rabbit hurting herself

[ishiko]

On occasion my little rabbit will throw herselfinto the sides of her cage. I don’t know why she does this and her vetcan’t seem to figure it out either. I’m asking this question becausemaybe someone else has seen this behavior or could give me a reason whyshe would be doing this to herself. She’ll just be sitting calmly inher cage then look up, jump into the bars, and then sneeze and move herhead around in a circle. I don’t think it could be a seizure becausewhenever I have her out of her cage she doesn’t do anything out of theordinary like that. I try to let her out as much as possible to preventthis too but I have to keep her in her cage while I’m at school andsometimes when I come home the cage will actually be moved inches awayfrom the wall. I’m just really worried about this behavior because ifit keeps up she’ll end up really hurting herself.

Any ideals or help would be greatly appreciated…Thanks

 

[sfritzp]

Whoa - that's really strange! What do you meanthat she 'turns her head around in circles'? Does she 'wag' it back andforth, or actual 'up and down' circles? I've seen rabbits in pain dothe 'up and down' circling of the head - almost like the are going tofall over in a 'faint'. Sneezing, or what looks like a sneeze, too, canbe a reaction to pain. The question is, does she have pain that causesher to 'throw' herself into the cage wall, or does she have pain fromthrowing herself into the cage!:?
You say she doesn't act weird out of the cage - perhaps she has attacksof sudden aversion to being in a cage! She wants to be a free bunny!
How old is she? Could be adolesant behavior...

 

[ishiko]

When I did actually see her do this shemoved her head up and down (like you mentioned) after she hit the sideof the cage. Now that I think about it one time she moved her head sofar back she fell over backwards but it was only once that I saw thathappen. I really wish I could let her roam free outside her cage allthe time but I live in such a smallapartment andwithnot me around to watch her all the timeI’mafraid she’s get herself into something bad. I’m an art student so I’vegot painting supplies around and I’d never want her to get her littlepaws on any of that stuff.

She’s only about 8 months old.

The vet wondered if maybe her teethwere bothering her and causing her to jump at the cage in an attempt tobreak them but he did some little tests and she had no signs that herteeth actually do hurt her. So, we’re all really confused…

 

[Vetiora]

ishiko wrote:

When I did actually see her do this shemoved her head up and down (like you mentioned) after she hit the sideof the cage. Now that I think about it one time she moved her head sofar back she fell over backwards but it was only once that I saw thathappen. I really wish I could let her roam free outside her cage allthe time but I live in such a small apartment and with not me around towatch her all the time I’m afraid she’s get herself into something bad.I’m an art student so I’ve got painting supplies around and I’d neverwant her to get her little paws on any of that stuff.

She’s only about 8 months old.

The vet wondered if maybe her teethwere bothering her and causing her to jump at the cage in an attempt tobreak them but he did some little tests and she had no signs that herteeth actually do hurt her. So, we’re all really confused…

Wow, another art student bunny lover And here I was thinking I wasthe only crazy woman to try and have a bunny along with art supplies inthe same room! Fergy tends to like to chew on my books and drawingsthough...silly bun! I have to watch him like a hawk when he goes nearmy art desk!! :shock:

Sorry to hear about your rabbit. The only thing I could think of iswhat size is the cage she's in? Might that have something to do with itif it (the cage) is too small? Also, did the vet check for an earinfection perhaps? To be honest I've never heard of that behaviorassociated with an ear infection but sometimes bunnies don't always goby the "book," as it were.

Here's hoping you can find and fix whatever is plaguing your bun!

 

[lizabeth332]

sounds kinda like wry neck. but if i'm wrong sorry i just kinda skimmed the posts...

www.barbibrownsbunnies.comhas a lot of info on wry neck...does that seem to describe your bunny?

and remember--just becuz its a vet does not mean that he/she knows rabbits!!! No, it wouldn't be teeth.

 

[Kyo]

That sounds scary. Hope sheis well..., you can always bring her to another vet,preferablya vet who is more experienced with rabbits becausenot all vets are... If she continues to do that, perhaps you need tobring her out more often. Could it be her way of telling you she wantsto be out of the cage? In any case, best to look into this as fast aspossible...rabbits'sskeleton are really fragile...you don'twant her to hurt yourself. :?

 

[LittleMija2]

Rabbits are very sensitive to chemicals, is thecage in a place close to oil paints or varnishes or anything thatsmells strong? Maybe put the bunny near the window for betterventillation?

 

[ishiko]

In reply to all the comments…

Yeah, I do keep her cage close to the window for ventilation. I alsotry not to do too much painting while I’m actually home…or I keep allthe chemicals in the kitchen. So I don’t think it has anything to dowith that. I try to be as careful as possible. Although, she doesalways try to eat my notebook…

The vet is doing the best he can to help her and figure out what mightbe wrong but he did tell me that he knew of a few other vets thatspecialize in rabbits. So, I’ll probably be taking her to see anothervet soon. It’s all really stressful because she has had this problemfor a while. She had hurt her nose a while ago too and it was probablybecause of jumping into the bars. And, now besides this problem she hasalso lost weight (from 4lbs to 3.4lbs in a few weeks) and I haven’tseen her eating. I got her to eat lettuce but that isn’t verynutritious and she can’t survive very long on that. The vet put her onantibiotics and took a blood sample. I feel so bad for my poor bunny,Momo. If she doesn’t starting eating soon I’m going to have to try toforce feed her. I don’t want it to come down to that.

 

[sfritzp]

It certainly sounds like you are doing your best for this sweet little bun! Is that her pic in your avitar? What a beauty!
I thought of Wry Neck, but I would think the symptoms would beconsistant all the time (in cage and out) and the episodes would comemore often and in longer duration...
The falling over backwards concerns me - if you do get her to arabbit-savy vet, perhaps you could suggest he/she do some bloodwork orwhatever they do to check for pasturella.
Don't know where you live, but the House Rabbit Society web site has regional lists of rabbit vets:
www.rabbit.org
Have you noticed her scratching at all? Fur coming out excessively? Anycrusting in her ears? I'm thinking ear mites and/or fur mites - Theycan appear on the best cared for bun (I know - MY bun got Fur Mites!!!)when their immune system is over taxed by illness or injury.

 

[ishiko]

Yup,that’sMomo in my avatar but that was back in the first fewweeks that i had her. She's still just as cutejustbigger.



That’s the weird thing…she never actsstrange outside of her cage. Maybe she just hates being in her cage butat times it seems like she doesn’t even want to leave her cage. I alsothought of wry neck but like you mentioned the symptoms would not justoccur inside her cage.

I haven’t noticed her scratching at allso I don’t think it has to do with mite. My only idea is that maybe shejust had some sort of mental disability. I really have no idea.

I guess all I can do now is wait forthe blood work to come back and see if my vet can direct me to theright bunny specialist if something is really wrong that can befixed.

 

[Jenniblu]

Did the vet check her hearing and vision?

 

[Carolyn]

Welcome Ishiko,

Agreed that all you can do now is wait for the blood work. You were wise.

I can find out some recommendations of rabbit specialists in your area should it come to that. Let me know if you need help.

If you're really worried about her hurting herself, putting, you mightconsider putting her in a travel cage with a towel-if you don't thinkshe'd chew it. Put some hay, food and water just so that she doesn'thurt herself with the thrashing when you're not there to help her. Poorlittle thing.

Will say a prayer for you and her.

Please let us know the minute you hear something from the vet as we'll be thinking about you.

-Carolyn

 

[LittleMija2]

I hope the vet can figure out whats wrong withher. Shes very cute btw. Its nice to see that you are doing so much totry to figure it out.Maybe the bloodworkwill shedsome light on her situation.

 

[ishiko]

The vet called me earlierwith some info on the blood work. He said the rest should be known byMonday. But apparently Momo does has an infection because her whiteblood cell count seems to be high. He already gave me antibiotics togive to her, and I was able to get her to eat some more veggies butthis doesn't explain why she would throw herself into the sides of thecage. When I first got her she didn't have that behavior and lately shehasn't been doing it..maybe once or twice a day but that might just bebecause she is sick. She's been pretty lethargic lately. But there wasa time when I would see her throw herself into the bars almost all thetime...that was just a couple of months ago. I'm hoping maybe thebehavior will just stop.

I'd like to thank all you guys for your supportand help with this problem. it's good to know i have a place for all mybunny questions.