What To Do About A Sick Bunny Or Sick Rabbit
Sometimes, our bunnies get sick. When they do, it is our responsibility as rabbit owners to take them to a veterinarian, otherwise known as a vet. I received several requests a month asking for help regarding rabbits that have stopped eating or pooing, or aren't moving much at all. There is only one thing to do when your rabbit is so obviously ill, and that is to take your rabbit to the animal doctor.
Some people get bunnies because they think that bunnies are easier pets than cats or dogs that don't need the same sort of care. They're wrong of course. Rabbits need to visit the vet too, they need to get yearly shots just like cats and dogs, and they should also be spayed or neutered. Female rabbits who are not spayed almost always develop uterine cancer by the time they are four years old. This is part of the reason why people think that bunnies die easily. A well taken care of rabbit can easily live 10 years or more. If your pet rabbits are dropping dead after a few months or years, then you are doing something wrong.
In order to keep your rabbit happy and healthy, you should feed it a diet that is high in hay and very little else. Yes, rabbits can and will eat a lot of other things, and a small treat of carrot or apple or a dandelion leaf every now and then won't hurt them, neither will a few good quality pellets. However rabbits cannot live on pellets alone, and some rabbits have very sensitive tummies that go haywire when you feed them anything other than hay. This results in nasty, sticky poo that sticks to the bunny's bottom and makes for a disgusting mess that will need to be cleaned up.
If you give your rabbit plenty of healthy hay and water, and occasionally supplement it with a few pellets (quite literally, only a few pellets a day) your rabbit will remain healthy and regular for years on end.
The other step you can take to ensure good rabbit health is to always handle them carefully. Aside from dietary problems, rabbits also get injured because they are handled badly. Make sure you always support the back end of a rabbit when you pick them up, otherwise they truly are quite capable of breaking their backs by kicking out.
Most rabbit care is simple, and dealing with a sick rabbit is even simpler.
If your rabbit is sick: take it to the vet.
