Darren - updated

Ok i need some help from members, i know ultimately a vet trip is the best thing but some advice would also help.

My bf has a 7 year old male rabbit, i have no idea on his breed although we were told he may have a little dwarf mixed in there some where. He's a lone house rabbit who recovered from a operation to remove a lump non his side a few months ago. I haven't seen my bf for a while and he told me on the phone something seemed to be wrong with his bun, so thought i would check when i went over the weekend.

It was like he didn't even know who i was. I mean i hadn't been there for a month and i guessed he just forgot me but he was acting very strange. He lies in his cage and when i used to approach he would sit up very quickly, but now he just lies there. We let him out for a run and all he did was hide under my bf's desk chair, when we tried to get him out he wouldn't budge, even with my hand on him gently trying to push him forwards. He's also off his food, he's fed muesli [i know this isn't the best but my bf got him when he was young and didn't know all to much about rabbits and he wont eat anything different] and would normally eat a bowlful a day and then make very noisy demands for more, now his food bowl seems full continuiosly and he seems reluctant to eat. I put some hay in for him, but not having hay since being a kit he nibbles a little and then sleeps in the rest.

I was sat with him for a long time trying to get him to eat something, he would eat alfalfa treats quite quickly but the rest of his food he seems uninterested in. I fed him a few, i know its bad for him to eat large quantitys but i just wanted him to eat something i also picked a handful off fresh grass and dandelion leaves that he seemed interested in, but after eating a bit he went back to lieing down. I don't know if he ate more as i came home last night and haven't spoken to my bf yet.

The most worrying thing is his breathing. He constantly flares his nostrils, i know some rabbits breathe fast but he has never done that before. He also sort of pulses .... i dunno how to describe it its like he's rocking back and forth as he breathes. He also occasionally makes a strange noise ... almost a retching noise.

I know he needs a vet visit. My bf is a uni student in the last year of is course in the middle of a project and as much as i know he would drop everything for a vet appointment he cant. He's finding the time to get one at the start of this week that is in the practices hours and that he can get to, so hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. I just need some ideas of things he can do the help him before his vet visit.

All I can say is that this bun needs to get to the Vet asap!

He sounds very poorly and needs help bless him and its quite likely he is in pain too if he is not eating.

I understand that your friend is busy but this bun needs help, and quickly.

K x

I can vouch for him here on how unbelievably stressful final year uni can be and trying to fit everything in.
It's just best to get this little guy to the vets asap. Monitor his eating, drinking and pooing. Try to get him to eat some greens, wave them in front of his face if needs be until he gets annoyed and takes it. I'm not an expert but that's all I can offer you at the mo. Let us know what happens!

Could be a problem with his teeth. If he has been eating muesli a long time, he might not be getting enough fibre and he might have spurs on his back teeth. These are very painful if they grow into the tongue or the side of the mouth. That could explain why he will eat soft food and not hard stuff.

He needs to see a vet ASAP.

I can only add that a bun in this condition is most likely really poorly, and for whatever reason he's stopped eating, if he doesn't start very soon, he'll go into stasis and could die quite quickly. If your Bf can't take him, can someone else, I really do think it's urgent that he sees a vet

so i have a update. I have been off here for about two weeks due to stupid internet and internet security :/

Darren started eating a few days after i posted, my bf called the vets and they helped him to get the bun to start eating. Started small and picked up after a few days. He took him to the vets anyways, i don't have all the information on this visit but i think he was given something to stimulate him eating and he was soon well on the way to being a normal bun again.

He was fine until last Sunday night, he was suddenly very weak, off his food and struggling to breathe all within 24 hours. Monday morning he was taken to the vets as soon as the opened, they discussed options and it was decided he be taken to their main surgery [the vets is a small vets office, with a main surgery 30 minutes away with more advanced equipment] for further treatment however when i spoke to my bf he wasn't hopeful. Darren had collapsed on the table when he had taken him and and he seemed like he had little to no energy at all.

They gave him oxygen [something i didn't know you could do for a bun] and tried to get fluids and food into him to build his strength, but he showed no improvement and we were called by the vets later that night and were advised to have him pts. My bf having seen him struggling just couldn't let him continue and agreed with the vets that it was for the best

It was discovered afterwards that he also had the start of teeth problems that the vets told us would have become quite bad and required routine treatment so at least he never had to deal with that ... he never enjoyed the vet visits.

Poor little Darren, we saved you once but this time it wasn't to be. I hope you rest in peace now.

RIP Darren

I'm so very sorry about Darren one of my bunnies that died in January had to have oxygen but she died at the vet's, I was heartbroken as she was only 7 months old that's her in my avatar photo she was called Cloud.

Run Free Forever at the Bridge Darren xxx

Im so very sorry to hear about Darren.


It is so very sad that he has passed to the bridge, If only the vet had discovered what the underlying problem was to his first bout of stasis.

Sleep sweetly litte bun. x x x

That is very sad, binky free Darren