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Changing Behaviour

22 10:17:24

Question
Hi!

My 7 month old Dutch rabbit used to be full of energy and mischief (ripping paper off the walls, making holes in the carpet). However, recently she has become listless, and when I bring her in to the house she just lies on the floor instead of running round at top speed! This behaviour began after she escaped from her hutch and when we found her later that day she had developed a limp. She was taken to the vets where she got anti-inflammatories to take. The limp is now gone, and I thought she would go back to being herself, assuming the pain is gone with the limp. However she is still not herself more than a week after coming off the medicine which the vet said could be causing her change in behaviour. I have also noticed one of her toenails on the leg which she had the limp is blackened, and I can't tell if this is related....

Please help!

Answer
Dear Frances,

She may still be in pain, even if she's not limping.  A soft tissue injury can take a long time to heal, and she might just not feel like hurting herself.  Full recovery could take weeks, depending on the injury.

The blackened toenail should be evaluated by the vet, in case it is something that requires treatment, and is a source of pain.  Please find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and get bun there for another evaluation.  She might just be preventing further injury by being quiet, but it's good to be sure nothing else is going on:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

Hope this helps.

Dana