Following yesterday afternoon’s blog about Roman, his behaviour continued to change, giving Claire and I cause for concern.

As I mentioned earlier (Sunday), physically Roman initially appeared very well . He was active, interested in life around him and maintained his usual good appetite. It was just that something wasn’t right… he continued to show no desire to leave the safety of his cage and was very ‘clingy’ towards us both.

Roman is a very friendly and affectionate rabbit, but this was a little too much lovey-dovey, even for him. I liken the behaviour to that of a two year old toddler, being left by it’s mother at nursery for the first time. Lots of tears, lots of pleas and lots of leg-hugging.

I found it really cute that Roman came bounding towards me when I approached his cage. Cuter too by the fact he would not allow me to stop stroking his head. Of course, he couldn’t physically prevent me from ceasing with the rubs, but he was just too sweet that I couldn’t leave!

Given how it was still the afternoon, this loving behaviour was very peculiar. Had it been late at night or early morning, we would expect him to be tired, so no concern would cross our minds.

We tried to think of all the physical ailments which could be responsible. We would naturally have no hesitation in taking him to the vets and at one point were preparing ourselves to do so the next day.

This was Sunday at around 5pm. Getting a vet at this time would have been impossible. Besides which, despite Roman looking a bit poorly, this wasn’t an emergency – at least not compared to a dog getting hit by a car, or another bunny falling from an armchair… that one’s only a matter of time!

After eliminating every possible cause for his excessively lethargic nature, the only thing Claire and I could think of, which could be physically up with him was his bowel. We always worry when he misbehaves and eats part of the rug, which makes up part of his run.

There is a saying “what goes in must come out”. This is very true. However, if you, I, a pet dog or cat was to eat some bad food, or a foreign object – for example, a bit of carpet – we would most likely be sick. Vomiting is not a luxury rabbits have the ability to perform. It’s impossible.

When God created bunnies, it appears that he used up all the ‘abilities’ quota on cute things, like a twitching nose and ears that rotate independently of each other. How useful!

The only way in which any rug or cardboard could exit Roman’s body is through his anus, in the form of one of those tiny brown marbles he leaves all over the place.

Our main concern whenever we catch Roman munching on something he shouldn’t, is firstly “Shit! You’re not biting Daddy’s Leeds United programmes, are you?”. We then start to worry how the big chunk of carpet he just ate will pass through his intestines.

The thought of something he has eaten causing an obstruction in his guts is terrifying – especially as it would almost certainly involve a trip to the vets, potentially for major surgery.

We had to ensure Roman was pooping. Given the fact he already had a nice collection of droppings in his litter tray, it was difficult to tell whether or not he was adding to the pile.

Claire therefore gave our bunny a fresh new tray, full of clean litter and void of poo. Mercifully, it wasn’t long until he made use of his toilet. We had never been happier to see a rabbit take a dump.

As the day drew to a close, Roman began to look a lot perkier. Thank goodness for that! A long, sleepless would have awaited everyone had he not improved by bedtime.

This morning, Claire and I had a lovely surprise. Roman was behaving like Roman. He was wide awake, full of life and desperate to be released into his exercise run. It was as if yesterday never happened.

We will probably never know what was wrong with Romy. Clearly it wasn’t anything to be concerned about.

As an extra precaution, we will be keeping him off the treats for the next couple of days. I’m sure he will cope without his toast and banana. Maybe…