[caitlin14]

Benji has all of a sudden gotten a bit strange! I went away for 5 days and had a trusted bunny sitter look after him.

I come home his fur is all thick and not as soft (prob just a new winter coat coming in) But he has been biting everything and chewing like crazy, also obsessive scratching/ digging. He is just acting weird in general not as friendly and his poop has been a lot smaller lately, but he is still eating and drinking normally.

He was also running around a bit today and would lay down and just pant like crazy, and i put him back in his enclosed home area and he was still panting. So i gave him a bit of carrot and it seemed to help a bit. But he still keeps randomly panting or breathing faster.. and it's not hot right now, we are going into winter. He also gets kind of crazy eyes and just starts eating and acting funny. And has peed on me twice now! which he has never done.

Any ideas?

(he just turned 4 months old)

Thanks guys!

 

[caitlin14]

So to add on i am kind of getting worried about his panting? or heavy shakey breathing.. He is still doing it. I put a damp towel on his ears to try and cool him down a bit, but he is just laying in his hutch bit breathing heavy it's about 12:00 am here, so not sure what to do!

 

[Jovie]

How is he doing now? did the sitter notice anything strange? maybe he's just scared because he was moved around? I don't really know but I hope he goes back to his normal self!

 

[Purple-Hops]

Hm, at that age he's probably beginning puberty. Hormones and testosterone nd weather change. All these things, plus change in care (babysitter back to you) could just be freaking him out. The breathing, however, seems like something I would wanna check out.
His poops are smaller? Try giving him some papaya or pineapple to kick start his system again. Take away pellets and give him some floral green botanical hay to encourage him to keep eating. The vets might have a look at him. As long as he's keep eating and pooping his system should be good.
His aggression and hyper-ness is probably a sign of his confusing stage of puberty. Most bunnies change. He is probably sexually frustrated and his testosterone is controlling him. . . I never had a male bunny though so I could be wrong.

Acacia was an unfounded terror at about the same age.

 

[Dragonrain]

How's he doing now?

A lot of that stuff is normal, especially for a bunny starting to reach sexual maturity. However, the weird breathing and smaller poops would concern me. If it where me, I'd take him to the vet just to be safe.

Keep us updated! I hope he's okay.

 

[Jovie]

How old is Benji?

 

[Dragonrain]

He's 4 months old, caitlin14 said in her first post.

 

[Jess]

Yeah, everything but the panting sounds pretty normal. The only thing that I can think of other than a heat stroke is a URI or some other lung problems. Definately take him to the vet ASAP.

 

[caitlin14]

Thanks for all the help / support. I kept waking up in the middle of the night worried and checking on him, and this morning his breathing is completely normal, but i will continue to watch him just incase! And i am going to try a bit of pineapple just to help his system. IS it okay to give a little at 4 months? I have only given him a tiny bit of carrot now and then, and a tiny bit of apple twice, and he reacted fine to both.

 

[Jess]

Yup, it's OK to introduce them to veggies once they are 12 weeks. I hope he continues to feel better!

 

[Dragonrain]

Maybe he was just catching his breathe after running around a lot? Keep your eye on him just in case, but hopefully he's okay.

 

[caitlin14]

I gave him some papaya this morning and it's been about 5 hours (not sure how fast bunnies digestive system works) but his poops are getting much bigger and back to a normal size.

One time he had run around a lot and then was panting but the other he had just be lazing around on the bed with me, and laid down and was breathing pretty hard. But luckily he hasn't shown any signs of doing that today, so hopefully he is alright!

 

[Purple-Hops]

A friend of mine has a bunny with arthritis in his back and after running around like a normal bunny he lays down and pants. He is on medicine for his arthritis so maybe you could have Benji checked out? I mean, it's fantastic he's okay!