Daughters Bunny suddenly died

[Bunnaroo]

Hi,
my daughter had 2 4-5 months old rabbits. One of them unfortunately died yesterday night. I can't pinpoint the cause, I called 4 vets and the all just told me they don't deal with rabbits. Of course it's the weekend.
Maybe someone here can help me out.

-Bunny was fine in the morning, very active, just like the other one.
-Around 8 or 9 pm daughter says the bunny is all limp and won't eat or drink anything.
It had brown discharge all over it's mouth and nose. She had wiped it off before she told me, but I could still see traces of it.
-It hasn't gone poop or pee that evening.
-Then she said the bunny kept laying on its chest and kicking every once in a while.
-Once she told me, I go in to check on the bunny and notice it's just laying on it's chest.
-I thought it might be chocking, so I looked at it's mouth, couldn't see anything.
-It had a bluish tint to it's mouth and nose and the ears where greyish looking under the gray fur instead of the reddish.
-It got worse from there. Started to have more trouble breathing it seems. Breathing was very slow and after a while it started to open its mouth. About 10-15 before it finally passed. It looked like it was gasping for air. Poor thing. It was horrible to watch and not be able to do anything. Quite heart-wrenching, I can't bear animals suffering like that.

I did an online search and the only thing that pops up is Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease, that's why I tried calling the vets, to no avail. If that's what it is, I don't want to bury it outside, as we have a lot of wild rabbits around here. (We're in GA).

Are there any other diseases that would cause this type of thing? The second bunny seems to be fine at this point.

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[BunLover]

I as so sorry for your loss, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, Just hang in there,

 

[Blue eyes]

If there is a chance it was RHVD, then a vet or state agricultural agency should be called so it can be reported. They are trying to track this disease. Once Jenny, our health moderator, sees this, she may have more insight based on your description.

https://rhdv2.org/what-can-i-do/

 

[Bunnaroo]

If there is a chance it was RHVD, then a vet or state agricultural agency should be called so it can be reported. They are trying to track this disease. Once Jenny, our health moderator, sees this, she may have more insight based on your description.

https://rhdv2.org/what-can-i-do/

Thank you, yes I called 5 vets in the area, the ones that answered the phone wouldn't even listen, just said they don't treat bunnies. I'll try calling some further away tomorrow.

 

[JBun]

I'm very sorry for the loss of your rabbit.

If the brown discharge around the mouth looked like mushed up food, your rabbit may have choked on something, possibly it's pelleted food.

(Information only in link: contact your rabbit vet for the correct protocol in clearing an airway obstruction in rabbits, if done incorrectly it could cause serious and permanent injury)
https://vgr1.com/choking/
If the brown discharge looked at all like blood, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus is very likely the cause. It's extremely contagious between rabbits, so this would put your other rabbit at high risk. It's a reportable disease, so if you think it may have been this, you need to contact a vet right away and tell them you suspect RHDV as the possible cause of your rabbits death.

If you can't find a vet tonight to take your call, try tomorrow. In the meantime, I would bag the rabbit in several garbage bags, using disposable kitchen or exam gloves. Try your best not to cross contaminate anything. If you have a fridge or freezer you feel ok puting it in(preferrably a fridge), I would do that, as the body may need to be passed over to the state lab, so you may need to keep it preserved. Then I would use a recommended disinfectant(info in link below) and clean as best you can. If your other rabbit doesn't start to show signs of the same illness by tomorrow, that's a pretty good indication it wasn't RHDV but something else. Another possibility being your rabbit could have gotten into something toxic(eg. mouse bait poison).

https://rabbit.org/rhdv/
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

 

[allenstacy74]

Hi,
my daughter had 2 4-5 months old rabbits. One of them unfortunately died yesterday night. I can't pinpoint the cause, I called 4 vets and the all just told me they don't deal with rabbits. Of course it's the weekend.
Maybe someone here can help me out.

-Bunny was fine in the morning, very active, just like the other one.
-Around 8 or 9 pm daughter says the bunny is all limp and won't eat or drink anything.
It had brown discharge all over it's mouth and nose. She had wiped it off before she told me, but I could still see traces of it.
-It hasn't gone poop or pee that evening.
-Then she said the bunny kept laying on its chest and kicking every once in a while.
-Once she told me, I go in to check on the bunny and notice it's just laying on it's chest.
-I thought it might be chocking, so I looked at it's mouth, couldn't see anything.
-It had a bluish tint to it's mouth and nose and the ears where greyish looking under the gray fur instead of the reddish.
-It got worse from there. Started to have more trouble breathing it seems. Breathing was very slow and after a while it started to open its mouth. About 10-15 before it finally passed. It looked like it was gasping for air. Poor thing. It was horrible to watch and not be able to do anything. Quite heart-wrenching, I can't bear animals suffering like that.

I did an online search and the only thing that pops up is Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease, that's why I tried calling the vets, to no avail. If that's what it is, I don't want to bury it outside, as we have a lot of wild rabbits around here. (We're in GA).

Are there any other diseases that would cause this type of thing? The second bunny seems to be fine at this point.

Thank you in advance for any help.

I had a similar situation with my first bunny, he was perfectly fine the day before he was playing, eating, drinking etc and when I work up the next morning he was dead? Still to this day I’m not sure what caused it

 

[Bunnaroo]

I'm very sorry for the loss of your rabbit.

If the brown discharge around the mouth looked like mushed up food, your rabbit may have choked on something, possibly it's pelleted food.

(Information only in link: contact your rabbit vet for the correct protocol in clearing an airway obstruction in rabbits, if done incorrectly it could cause serious and permanent injury)
https://vgr1.com/choking/
If the brown discharge looked at all like blood, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus is very likely the cause. It's extremely contagious between rabbits, so this would put your other rabbit at high risk. It's a reportable disease, so if you think it may have been this, you need to contact a vet right away and tell them you suspect RHDV as the possible cause of your rabbits death.

If you can't find a vet tonight to take your call, try tomorrow. In the meantime, I would bag the rabbit in several garbage bags, using disposable kitchen or exam gloves. Try your best not to cross contaminate anything. If you have a fridge or freezer you feel ok puting it in(preferrably a fridge), I would do that, as the body may need to be passed over to the state lab, so you may need to keep it preserved. Then I would use a recommended disinfectant(info in link below) and clean as best you can. If your other rabbit doesn't start to show signs of the same illness by tomorrow, that's a pretty good indication it wasn't RHDV but something else. Another possibility being your rabbit could have gotten into something toxic(eg. mouse bait poison).

https://rabbit.org/rhdv/
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

Thank you so much for the extensive information.
Sadly, our second bunny passed away last night, the same way, minus the brown discharge. Like with the other one it seemed to be struggling to breathe, just before death. Open mouth, lying down. Couldn't tell if it had a bluish tint because it had black fur.
Still haven't been able to get a hold of vet. Apparently animals aren't supposed to get sick or die on weekends or holidays... Spent more time looking up things, found pneumonia? to be a possibility also, except of how very fast this was.
I'll still be calling a vet to make sure and disinfect everything in the meantime.

 

[JBun]

I'm so sorry! Your daughter must be heartbroken.

If it had only been one rabbit that passed away, pneumonia would have been a possibility in some instances when it's not such a sudden death. Pneumonia will occur over several days, and you would notice the rabbit starting to develop breathing problems.

With this being sudden, within the day, or even hours of the onset of symptoms, and now your other rabbit having passed away, really the most probable cause would be RHDV, or possibly a toxin. There are no other illnesses that are as likely to result in the sudden death of multiple rabbits in this way. Everything else causing multiple rabbit deaths, will usually present with other symptoms, and/or will not be quite as sudden.

Because there's a high probability this could be RHDV, please be very careful to not have contact with other rabbits, or if at all possible, even go somewhere that's likely to transmit the virus to other rabbits(eg pet store, animal shelter, etc) until you're able to contact a vet that can give you the needed instructions.

This virus is very persistent in the environment, surviving for several months, has a high mortality rate, and very few pet rabbits have been vaccinated yet in the US, due to the virus being a fairly new occurrence here. It's not as widespread as it is in the UK, yet, but there the majority of pet rabbits are already vaccinated since they've had it there for several decades. The vaccine only got an emergency approval here, a couple of years ago. So this is a pretty new thing we're dealing with in the US.

You could see if your state agency might have an emergency contact for the weekend. Probably not, but you never know. Though not sure what more they would tell you besides don't bury the bodies and keep them somewhere safe and contained, disinfect everything possible, don't have contact with other rabbits, and contact your local rabbit vet as soon as possible. Hopefully by Tuesday you can finally get a hold of a knowledgeable vet.