Contagion?

[MiichelleErin]

I had three young buns. Pan was 1.5 year, and Eleven and Ash 6 months brother and sister. Pan became ill, and the illness was obvious. He had a runny nose, lethargic, not eating or drinking or very little, licking his lips constantly. At this time, I had Pan separated from the twins completely for about a week, due to family visiting and needing to have the house rearranged. Pan lived on the first floor and Ash and Elle lived on the second floor. They were not bonded yet, since the twins have not been fixed yet, so they always live in different cages as well, until I spay and neuter the littles.

Pan passed away before I could even get him into our vet, last week.

I was worried that what he had could have been GI Stasis, respiratory infection, or another bacterial infection (snuffles?) But never got to confirm. I was happy that they were separate, as happy as I could be mourning Pan, who I was in love with, he was the kindest sweetest most playful bun.

This morning, I woke up to Ash, one of the twins, dead. Ash had zero symptoms of anything. He was playful, eating and drinking, pooping normally. No eye crudites runny nose hard tummy dirty matted feet, any of the things I would check. He was completely fine to my naked eye last night and dead this morning.

Now, I have Elle and only Elle. I am certain that she is affected by the loss of her brother, who she was separated from but they lived in cages next to each other and are always 'together'. As I study her tonight, she is playful, affectionate, curious, clean (no dirty paws, eye or nose discharge, fur looks great, does not appear to be in any pain, etc. the usual Elle!)

I have no idea what killed Ash. Or Pan, although Pan was the only one to show symptoms. Should I be concerned about a contagion? That Elle likely would have it too? Could it possibly coincidence (one was sick, one choked...?)

Any thoughts or advice would be amazing. I want to save my remaining little bun.

 

[Imbrium]

I am so very sorry to hear about your losses. Back to back like that is heartbreaking! I lost a pair of sugar gliders once and less than a week later, I lost one of my first two rabbits to GI stasis (which I feel like I might've caught in time if I hadn't have been preoccupied with the loss of the gliders and distracted by the odd behavior of a different rabbit in our newly-bonded trio). I wish there was something I could say to make it all hurt less .

If it were me, I would write down on paper (so you don't forget anything) the stuff you noted in your post and then take the notes and Elle to the vet for a thorough check-up. Alternatively (or in addition), if you still have Ash's body you could get a necropsy done (seeing as the vet is closed now, you would want to *refrigerate* (NOT freeze) his body until you can get it to the vet). This would provide some insight into how he died. Necropsy isn't usually that expensive... getting a histeo done with it inflates the price quite a bit, but if he's been unrefrigerated since passing, his tissues may not be viable for a histeopathy anyway.

It could be a coincidence... but unless you're broke, it's probably worth the peace of mind to get her checked out.