RIP Theo

[Crittercrazyjen]

I'm heartbroken as I write this. My bunny Theo passed away unexpectedly either sometime during the night or very early this morning. She was only 3.75 years old, and she seemed to be in good health. I know she was alive and acting completely normal as of 12:30 am, which is when I went to bed. For some strange reason, I had an uneasy feeling last night like something might be wrong, so I checked on them (we had 2 bunnies, Theo and Bella) right before I turned in for the night. Both Theo and Bella were acting normal and had eaten all their food and drank a normal amount of water during the day. Theo was her perky self. She showed no tangible symptoms of an illness or any distress. They're indoor rabbits, and we've had Theo since she was 3 months old.

Our exotics vet is out of town for the weekend, so we were unable to bring Theo in for a necropsy and Bella in for a check-up today. However, the vet will be examining Bella first thing Monday morning, and we will be bringing in Theo's body for a necropsy. As much as I hate the idea of having her body tampered with in such a way, I think it is the responsible thing to do given her young age. We want to make sure she didn't have any communicable diseases or genetic issues we didn't know about.

We've already sanitized the entire cage, all the rabbit accessories, and anything else the rabbits have recently been in contact with. We've checked Bella over thoroughly for any signs of illness or distress, and she seems to be doing okay so far. Fortunately, she is still eating and drinking.

In the meantime, I am worried about Bella. Theo was Bella's mother, and we've had Bella since she was born (Theo was pregnant when we got her). Bella hasn't been separated from her mother for even a day in her 3.5 year life. I'm very worried how she will handle her mother suddenly not being around. We're trying to give her extra attention without overwhelming her. We're going to go out and get some extra toys to try to make sure she's less likely to get bored. Is there anything else we should be doing for her? My heart really aches for her.

Binky free, little Theo. We will meet again one day.:rip:ink iris::rainbow:

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We're so sorry to hear of your loss. We've had it happen a couple of times also--a young bunny, fine when we left and gone when we came home. We'll keep Bella and Theo both in our thoughts and prayers. Binky free little girl.

 

[JimD]

I'm so sorry.



ray::rainbow:

 

[LakeCondo]

:sosad:

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

I'm so sorry about your loss. Losing a bunny issuch a difficult thing~I'm soo soo sorry!:rip:ink iris:

 

[gmas rabbit]

so sorry for your loss. It is a tragic thing to lose a bunny especially when nothing seemed wrong before. Our prayers are with you. Hopefully you can find some answers to put your mind at ease.

 

[Crittercrazyjen]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. It really means a lot to me.

I took Theo's body in for a necropsy this morning, and I took Bella in for a check-up as well.

My vet said Bella is doing wonderfully health-wise.

The vet called me with the results of the necropsy this afternoon. She said Theo didn't die from a communicable disease. Theo's stomach was completely lined with a thick mucus layer which shouldn't have been there. The vet said the mucus was most likely caused by bad bacteria which got into her system. Also, the stomach was completely full of partially digested pellets, so much so that the stomach was larger than it should have been. There was nothing in the GI tract between the stomach and the cecum. The cecum was also so full that it was enlarged, and it was slightly darker than it should have been. There was nothing in the GI tract after the cecum either. Basically, my vet's diagnosis was that Theo was suffering from a bacterial infection which caused her to go into GI stasis. My vet stated that, in every other way, Theo seemed to be in great condition.

I'm relieved to know that she didn't have a communicable disease.

I would be lying, though, if I didn't admit I feel frustrated and like I let Theo down because I didn't notice any symptoms. My vet assured me that GI stasis can become deadly quickly before any noticeable symptoms occur, but I still worry that there were some signs I somehow missed. It's just hard to wrap my mind around the fact that she was eating, drinking, playing, and behaving normally right before I went to bed the night before and dead by the time I checked on her first thing in the morning.

Has anyone else had a rabbit die suddenly from GI stasis without exhibiting any noticeable symptoms?

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I am so sorry to hear about Theo's passing.