# URGENT!! Rabbit Seizure/Stroke/?????



## Kwings (Dec 21, 2010)

I took the dogs outside a bit ago and heard a commotion in the rabbit hutch which isn't too uncommon. Theres a female in there who should be old enough to have babies soon-ish so I thought the buck was getting too fresh with her for her liking. 

Well i go to check on them and its one of the rabbits from the same litter of the 2 I butchered last Friday it was on the smaller side so i'm giving it a few more weeks to fill out, i figured maybe the others wouldn't let it eat so since they are gone it would be able to catch up. 

Now i'm thinking there may just be something wrong with it. The commotion i heard was this rabbit laying on the floor of the hutch on its side flailing around. I took it out and it commenced to flail its feet in a manner that propelled its whole body around in circles (think crocodile death roll) and its head was thrown completely back. 

It recovered after a bit enough to sit in the grass and breathe hard, it had wetness around its nose which I've read is one of the signs of heat stroke but here is the thing, its not hot outside! Its cloudy,windy, and kind of chilly out there. 

Its ears were moving rabidly and it was breathing hard, the dogs were playing and they ran by and startled it so the rabbit stiffens up in my hands and then goes completely limp with its eyes closed and i'm like "did it just die?!" so i lay it down and pet it and attempted to do chest compressions (didn't really know what i was doing but had to try something) and it started breathing but it seemed to have a fit of some sort where it was (laying on its side) running with all its legs as fast as it could and grabbing mouth fulls of grass and just trying to tear it up.

After that spell it was pretty weak and it mustered enough strength to clean its face which now has more wetness on it then ever and it was drooling some after the last fit. 

now does anyone know what this could be? Its fairly stable now I've got it caged away from the other rabbits.

Can rabbits get rabies? Is it possible that it had a seizure or a stroke or heart attack? This rabbit is only about 14 weeks old now, any help as to what may be wrong with it is greatly appreciated!


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I would cull it if it were mine. I would be afraid next time I would go out there and it would be dead any way.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Unless your rabbit has been playing with skunks (you'd know), I doubt it's rabies. Theoretically, of course, it COULD be, but that would be a long shot.

I'm with SquashNut. If it survives, there's a high probability that it will continue to have problems.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Wasp or spider bite perhaps? I've heard of rabbits having bad reactions to those.


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

Is it still alive?

My first reaction was heat, but if it's chilly and cloudy and the rabbit had water, then I don't think that would be the case. 

If there was a lot of commotion in the yard, I've heard of rabbits hitting fence and the sides of their cages so hard they break their necks, but if it's still alive, I don't think that's the case either. 

If it's not a pet, I would consider culling it. If you cannot find a significant reason for it to have such a seizure, then I would fear it was a genetic defect.


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## Kwings (Dec 21, 2010)

Sorry I couldn't update I was at work. It died right before I left to go to work. I'm keeping an eye on the others and in the morning the hutch is getting throughly checked out for spider and wasp nests. 

The dogs were running around outside and it was a very skittish little thing it very well could have gotten so frightened that it ran into the wall and broke its own neck or at least knocked its self so hard it caused damage. 

I'm keeping an eye on the rabbit i'm keeping from that litter, I'm hoping its not genetic but I'll be watching her babies closely as this isn't something I want in my lines.


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