Rabbit Falling Over

Question
My rabbit is 6 years old.  When she falls asleep she falls to her side.  I have taken her to our vets who first thought it was some sort of brain problem as it sounded like a form of fitting and didnt hold much hope for her, but gave her an injection to reduce any swelling on the brain, antibactrial infection medication and worming medication. She returned to normal for about 4 weeks then it started happening again we returned to the vet who again treated her with an injection to reduce swelling and antibacterial medication she returned to normal again for again about 5/6 weeks. It then started again about a week ago we returned to the vet convinced she was picking up a infection from the seaguls or something. He again gave her a an injection to reduce swelling and prescribed the antibacterial medicine although this time he said he doesnt think its any form of fitting and that its simply her age and demonstrated by lying her on her side to prove she just cant get up. Unfortunatly he appears to be right as she hasnt picked this time, so everytime she falls asleep she falls and cant get up, she seems ok in herself eating and drinking although not as much as she used too and seems most interested in the apple. She has lost weight over the past three months again the vet is telling me it is due to age.  Due you think this is the case (her age)? As im not convinced due to the fact she returned to normal after the first 2 visits.

Answer
Dear Samantha,

Lots of rabbits slowly fall over when they are deeply asleep, and that is not anything to worry about, as long as they can get back up when they awaken.  But if you are saying she topples over and *cannot get back up*, then there could be any number of problems.

First, your rabbit is NOT old at the age of only six.  She's barely reached middle age.  So if your present vet things these problems are related to aging, it might be wise to seek a second opinion from a more rabbit-savvy vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If your bunny is trying to get up, but just a bit slow, she may have arthritis or painful connective tissue/inflammation that just hurt when she tries to rise.  A low dose of pain medication (we find that a combination of tramadol and metacam work very well) will help you test whether this will improve her condition.

Does she have any other neurological signs?  Has she had bloodwork done to check her kidney and liver functions?  Wasting and weight loss can be due to renal disease, which also can cause neurological signs in its later stages.  It also can be caused by molar spurs that interfere with proper eating:

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

If she has balance problems when she's awake, please see:

www.rabbit.org/health/tilt.html

since many of the things that cause head tilt (torticollis) can also cause balance problems without the overt tilt of the head.

so the weight loss may not be directly related to her falling over.

If she falls over again, watch her closely.  It's not abnormal for her to lie on her side when asleep.  But if she absolutely *cannot get up* when she wakes up, you may have a problem.  I hope not, though if the "problem" is nothing but a very relaxed bunny, you've sure gone through the wringer!  :(

I hope this helps, but please write back if I've misunderstood, or if you have an other questions.


Dana