A rabbit cannot be sick — and that changes everything

Your rabbit will never throw up. Not from a bad meal, not from a swallowed clump of fur, not ever.

The anatomy is simply built the other way. A rabbit's stomach sits behind a powerful one-way valve, and the muscular reflex that lets dogs, cats and people vomit just isn't there. Food goes in one direction only, through a gut that relies on constant, gentle movement to keep working.

It's an elegant design for an animal that grazes all day on grass. It's also why vets treat rabbits so differently. There's no fasting a rabbit before anaesthesia, because there's nothing to bring up — and an empty rabbit gut is a dangerous rabbit gut.

It's the reason hay matters more than almost anything else you buy. Fibre keeps the conveyor belt turning. When it stops, swallowed fur and food don't come back up; they sit.

A rabbit that stops eating is not being fussy. It is a clock running down.

So the signs to know by heart: no interest in food for 12 hours, no droppings, a hunched posture, pressing the belly to the floor, grinding teeth. That's gut stasis, and it is an emergency. Same day, a vet experienced with rabbits — not a wait-and-see.

Most days this fact stays invisible. On the one day it doesn't, knowing it buys your rabbit hours. 🐰