How to Know If Your Rabbit Is Sick | Pet Rabbits

Full Playlist:    • How to Take Care of a Pet Rabbit  
_
_
Pet Rabbit Essentials
Timothy Hay: http://amzn.to/1cJZZeF
Comb to control shedding : http://amzn.to/1KBKfog
Clear Plastic Tubing - To protect the rabbit and the cords: http://amzn.to/1bKNcak
BOOK on Rabbit Care: http://amzn.to/1HdbO9S
Bunny Harness: http://amzn.to/1K6yOYQ
Rabbit Food: http://amzn.to/1FgqiWg

Check out Cool Pet Rabbit Toys
Beachcomber hat: http://amzn.to/1KBIvvl
Mini Plastic Slinky: http://amzn.to/1cJZZeF
Toy Plastic Keys: http://amzn.to/1ExHLTv
Bunny Maze Haven: http://amzn.to/1F7PJpy
Sunmaid Raisins : http://amzn.to/1E2wry1
Papaya Tablets: http://amzn.to/1F9vp8G
Deluxe Rabbit Home: http://amzn.to/1F9vp8G
Woven Grass Mat for Rabbits: http://amzn.to/1A0rhHQ
Bunny Chew Toy: http://amzn.to/1K6ySrO
Roomba - To keep your home clean: http://amzn.to/1Fgoa0L

Watch more How to Take Care of a Pet Rabbit videos: http://bit.ly/1EhPnsK



Amy Sedaris: How do you know when your rabbit is sick? How do I know when my rabbit's sick?

Mary Cotter: Yeah, how do you know when your rabbit's sick? How do you know?

Amy: Well. . .

Mary: I'll tell you if you tell me.

Amy: Okay, you tell me first.

Mary: Okay, I'll tell you first. Well when my rabbits are sick one of two things happens, either they're sitting in a different position from what they usually sit in or they're doing something different with respect to eating. For example, some rabbits will stop eating altogether. Other rabbits, and this is a key thing to notice, other rabbits will change patterns of eating. For example, if a rabbit is usually a good hay eater and suddenly he stops eating hay and he'll only eat lettuce or something like that or if you notice a rabbit is picking up a piece of food, looking like he's chewing it and then dropping it, that's a change in eating pattern. So the key here is to be aware of your rabbit's normal eating pattern so that if there is any change you can detect them because a change in eating patterns is one of the main ways to tell the rabbit is sick. And then postures, you've seen Dusty sit in different postures.

Amy: That's usually when I know it's gas and then I give her. . .

Mary: And how do you know that? What happens?

Amy: Because she's pressing her belly on the floor trying to work the bubble out.

Mary: Yeah, that's what they do. It's called belly pressing.

Amy: They keep changing their position.

Mary: Exactly.

Amy: Almost looks like they're restless.

Mary: Restlessness, that's right. And they'll keep pushing their belly against the floor almost like they're trying to massage their belly into the floor. So that's another way you can tell if your rabbit is sick. And the final way you can tell if your rabbit is sick, if you even suspect something, is to learn to take your rabbit's temperature. And we have a How Cast video of how to take your rabbit's temperature so you might want to take a look at that. Once you learn how to take your rabbit's temperature you'll be able to detect drops in body temperature, which are the most frequent way of knowing that a rabbit's on a downhill slide. Very important to be able to do at home, we think.

Amy: But that's the main thing because they can't tell you. You just. . . I don't know that's what so nice about spending so much time with your rabbit. You just get so familiar with each other.

Mary: You get to know what's normal.

Amy: Yeah, you get to know what's normal.

Mary: Exactly. Yeah and they're not like dogs and cats. . .

Amy: And the poop. You said that you can tell with their poop too.

Mary: You can tell with their poop too. They're not like dogs and cats in that they no voices. So if there's something wrong they can't whimper. They can't do anything like that.

Amy: Because they're prey animals and they don't want to signal.

Mary: They're prey animals, right. Yeah, if you see a change. . . Yeah, I should've mentioned that too. If you see a change in poop just as if you see a change in intake, if you see a change in output that can be important too. If your rabbit normally poops a certain amount per day and suddenly you're not seeing any poops that may or may not be an indication of sickness or the rabbit may just not have eaten recently, but you have to keep an eye on it. You should know your rabbit's normal patterns so that if there's a change in the normal pattern you can pick it up quickly and so something about it. Unlike dogs and cats, you don't have the kind of waiting time that you do with those species. For example, if a dog doesn't eat one morning and the wife says to the husband, 'Hey Honey, he didn't eat his breakfast.' and the husband says, 'Oh, we should keep an eye on him.' You can keep an eye on him until the next day and if he still doesn't eat his breakfast the next day then the wife might say, 'We got to call that vet.' And th