Thought all was ok, but Dimi lying in a weird position, tail up

[napagirl]

OK... so all was well the last few days since hubby dropped Dimi, and she was acting aggressive. She has been back to normal. But tonight, she was being aggressive with me again, which is very unusual behavior for her (she was spayed 1.5yr ago). While out tonight in the living room, she laid down in her normal position, but her tail was pointing up, like when she is going pee in her box. She looked relaxed, has been eating fine, pooping fine. She got up and did her normal running around. But she was again showing aggression toward me when I tried to approach her, which is not normal. Now she is back in her xpen and stretched out, seemingly happy, but that tail is pointing up again??? Any ideas? I can try again with the vet, but would appreciate any input.

 

[JBun]

A rabbit will raise it's tail when being aggressive, but if it is still raised when she is relaxed and resting, it could be due to some sort of discomfort. Unusual aggressive behavior can also be an indication of a rabbit feeling unwell. May need to see the vet and have xrays done. Getting her on some metacam may also help if she is in some pain.

 

[napagirl]

Thank you JBun.

She has an appt tomorrow at 8am. Her regular rabbit vet is currently on vacation, but they say that all the vets in the practice see rabbits. I am nervous about her being seen by a regular vet, but do not know what else to do. I did call the super rabbit specialist out of town, and she is to call me back this evening. She cannot see Dimi tomorrow, but I can tell her about what has happened and they say she will even talk to the vet I see tomorrow. I will feel much better talking to her, as I trust her one million percent.

What do they do for a fracture or sprain? Just pain meds?

 

[JBun]

I think it just depends on what they find. If she isn't showing signs of limping or anything, then it may just be something like a hairline fracture or even a soft tissue injury, and is just enough to cause her pain and make her grumpy. In which case they would probably just prescribe some metacam for a week or two. You may not even need xrays if they don't find anything significant with a physical exam.

With her having her tail raised, it might be possible it has to do with her spine, and depending on the severity of that, the vet may give steroids if there is significant inflammation found.

It's also possible that she was just a bit traumatized by the experience and isn't actually injured, and that is the cause of the aggression.

 

[napagirl]

Thank you again, JBun. I had her in on the bed again tonight, and she was very affectionate and cuddled with me like old times. When I pet gently down her rump with my hand encircling it, and get near the tail region, she jumps away. So perhaps something in this area- like hip area.

I talked to the rabbit specialist. She thinks seeing the local vet is good because less of a travel stress on Dimi, who is prone to stasis anyway. You basically echoed what she said. She doubts a fracture or ligament tear since she is hopping around and jumping up on things- but is possible. She's also flopping and telescoping. But I have not seen her do the back/front stretch thing, where they get up and stretch tall with the back legs, then forward stretch and yawn. She does that all the time, but not since the fall.

I am just hoping/praying that this vet will know enough about rabbits. I was told it was against the law to have me come back to help hold her for xray (because of the radiation). Not happy about that at all. I will update after visit.