Our pet rabbit, Peter Bunny, will be 10 years old next month. (In bunny years he's at least a centenarian.) Unfortunately he's started coughing after he runs, and a possible diagnosis is heart disease.
He has the free [-]chewing[/-] run of about half the house, so he's stayed healthy and very mobile. (No hutch arthritis here.) When I come downstairs each morning he usually greets me with a chase around the familyroom. I'll dash from one side of the room to the other and he'll come running after me. We'll do four or five laps and then he'll decide that he's done. Because he always "wins", he gets plenty of praise and petting. An hour later he'll decide that it's time for more and we'll do it again. We used to do it seven or eight times every morning but in the last few years he's cut back to two or three sets.
This month when we've played our usual game he's started to make a noise like a cough or a "ghack" sound. Bunnies don't verbalize much so this gets your attention. It almost sounds like he's clearing his throat. It's always on the first chase of the morning and after the usual four or five laps, but it doesn't even happen every day. I can't tell if the noise is deliberate or involuntary but he only makes it once and then he stops playing. He doesn't seem upset or alarmed or otherwise disturbed-- he's just done playing. He accepts his usual praise and petting and then uses his litter box. In an hour or so he'll play again.
He had his typical clean bill of health at the vet's in October, his diet is the same, he's always maintained his weight, his poop & pee look fine, his habits are normal, and his behavior's otherwise normal. He's still playful when he wants to be, he still does his "electric bunny" jumps, and he even occasionally sprints laps around the room (although he does the last less often than he used to). But when he's scared by something (a cat passing through the yard) then he'll still make danger thumps and sprint into hiding like he was a young bunny.
We phoned the vet and she's concerned about heart disease. Apparently in older bunnies the cardiac muscle isn't pumping as efficiently and the valves may leak back a little. After long periods of inactivity (like napping at night) fluid builds up in their lungs. If they start the morning with a burst of physical activity, the heart can't keep up so more fluid builds up and they and start coughing. They settle down and rest, the heart catches up, the lungs clear up, and they seem fine afterward.
She said it could also be a sign of a new allergy, but heart disease makes a lot of sense. When Peter gets up in the afternoon after his daytime nap he's never been interested in racing around, so we only see that behavior and those symptoms in the mornings.
Treatment is a fruity-tasting diuretic pill at night before bedtime. Favorite flavors are apparently pina colada and tutti frutti, and luckily they taste yummy enough for bunnies to eat them on their own. (I can't imagine force-feeding a pill without my own personal body armor.) Parsley and juniper are natural diuretics (and also yummy) but it's tough to get the doses right.
We're taking him to the vet's office next week so that she can listen to his heart and maybe hear a murmur. She might have to try a chest X-ray, which should be an interesting experience for everyone, but hopefully she'll be able to figure it out. She says that bunny lifespans are just starting to give vets enough data to research the best treatments.
I guess it's "good" that this is happening while our daughter's home on college break and can be involved and can talk through everything. We know that bunnies frequently have cardiac problems but I'm not sure how successful diuretics are at bunny life extension.
I realize now that I've been expecting this guy to go to his great reward quickly & painlessly in the middle of the night instead of having to deal with these symptoms.
He has the free [-]chewing[/-] run of about half the house, so he's stayed healthy and very mobile. (No hutch arthritis here.) When I come downstairs each morning he usually greets me with a chase around the familyroom. I'll dash from one side of the room to the other and he'll come running after me. We'll do four or five laps and then he'll decide that he's done. Because he always "wins", he gets plenty of praise and petting. An hour later he'll decide that it's time for more and we'll do it again. We used to do it seven or eight times every morning but in the last few years he's cut back to two or three sets.
This month when we've played our usual game he's started to make a noise like a cough or a "ghack" sound. Bunnies don't verbalize much so this gets your attention. It almost sounds like he's clearing his throat. It's always on the first chase of the morning and after the usual four or five laps, but it doesn't even happen every day. I can't tell if the noise is deliberate or involuntary but he only makes it once and then he stops playing. He doesn't seem upset or alarmed or otherwise disturbed-- he's just done playing. He accepts his usual praise and petting and then uses his litter box. In an hour or so he'll play again.
He had his typical clean bill of health at the vet's in October, his diet is the same, he's always maintained his weight, his poop & pee look fine, his habits are normal, and his behavior's otherwise normal. He's still playful when he wants to be, he still does his "electric bunny" jumps, and he even occasionally sprints laps around the room (although he does the last less often than he used to). But when he's scared by something (a cat passing through the yard) then he'll still make danger thumps and sprint into hiding like he was a young bunny.
We phoned the vet and she's concerned about heart disease. Apparently in older bunnies the cardiac muscle isn't pumping as efficiently and the valves may leak back a little. After long periods of inactivity (like napping at night) fluid builds up in their lungs. If they start the morning with a burst of physical activity, the heart can't keep up so more fluid builds up and they and start coughing. They settle down and rest, the heart catches up, the lungs clear up, and they seem fine afterward.
She said it could also be a sign of a new allergy, but heart disease makes a lot of sense. When Peter gets up in the afternoon after his daytime nap he's never been interested in racing around, so we only see that behavior and those symptoms in the mornings.
Treatment is a fruity-tasting diuretic pill at night before bedtime. Favorite flavors are apparently pina colada and tutti frutti, and luckily they taste yummy enough for bunnies to eat them on their own. (I can't imagine force-feeding a pill without my own personal body armor.) Parsley and juniper are natural diuretics (and also yummy) but it's tough to get the doses right.
We're taking him to the vet's office next week so that she can listen to his heart and maybe hear a murmur. She might have to try a chest X-ray, which should be an interesting experience for everyone, but hopefully she'll be able to figure it out. She says that bunny lifespans are just starting to give vets enough data to research the best treatments.
I guess it's "good" that this is happening while our daughter's home on college break and can be involved and can talk through everything. We know that bunnies frequently have cardiac problems but I'm not sure how successful diuretics are at bunny life extension.
I realize now that I've been expecting this guy to go to his great reward quickly & painlessly in the middle of the night instead of having to deal with these symptoms.
