quite bewildered (post vet visit)

[Aki]

Hello,

so yesterday morning I had two happy bunnies eating their hay and being normal. Yesterday afternoon, we went to the vet for their vaccination like every year. The whole thing was really normal - the weather wasn't too hot, we didn't wait at the vet, there were no other animals in the waiting room and everything was as usual. But my bunnies looked completely petrified from the second they saw the pet carrier. They were trembling and breathing hard and looking utterly terrified for no reason. They had never reacted like this before and it was Aki's 8th vaccination. We went back home afterwards and I left them alone with a big pile of hay and grass. I cleaned their litter box too. They avoided me but the things were mostly eaten and there was some poop in the box - not a lot, but nothing alarming either, enough to think both of them went. When I went to give them their vegetables at night, Aki wouldn't come into the cage (I lock them in for the night) which didn't surprise me but I caught her without her trying to escape which I didn't really like (she's not really a meek rabbit). I gave her a piece of vegetable which she began to eat and I left them. This morning, they both shot out of their cage when I opened it , like normal. There were vegetables left and it didn't look like there was a significant amount of poop from the night. I gave their pellets in the cage and gave each of them one pellet while they were hiding in one of their little houses. They ate it. Two hours later I came back and they hadn't moved from their hiding place nor eaten anything. At noon, I found Tybalt in the litterbox, looking a bit pained but he ate a bit of pellets. I emptied the litterbox to assess better if they were pooping. Around 2 pm Aki was still moving normally and showing no signs of pain but no showing any sign in being interested in eating or pooping either so I gave her a bit of Emeprid (Reglan) and some water. I left them alone and came back at 8 pm. Tybalt was eating the leftover vegetables, the bowl of pellets is empty and I suspect he ate them all. There were like a dozen of small poops in the litterbox which I suppose are his. Aki is still moving around the room but I still don't see her eating or pooping and she looks completely stressed.
It's now 9 pm, I'm really worried and bewildered.
I don't get it. Why did they react like this? It was just a small vaccination like usual and now I have two scared rabbits with stasis? I think Tybalt will get better quickly considering I saw him eating and that I'm pretty sure the few poops from today were his. But I really don't know what to do with Aki. I'm scared of stressing her out more by handling her but I can't do nothing. Did something like that happened to you? More importantly... what do I do? I'm thinking of giving Emeprid again tonight and buying Critical care tomorrow. I feel like I got her sick by vaccinating her and I feel really bad. :/

 

[RavenousDragon]

First and foremost, those vaccines save lives where you are- don't feel bad about that.

Here's my thoughts on a possible cause. Last time (last year when you did vaccines) maybe a new tech or vet was in training and startled them/held them incorrectly/anything that could cause stress. And they remembered (since they were afraid of the carrier this time). OR (and I don't know, I don't keep up with the vaccines and their statuses in other countries unfortunately) the vaccine 'ingredients' could have changed, and they now sting more (maybe they are less likely to cause sarcomas etc. or something?). If they sting more, that causes more stress, leading to stasis. OR as they get older mild arthritis may be kicking in, and the movement associated with the traveling causes pain (even if they don't feel pain in their normal lives, traveling means shifting weight a lot, sometimes quite rapidly).

How is she doing today?

As far as what you can do: Get CriticalCare when you and and keep her eating (make sure her belly isn't TOO full). I prefer if possible feeding every two hours (take the amount it says on the back of the bag, and divide that total amount by 12 and that's how much to give each feeding). If not, make sure you split it up between 3 meals minimum. Keep an eye on her and keep trying to get her to eat. (I know you already know all of this, but sometimes just reading it helps).

 

[Aki]

Thank you for your reply. I was really stressed about it and explaining the situation and hearing from people who know rabbits helps me to rationalize (my mother was just like "leave them be" and I was like "I can't they could get BLOCKAGE" but you know... non-rabbit people just don't get why you can't sleep when your rabbit is turning her head at a piece of carrot or isn't struggling when you put her in her cage ^^'). They saw this vet two years ago - she's a bit cold and not very friendly but I was there the entire time helping her hold them and I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. They got the same vaccines than usual (they are older vaccines that I order especially beforehand because I don't trust the new Nobivac one - I've met several people who lost their rabbits after doing this vaccine).
I really don't get what happened. Aki was half on her hind legs in the carrier looking like she wanted to escape as soon as we set foot at the vet and they were both trembling. It was the first time I'd ever seen them be that scared and that's including the time when they were neutered / spayed.
Tybalt seems to be completely recovered even if his poos are a bit small - he came immediately for his vegetables this morning and isn't hiding anymore even if he is fleeing when I move suddenly. Aki finally ate a bit of hay (yay!) and pooped a bit after being given Metacam. She doesn't seem to be in pain and move around quite well (she avoids me like the plague ^^'). She gave me quite a scare, but I'm feeling pretty hopeful she will recover.
Still, I'll probably try a different vet next time, just in case. Living with bunnies is just so stressful sometimes...