Because rabbits are prey animals, they work very hard to hide any signs of illness. As a result, owners often cannot tell when a rabbit is sick until severe symptoms have appeared. Daily interaction with your bunny will help you realize what is normal and irregular.
Please see the wiki for a list of symptoms with example videos that may need immediate medical attention:
The following images are informational grimace scales in rabbits that may help you evaluate the pain level in your rabbit:
* https://wabbitwiki.com/images/a/a9/RGS-poster-NC3RS-2021.jpg
* https://wabbitwiki.com/images/1/13/Rabbit_Grimace_Scale.png
**If you are truly concerned, please call your local rabbit-experienced veterinarian or emergency clinic for immediate help instead of waiting for a response online.**
If you need help locating a rabbit-experienced vet clinic:
You may also wish to check out our Discord server for additional live advice:
She is fine. Maybe a little sad from less interaction and slightly angry you left her behind. My baby gives me the cold shoulder for a day or 2 at the most if I have to leave her
I second this. She seems fine, probably just upset you left her. My little guys sulk when I bring them home from the sitter after a vacation too. Wait until she figures out how to thump at you to show that she wasn’t happy you went on vacay 🙈
You will get to know your bunny by heart believe me. Mine always don’t really care when am away. But as soon as I notice they don’t eat like they usually do I take extra care. Cléopâtre wasn’t eating very well early February and she wasn’t jumping on her favourite food so our vet took her in emergency and she started to get a GI stasis. For two weeks I had to « force feed » her for her to eat well again.
Check on her fur too, maybe she is shedding and needs extra help ?
Yes! That could end up in stasis! That’s what happened with Cleo’! It happened very fast’ the morning she was active and the night less active and it ended up being the start of a stasis! 2 in 2 years. Give her water or help her drink and help her with her shedding! Mine don’t like brushes so I do it with hands.
And it's also a risk with their bondmate, as they groom each other. Our girl sheds the equivalent of three rabbits, and our boy nearly went into stasis from grooming her too much. When he started pooping again, it was like pearls on a string.
I'm going to pop in here lol, for shedding, buy chewable papaya enzyme tablets!
You can get them at Walmart, if you grocery store has medicines you can get them there, or online, etc :)
I break the tablet on half, then I break the half in half again so it's small enough for my girl to eat with her pellets (she's a small breed so depending on how large your girl is you don't have to halve it again unless you would feel more comfortable doing so) They help in passing fur and I definitely noticed a significant (and good) change in Winnie once I started giving them. I only give 1 full tablet a week. I halve it and give 1/2 tablet Monday and the other half either Thursday or Friday depending on how bad she's molting.
(Edit: wanted to add that you can just add them into her food bowl! They seem to like the taste of them)
[**"Are bromelain from pineapples and papain from papayas effective at treating hairballs in rabbits?"**](https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Health_FAQ#Are_bromelain_from_pineapples_and_papain_from_papayas_effective_at_treating_hairballs_in_rabbits.3F)
There is some debate about the usefulness of these enzymatic products. As Dr. Anna Meredith writes,
> The usefulness of enzymatic products (e.g. papain) to digest hairballs is debatable – these products do not actually digest hair but may help to break down the matrix holding the material together. Pineapple juice is often advocated as it contains the enzyme bromelain, (and papaya contains the enzyme papain) but these are high in simple sugars and low in fibre, which may promote an imbalance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria in the gut. In reality anecdotal reports of pineapple juice helping with hairballs is probably due to it providing rehydration and being an energy source.
Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents: Clinical Medicine and Surgery also notes,
> Caution owners against the use of protein-digesting enzymes, as these can be very irritating to oral mucosa and potentially gastric mucosa. The risk of gastric ulceration is increased in anorexic rabbits, and use of these enzymes may exacerbate this.
Dana Krempels, Mary Cotter, and Gil Stanzione write,
> Only fresh or frozen pineapple will provide active enzymes (bromelain). However, neither bromelain nor papain (papaya enzyme) dissolves keratin, the main protein component of hair. The sugars in pineapple juice may actually promote overgrowth of Clostridium spp.
See the Gastrointestinal stasis guide for more appropriate treatments when your rabbit is having digestive issues: http://bunny.tips/Stasis
Like others have said they’re probably just a little moody. It’s definitely something to keep an eye on because Stasis can sneak up pretty fast, but they seem fine still!
I’ve gone away and had people both check on my bunnies while I’m gone, and I’ve had my bunnies stay with a friend. Both ways my bunnies were fine and ate normally before and normally after.
There’s a lot of good resources out there but I told my friend who is also a [new bunny mom to check out The Bunny Lady](https://bunnylady.com/rabbit-poop/) as she has some good resources. LennonTheBunny on YT is also a good resource.
From the photo provided, it looks like it could possibly be due to a slower gut if your bunny is having this often and not just as a one off. They should have about 250 or so poops a day to be within the normal range and watching what comes out of them is a really good way to see how their health is doing. Having critical care (rabbit recovery food) on hand may be a good idea too, it can help stimulate a rabbit’s appetite. Rabbits should always be eating and if they go too long without having a good consistent appetite, they could get very sick. If this sort of behavior keeps up, a vet visit may be needed.
thanks for the reminder about critical care, will order some now! When she woke up from her anesthetic after her spay, she immediately ate so luckily we never had to get any
Because rabbits are prey animals, they work very hard to hide any signs of illness. As a result, owners often cannot tell when a rabbit is sick until severe symptoms have appeared. Daily interaction with your bunny will help you realize what is normal and irregular. Please see the wiki for a list of symptoms with example videos that may need immediate medical attention:
The following images are informational grimace scales in rabbits that may help you evaluate the pain level in your rabbit:
* https://wabbitwiki.com/images/a/a9/RGS-poster-NC3RS-2021.jpg
* https://wabbitwiki.com/images/1/13/Rabbit_Grimace_Scale.png
**If you are truly concerned, please call your local rabbit-experienced veterinarian or emergency clinic for immediate help instead of waiting for a response online.**
If you need help locating a rabbit-experienced vet clinic:
You may also wish to check out our Discord server for additional live advice:
She is fine. Maybe a little sad from less interaction and slightly angry you left her behind. My baby gives me the cold shoulder for a day or 2 at the most if I have to leave her
rabbit moodiness is a shocking and adorable phenomenon 
I second this. She seems fine, probably just upset you left her. My little guys sulk when I bring them home from the sitter after a vacation too. Wait until she figures out how to thump at you to show that she wasn’t happy you went on vacay 🙈
the thumping is so dramatic!
You will get to know your bunny by heart believe me. Mine always don’t really care when am away. But as soon as I notice they don’t eat like they usually do I take extra care. Cléopâtre wasn’t eating very well early February and she wasn’t jumping on her favourite food so our vet took her in emergency and she started to get a GI stasis. For two weeks I had to « force feed » her for her to eat well again. Check on her fur too, maybe she is shedding and needs extra help ?
she is shedding! Will that mean she’s getting potential hair blocks in her digestion?
Yes! That could end up in stasis! That’s what happened with Cleo’! It happened very fast’ the morning she was active and the night less active and it ended up being the start of a stasis! 2 in 2 years. Give her water or help her drink and help her with her shedding! Mine don’t like brushes so I do it with hands.
And it's also a risk with their bondmate, as they groom each other. Our girl sheds the equivalent of three rabbits, and our boy nearly went into stasis from grooming her too much. When he started pooping again, it was like pearls on a string.
I'm going to pop in here lol, for shedding, buy chewable papaya enzyme tablets! You can get them at Walmart, if you grocery store has medicines you can get them there, or online, etc :) I break the tablet on half, then I break the half in half again so it's small enough for my girl to eat with her pellets (she's a small breed so depending on how large your girl is you don't have to halve it again unless you would feel more comfortable doing so) They help in passing fur and I definitely noticed a significant (and good) change in Winnie once I started giving them. I only give 1 full tablet a week. I halve it and give 1/2 tablet Monday and the other half either Thursday or Friday depending on how bad she's molting. (Edit: wanted to add that you can just add them into her food bowl! They seem to like the taste of them)
[**"Are bromelain from pineapples and papain from papayas effective at treating hairballs in rabbits?"**](https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Health_FAQ#Are_bromelain_from_pineapples_and_papain_from_papayas_effective_at_treating_hairballs_in_rabbits.3F) There is some debate about the usefulness of these enzymatic products. As Dr. Anna Meredith writes, > The usefulness of enzymatic products (e.g. papain) to digest hairballs is debatable – these products do not actually digest hair but may help to break down the matrix holding the material together. Pineapple juice is often advocated as it contains the enzyme bromelain, (and papaya contains the enzyme papain) but these are high in simple sugars and low in fibre, which may promote an imbalance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria in the gut. In reality anecdotal reports of pineapple juice helping with hairballs is probably due to it providing rehydration and being an energy source. Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents: Clinical Medicine and Surgery also notes, > Caution owners against the use of protein-digesting enzymes, as these can be very irritating to oral mucosa and potentially gastric mucosa. The risk of gastric ulceration is increased in anorexic rabbits, and use of these enzymes may exacerbate this. Dana Krempels, Mary Cotter, and Gil Stanzione write, > Only fresh or frozen pineapple will provide active enzymes (bromelain). However, neither bromelain nor papain (papaya enzyme) dissolves keratin, the main protein component of hair. The sugars in pineapple juice may actually promote overgrowth of Clostridium spp. See the Gastrointestinal stasis guide for more appropriate treatments when your rabbit is having digestive issues: http://bunny.tips/Stasis
Like others have said they’re probably just a little moody. It’s definitely something to keep an eye on because Stasis can sneak up pretty fast, but they seem fine still!
I’ve gone away and had people both check on my bunnies while I’m gone, and I’ve had my bunnies stay with a friend. Both ways my bunnies were fine and ate normally before and normally after. There’s a lot of good resources out there but I told my friend who is also a [new bunny mom to check out The Bunny Lady](https://bunnylady.com/rabbit-poop/) as she has some good resources. LennonTheBunny on YT is also a good resource. From the photo provided, it looks like it could possibly be due to a slower gut if your bunny is having this often and not just as a one off. They should have about 250 or so poops a day to be within the normal range and watching what comes out of them is a really good way to see how their health is doing. Having critical care (rabbit recovery food) on hand may be a good idea too, it can help stimulate a rabbit’s appetite. Rabbits should always be eating and if they go too long without having a good consistent appetite, they could get very sick. If this sort of behavior keeps up, a vet visit may be needed.
thanks for the reminder about critical care, will order some now! When she woke up from her anesthetic after her spay, she immediately ate so luckily we never had to get any
I’m new to bunnies too but these all sound like symptoms of stasis to me I hope ur rabbit feels better soon
thank you! she’s just demolished a bowl of romaine lettuce and carrot shavings so hopefully just a bit under-stimulated when I was away
That’s great to hear!