half his hay was eaten (He's been getting botanical, timothy, oat & orchard grass I think - he's had them all before. His poops are okay and tonite his eye was okay (both were) I think maybe he got it wet on the bottle spout when he lifted his head.

I too thought 1/4 of pellets was a lot for the little guys, they're both about 3 pounds.

 

[tonyshuman]

Yeah, it might be time to start cutting back on pellets. It sounds like he's doing a lot better, though. They like to keep us on our toes.