QuestionHello,
Last week we became first-time rabbit owners of a wonderful 9 month old male French Lop. During the last few days, we observed our rabbit collapse on 4 or 5 occassions. Standing in one-spot, he'll suddenly flop over on his side as if losing consciousness; eyes closed and breathing quickly. Each instance this "fainting" has occurred, he gets up within 4 seconds (one time he stayed down for 30 seconds) as if nothing happened. His health otherwise appears normal: eating & drinking well, very active, friendly, curious, and regular toileting. We are concerned that he has health problem and are wondering if we should take him to a vet immediately.
Thanks
AnswerDear Mr. Beech,
AWW! :)
You are the lucky witness of the "fwop". A rabbit who is very happy and contented will often simply *throw* himself to the ground on his side, and sometimes even onto his back, and just lie there in bliss for a while. As long as he's not showing any signs of having spasms or anything, you're not seeing a sign of a health problem. You're seeing a very happy bunny.
It's not a bad idea to take him to a good vet for an overall wellness check, and to develop a good professional relationship with a rabbit savvy vet before you need one! Good rabbit vets are hard to find, but we do have a list here:
www.rabbit.org/vets
I hope that helps! Please write back if you have any other questions, and give your bunny a big head noogie for me. (French Lops are the cuties!)
Dana