How to Deal With a Sick Rabbit

It's hard to play nurse for a sick rabbit. Unlike human beings, the rabbit cannot tell you what is wrong with it, so there's a lot of guessing on your behalf. While you don't have to be a vet to read a rabbit's symptoms, there are a lot of good methods you can use to care for a sick rabbit.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Look for blood coming from your rabbit's foot. Many times this means they broke or cracked a toe nail. There is not much a person can do to aid a rabbit in this situation beyond wrapping the foot in a towel and keeping pressure to stop the bleeding. This injury will naturally heal itself.

2. Be gentle with your rabbit if a bone appears broken. You will notice this if the animal seems like they cannot put pressure on a foot. This is an injury that cannot be fixed at home. Immediately take your rabbit to a veterinarian.

3. Monitor your rabbit's eating habits. If your pet is not eating, there could be several causes, some quite serious. Teeth pain can be aided by feeding your rabbit a liquid diet through a syringe. Gas pain can be solved by apply a heating pad to the stomach. Another cause could be a gastrointestinal problem, which needs to be inspected by a veterinarian.

4. Watch your animal and ensure it is not constantly looking up at the ceiling. This is a disorder called the head tilt. There is no way to cure the frequent problem among rabbits, but it is a good idea the rabbit is surrounded by soft surfaces as they frequently lose their balance.

5. Place a cold towel or bag of ice against the rabbit's ears if it has a fever.