Healthy bunnies pass away

[Carrie2124]

Hello everyone. I'm hoping someone can help shed some light on an issue. My 16yr old daughter had a bunny for almost 1yr and she suddenly died. The bunny was acting normal. She was running around her cage like she did every morning. My daughter went and took her shower and grab breakfast. Around an hour later she went back to her room and her bunny was dead. This happened about 3mons ago. Well 4wks ago I got her a new bunny for her bday. The bunny was healthy and acted like every other bunny I've ever seen. This morning she was hoping around her cage like she does every morning. My daughter went to take her shower and when she got back to her room the bunny was dead.

The first bunny was around a year old and this was one was around 4 or 5mons old. I looked over both bunnies after they passed and there was no signs of anything unusual. I thought maybe the first had a heart attack since it happen out of nowhere. Now I'm not sure what is going on. They were both fed rabbit food and fresh veggies. If anyone has any ideas of what could happened I would appreciate it

 

[stevesmum]

Rabbits should have hay available to them in large amounts 24 hours a day. You don’t mention any hay in your post. Hay keeps their gut moving. You also don’t mention much about the living environment, daily routine (I.e. exercise time etc) or anything like that. So it’s hard to speculate. Perhaps some more information would help? Sorry for your loss though.

 

[Carrie2124]

Sorry I wasn't sure what all I needed to add. Both bunnies had their cages totally cleaned and everything changed about every 3 days. As far as I know there was always hay available (we have huge bag bc we have guinea pigs too). Fresh water twice a day. My daughter had them out several times a day to play and cuddle. The first one went outside on a leash a few times when it was warm bc she didn't like being outside much so she only went out a couple times. It's cold where we live so the new bunny had never been outside.

Both after passing or right before bc they were wet near their rear and had some poo on their bum. I know this is normal for ppl and dogs so I assume it's normal for most animals do to the body relaxing.

 

[JBun]

If you're certain the rabbits were eating, drinking, and pooping right up until that time, and died with no visible symptoms, I would have supposed heart attack as well. But for it to occur with two rabbits would be unusual. There's always the slight chance that it was just a coincidence and that's what happened in both cases, but if that's not what happened, there would be a few things I might consider as possibilities. First rule out possible accidental injury . Things as simple as holding too tightly or picking up the rabbit with too tight of a hold, has the potential to cause possible injuries inadvertently due to the delicate nature of rabbits. Once injury is ruled out I would look at any possible environmental factors such as toxins. Could be as simple as a rabbit getting to some toothpaste left on the floor, or maybe chewing on old baseboards that have lead based paint. Then if you have cats that the rabbits were exposed to, they can carry contagions that can be fatal to rabbits. It's not common for it to happen, but also not unheard of. There might be other possibilities, but it would be very unusual for it to occur in both rabbits the exact same way.

Only way to know for sure would be to have a necropsy done, and even then it could come back inconclusive.

I'm sorry your daughter lost her rabbits and hope you are able to figure out what may have happened.

 

[Carrie2124]

Heart attack seemed most likely with the first but I agree that 2 the same way just seemed a little off. We don't have cats but for about 4mons last year my sister's cats were here while my sister was in between homes. My daughter's room is our whole 3rd floor. My sister and her cats stayed on the 3rd floor with my daughter and her first bunny. The first bunny died about 3mons after my sister and her cats left. It ran through my mind that maybe the cats left something behind that is making the bunnies sick. When the cats were here my daughter had the bunny in the closed off room on the 3rd floor so they were not near each other (3rd floor is 2 rooms and my daughter uses both). I wasn't sure if bunnies could catch anything from cats but it did pop in my head

 

[majorv]

You said both had a wet rear end? It sounds like they both might have died from a gut issue. Was the second bunny using the same cage, dishes etc as the first one? If so, what did you clean it with before using it again?

 

[Aki]

You often hear that rabbits have weak hearts, but they are not that weak and two young rabbits having heart attacks sounds unlikely (or extremely unlucky) to me. If you're buying your pets from a petshop, the risks are greater though, as petshop selling sick / not correctly weaned / consanguineous animals is quite a regular occurrence. I know a lot of people whose petshop rabbits died for unexplained reasons before they reached their first year. But, it's really hard to tell you what the problem might be. Most problems are detected by the rabbit not pooping as much (or having smaller poops) and eating less or not at all or not some of his usual diet. Most of us monitor our rabbits really closely for that reason as it's not always easy to tell if you don't know your rabbit like the back of your hand. With two rabbits in a row, I would be worried about a transmissible disease and I would probably not use the same equipement should you take a third rabbit. But I'll admit I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to those things. I would also try to get a rabbit from a shelter or a reputable breeder to avoid anymore heartbreak for you and your daughter.