Rabbit depression?

Question
Hi Dana

I have a three year old female houserabbit.  Until this week, she lived in the same room with her sister (had separate hutches) who sadly passed away on Christmas eve morning after a long illness.  

Since then she has been acting completely lost and is uninterested in coming out of her hutch and is spending a lot of time lying flat with her chin on the floor.  We made sure she saw her sister just after she died as we had heard this was important for the surviving rabbit to know she had  not just disappeared.  However, she does seem to be acting depressed.  Appetite and thirst are thankfully normal, however I am concerned that she is very down.  Do rabbits get depressed?  We are making sure we spend lots of time with her.  Should we think of getting a further companion for her?  I was not wanting to do this at the moment due to feeling the loss very greatly of her sister passing, yet, it may be something that would comfort her to have company?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Fiona

Answer
Dear Fiona,

I am very sorry for your loss.  And yes, your bunny is definitely grieving.  I have known a bereaved bunny to actually grieve to *death* in some cases.  But it's a good thing your girl is eating and drinking well.  That means she's not suicidal.

I think now would be a very good time for you to contact your local rabbit rescuer:

www.rabbit.org/chapters

and set up some "blind dates" with eligible bachelors for her.  She will have to be spayed first, but a good vet can do that:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope you can get her to meet some bunnies soon, as this will almost certainly perk her up and help her get over this terrible loss.

I hope this helps.

Dana