Pennys Health

Question
My rabbit "penny" has lost alot of weight in 3 or 4 weeks. At first
i thought it could be due to the fact that i had just weaned her
babies off of her. But its been so long, i would think she wouldve
picked her weight up by now. She is a mini lop and had been
quite fat until she had her litter. It was her first and only litter
due to the fact she suddenly started losing all this weight (about
5 or 6 lbs.). I live in Florida. Today i found her behind her little
house(which is one small space behind it.) and refused to move.
I moved the shelter foward, got her out and pushed it securly
against the back of the cage. I then gave her fresh water and
more feed. She only drank a little and refuses to eat. Normally
she is calm and laid back until i reach my hand in there then she
wants me to pet her, but she just stayed and the back of the
cage and was skittish. She is a very expensive show rabbit that
im attatched to and would hate to see die. I got her at 6 months
and have had her for about a year and a half. However, i dont
want to take her to the vet if its just stress and she just needs a
little more loving to get over her "baby blues". If you could
please tell me what i should do that would be great. Thank you

Answer
If she has lost that much weight I would take her to a vet, she could have any of several illnesses.  There is a list of rabbit-knowledgeablet vets at http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/PB_vets.html

A rabbit losing weight is always a cause for concern, and the trip to the vet will stress her out less than not eating will. If she hasn't eaten in 24 hours, you need to make sure she eats, whether it's veggies she likes, or fruit, or just anything to keep her system going until you can get her to a vet.

Kim