Worrisome Behavior (New Parent)

[kanakoala]

Hi guys! My rabbit is named Kana, she's a standard rex. I've had her for about a month and half now, and she's just about 11 weeks old now. She is my first rabbit.

She usually greets me in the morning by following me around in her cage. I give her a half a cup of pellets in the morning and she has unlimited access to hay and I give her greens throughout the day. This morning she was extremely lethargic and didn't want to come out, but she was still eating and drinking water. I left for work at 1pm and shortly after my boyfriend called me in a panic. He had let her out of her cage and he said when she tried to run it was like her front legs weren't working. When I got home from work, she seemed okay. She still eats and drinks, urinates and poops normally but she moves slower and when she tried to put her paws on her food dish they sorta just slid off and she ended up resting her chin on the bowl. Mostly she seems very sleepy and unenthused, one ear up and one down.

I'm really worried My apartment gets really warm during the day, could that be it? I also gave her a wooden box to chew and hop in a couple days ago. It's a simple box with unfinished wood, though I'm not sure what kind of wood. I attached a picture of the box. I removed it from her cage just in case it might be bad for her.

Please, any help or suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[whiskylollipop]

That is very serious, take her to a rabbit vet RIGHT AWAY! Rabbits can deteriorate very quickly, you're lucky she's still alive after showing serious symptoms like that all day. How hot does your apartment get, and does she get direct sunlight on her living area? Heatstroke can cause lethargy, but her front legs not working sounds like a different problem. Also, you said she was lethargic right from the start of the morning, which is when the apartment shouldn't have been very hot. So it's definitely worth a trip to vet to see what's wrong. I don't think the wood had anything to do with it though!

ray:

 

[kanakoala]

When you step in/out of my apartment you feel a noticeable temperature difference. There isn't much direct sunlight through windows but I'm on the third (top) floor. Since it has been warming up here, she seems content just lounging in her cage. She has her usual gusto when I offer her greens. I lured her out with a piece but once she was finished she hopped back in her cage and lied down. Now that I've gotten to observe her myself, she seems to be favoring her front left leg.

 

[whiskylollipop]

Have you tried touching or moving her other leg to see if physical injury is the reason she's not using it?

 

[Azerane]

We can really only guess at reasons as to why she's feeling the way she is. It's possible she may have injured herself and was lethargic from the pain, but the only way you are really going to find out is to take her to a rabbit savvy vet, which I would recommend doing, at the very least, it sounds like she needs that leg checked out.

 

[kanakoala]

After posting this, her mood miraculously got better. I made her a toilet paper roll stuffed with hay and tried to play with her, she got really excited and started to hop around. She tried to hop into the box but when she put weight on her front legs she stopped and grudgingly went and lied back down. I have an appointment tomorrow. I put a lot more hay in her cage to coax her into just relaxing instead of climbing. Thank you for the help and suggestions.

 

[blwinteler]

How did the appointment go?

 

[lovelops]

I would take her to the vet anyway to get checked out. She may have done something when your or your boyfriend wasn't looking or in the middle of the night.
I put fans on each of my rabbits areas to make certain they are cool enough because it's been up in the 90's here and I have ac on also. I know certain rooms
don't get cool enough for me, so I want to make certain none of my bunnies get heat stroke. I have a small fan that I picked up at Walgreens (don't know if you are
in the US or not) but I found some that are battery powered and USB so I don't have to worry about my rabbits chewing on the electric cords. They are the Living Solutions
Fans and it's both the USB and battery operated that I bought:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006NWJBZE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Keep us posted and I hope your bunny gets better and let us know what the vet said..

Good luck
Vanessa