Help figuring out why my doe died?

[Morning_Snow]

Since it has been about a week and half since her passing, i'm safe to say I can finally talk about my rabbit's death. I am very curious to why she died, and am hoping to get a little closure before I move on. If I could get a little help I would really appreciate it
Clover was a 2 1/3 year old (unspayed)doe. She lived in a 2x3 cage and had floor time in my room often with supervision. She had alot of energy and a big appetite! Mid-march(maybe the 20th?) I noticed that she has been eating, pooping, and drinking normally, but loosing alot of weight. She went from a bun on the heafty side to a skinny bun almost overnight. Over the next week I looked for signs of bloat and other issues, but the only problem was energy and weight. Everything else looked fine. I couldn't let it go on much more, so I planned to call the vet on the 26th-27th to have an appointment. Sadly, on the night of the 25th(around 1 am) I noticed it got progressively worse. She was now gasping for air and almost non-moving. My stomach dropped. It was too late, and because of work and doubt I wanted to long. I held her in my lap and fed her banana and water. She tried so hard to be happy, I could tell.
I decided that the worse was most likely to happen, so I made her as comfortable as possible. It seemed like she died after I went to bed at 2 am.
Do any of you have any idea what killed her? She was so perfectly healthy until then! I have a feeling it could have been cancer since it was common in unspayed females over 2 years, but I am not sure.
My other female who lived on the second story of the cage seems unchanged except for a little loneliness(Looking and sniffing for Clover). But I plan on getting her to the vet soon for a checkup and hopefully a spay.

 

[Morning_Snow]

The first two was when she was sick. The last one was taken a couple of months ago, she was a little bigger then that before she started loosing weight. She was definitely chubby before she got sick!

 

[majorv]

Many things can cause a rabbit to lose weight. Without a necropsy you can't know for sure what the cause, but the sudden weight loss and death over just a few weeks doesn't sound like cancer to me. It sounds more like a parasitic diisease or possibly kidney problems.

 

[missyscove]

I'm sorry for your loss. Unfortunately the only way to know why your rabbit died would be to perform a necropsy and after a week that's not likely a good option. The challenging part is that you won't know if you were dealing with something like cancer or possibly something contagious to your other rabbit. With prey animals like rabbits often they hide signs of illness (after all it's the sick looking animals that get caught first) until things are pretty far along. Monitoring weight is a great way to spot a problem early on in our exotic species and regular weigh ins may help you keep an eye on your second rabbit's health.

 

[squidpop]

When I read this, I thought possibly coccidiosis- the kind that attacks the liver not the intestine, but I think with that you would have noticed bloating happening along with a weight loss. So think some type of cancer might have been the cause. Really it could have been so many different things your guess is as good as any. Sorry for your loss .

 

[Morning_Snow]

Thank you all so much and sorry for the late reply. I don't think at the time of her death I would have the guts to do something like that, so I guess now it'll just have to be a mystery for her. I have been watching Chestnut and she seemed to be doing fine, she definitely loved the extra attention I started to give her haha. But I think what Clover had was contagious because now Chestnut is sick as well and now I'm stuck in a space like I was before(no money... almost payday) with similar symptoms, but she won't eat at all and won't stop grooming herself...

 

[squidpop]

Maybe you could read this and see if you think the symptoms match your rabbit. http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Protozoal_diseases/Cocc_en.htm
Its about coccidiosis and its a protozoal parasite and there are different species of it so symptoms are different depending on the species. Some species attacks the liver and other species the intestines. Usually there is mushy poo and bloating but not always and symptoms include loosing weight and condition, dehydration weakness and wasting of the hind quarters and legs. Coccidiosis is fairly common in rabbits. It also said that some rabbits can carry with no symptoms or they don't get symptoms until the number of parasites increases.

On this rabbitry page someone lists Corid for coccidiosis which seems to be available over the counter from farms stores or tractor supply stores. She says that she uses it on her rabbits twice a year. http://www.gbfarm.org/rabbit/medicine-kit.shtml

 

[squidpop]

Also, she has to eat and drink fluids. So you should syringe some homemade electrolytes into her and some mushy watery pellets or apple baby food or something. Make sure she is hydrated before trying to feed her food. If a rabbit stops eating it can become an emergency situation.

 

[squidpop]

Another thought I have is, could there be something wrong with your pellets or hay, some people have had sick rabbit because the pellets had mould or hay had mould. And some people have also had sick rabbits from using pellets that where a strange off brand that didn't have the right vitamins. Also, since there is weight loss you might try supplementing your rabbit by feeding a 1/2 teaspoon of flax seed because they are very rich in vitamins and fattening as well. Angora breeders give them to their rabbits because they need extra richness in their diet to grow their coats. Rabbit love flax seeds as well, I give it to mine as a treat.

 

[Morning_Snow]

Thank you for the extra info Squidpop! I threw away her hay and pellets and bought new ones. She instantly started to eat those. I also started to give her bottled water instead of tap. Our water company actually had some problems that caused our city to have stomach problems and I am actually suspecting that is the reason Clover passed. I also fed Chestnut babyfood and Cranberry juice. She is now her old self and back to being active and happy. I also bought some flax seeds just in case and oh does she love them! Thank you so much!

 

[squidpop]

Your welcome! I'm really happy to hear your rabbit is doing so much better. That's a little bit scary about the water but I've heard about it happening before to people. If your water goes bad its usually the smallest pets that show symptoms first. But glad she is so much better, That's all such good news, yay!

 

[Morning_Snow]

Thank you so much! The water problem has been so big. It is sending alot of people in the area to the ER including me ( had to get my first IV... yay....) I am hoping they get it fixed. This was such a big scare that I plan on switching my buns to bottled water permanently. :/ Either way, I am so glad she survived. I wish I knew about it sooner, as it could of been possible to save Clover too :/

 

[squidpop]

I glad to hear you are both ok but now I'm really curious, what on earth was in your water?