October 2026
Your rabbit used to leap onto the couch every evening. Now she waits on the floor. She sleeps a little more, her bottom is a little messier, and it's easy to shrug and say she's just getting old. Very often, though, what we're actually seeing is chronic pain. The encouraging news is that chronic pain can usually be eased, and some of the most helpful changes happen right in your living room.
Short-term pain, like the soreness after an injury, is protective and fades as the body heals. Chronic pain is different. When pain goes on long enough, the nerves and spinal cord become more sensitive and start turning up the volume, so ordinary movement or touch hurts more than it should. That can continue even after the original problem improves, which is why chronic pain usually needs more than one approach.
In older small pets, the usual sources are arthritis and spinal changes, sore hocks (pressure sores on the heels) in rabbits, dental disease, bladder sludge or stones, reproductive disease in unspayed females, and long-running gut problems.
Rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas are prey animals, and their instinct is to hide weakness. Rats and mice often stop showing pain the moment someone is watching. Ferrets are more open about it, but their discomfort is easily mistaken for personality.
In all of them, the absence of normal behavior is often more meaningful than anything dramatic. Watch for a pet that eats hay more slowly, leaves smaller or fewer droppings, grooms less (in rabbits, a dirty bottom or uneaten cecotropes), stops jumping or climbing, has litter-box accidents, or sits hunched in one spot. A rabbit who stops snuggling with her bonded partner, a ferret who plays less and no longer curls up to sleep, or a rat whose nest has become sloppy is telling you something.
Your observations are the most valuable tool we have. Short phone videos of your pet moving around at home, taken when they don't know you're watching, help me enormously, because many animals freeze up in the exam room.
In my experience, changes at home are often the single most effective treatment for chronic pain, because they help every hour of the day.
Start with the floor. Smooth surfaces force sore joints to work harder, so add rugs, foam mats or fleece where your pet spends time. Once mobility starts to slip, take away ramps and extra levels and keep everything on one floor. Cut down one side of the litter box so it's easy to step into, and put food and water close by, ideally at more than one station so your pet doesn't have to travel far.
Weight matters too. Extra weight loads painful joints, while a pet who has become thin may need nutritional support, so we'll aim for the right middle ground together. Keep the room at a steady, draft-free temperature, keep bonded companions together when you can, and make changes gradually. Prey animals find big rearrangements stressful, and stress makes pain worse.
Depending on the cause and your pet's overall health, a plan often starts with anti-inflammatory pain medication, with periodic bloodwork when it's used long term. Other medications can be added for nerve-related pain. Some pets also benefit from joint injections, laser therapy, gentle physical therapy, massage, acupuncture or warm compresses, kept short and calm.
I usually start simple and change one thing at a time, reassessing with the same signs each visit. If one approach is helpful, we keep it. If it adds stress without clear improvement, we simplify. Research in these species is still limited, so careful follow-up is part of the treatment.
For some older pets, the goal gradually shifts to comfort and dignity. Hospice-style care is a legitimate and compassionate middle path between doing everything possible and doing nothing, and I'm glad to help families plan it.
Call the same day if your pet stops eating, stops producing droppings, or suddenly seems much more painful.
Book a visit soon if you're noticing the gradual changes above: slowing down, messier grooming, fewer jumps, or a shift in personality.
Dr. Logan Kopp, DVM, DABVP (Exotic Companion Mammal Practice), is Nashville's exotic companion mammal specialist and a Fellow in Companion Animal Pain Management, helping families manage chronic pain in rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets and other small mammals at Priest Lake Veterinary Hospital. Call (615) 361-4646.
This article is general information, not medical advice for your pet. Reading it doesn't create a veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR). Please talk with your own veterinarian before making changes to your pet's care.