Sudden unexplained death

[NZminilops]

My young lop eared bunnies Cassidy and Hamish passed away yesterday.


Early in the morning, it was nice and sunny out, so I took them both into the aviary (large outdoor bird enclosure) that is my rabbit play area.

Hamish had a visit from the gender fairy and was discovered to be female, so they had been living together very happily for some days. No fighting or anything, neither seemed to have reached puberty anyway so were just happy baby rabbits.

Less than an hour after putting them outside, I went back to get them in and weigh them as some kitchen scales I had bought online just arrived.

They were both dead.

This is where I found them (don't worry no bodies in this picture):

Hamish was in the pink litter tray and Cassidy was flopped right out half behind it and half next to it.

There are no signs at all of another animal, of them fighting, any dangerous plant matter in there, nothing.

Being an aviary the wire mesh is very strong, I checked the entire thing over and there are no gaps in either the wire or the wood. The weather was fine, there were no dogs wandering in the yard (never have been but thought perhaps a possiblity if a huge tall dog could vault over the fence), they'd been pooping and peeing, they were 100% happy when I put them out there, the door to the avairy was padlocked closed. I checked for sings of rats and mice, holes in the ground, everything like that.

I am taking their bodies to be necropsied today but I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas at all, or anything I need to tell my vet to look out for specifically.

The aviary has not had birds in it for many many months, they had been in it plenty of times before with nothing bad happening. I don't use any chemicals on my lawn. The aviary had been on that spot of grass for more than a week (locked).

Thanks

 

[Bon]

Thats very sad news, sorry for your loss



However it is a bit like a murder mystery! Was anything going on before you moved them there? Might they have had an unwelcome visitor the night before? Any treats or something in the morning before you moved them?

 

[MuttBunny]

Oh no! I'm so sorry! If something like that would have happened to my bunny babies I'd be devastated..

Please let us know what the necropsy shows.

 

[NZminilops]

Thanks for the replies, no they are inside at night time, they were perfectly happy before they went outside too, and they were out there for less than an hour.

 

[JimD]

i'm so sorry

it's so sad....and strange....that both of them passed.

binky free little ones
ray::rainbow:

 

[seniorcats]

I am terribly for your loss. The only thing I can think of is a poisonous spider bite or possibly scorpion. I can imagine the toxin would be fast acting in small animals.

 

[dquesnel]

Hi, I am so sorry to hear what happened. I really do hope you find out, for your own peace of mind.

Do you have deadly spiders and scorpions in Auckland? I always thought that area is very mild for those kind of creatures. And I think given your situation you can rule out toxic ingestion.

I was once told that when indoor rabbits go outside (even if they have been out before) their sense are heightened. If they hear or see something scary enough to them, even if it is harmless, they are capable of dying of a quick and sudden heart attack. It is nature's way of sparing them the pain and suffering of being caught by a predator. This happens soemtimes even in a vet office, while being put under for a procedure or given a needle. It is rare though. But it sounds to me that this might have been the case, maybe they were chilling together and were suddenly very frightened. I know of someone who this happened to, on their porch, where they lived almost all the time.

Hope you do find out what it was, aagain so sorry this happened.

 

[gentle giants]

I'm so so sorry, what a horrible shock to have them both go like that.

What dquesnel said about dying of fright is quite possible, usually the position of the body will indicate that the bunny was afraid or trying to escape, though. I don't know anything about the insects and the like where you are, but my closest guess would probably be along the lines of a poisonus spider, snake, etc. I know you said they were outside less than an hour, were you home the whole time? The only other thing I could think of, and I hate to say it, but could a person have gotten in there to them?

Again, I'm so sorry about your babies, I hope the necropsy tells you what happened.

:hug: :rip:

 

[mouse_chalk]

Oh no, Michelle, I'm so sorry. I can't believe it. I'm in shock. I saw the title and my heart sank when I saw that you had posted this....

:bigtears:

I'm sorry I can't offer you any advice as to what could have happened, but I hope that the results of the necropsies will bring you some answers and some peace... I can't imagine how you must be feeling...

RIP beautiful baby bunnies.....

ink iris::rainbow:ink iris:

 

[NZminilops]

We don't have poisonous/venomous animals in New Zealand, so that rules that out, unless someone coming from Australia dropped something off around this area by mistake? :?

These rabbits were born outdoors, actually have spent most of their life outside so they wouldn't normally be afraid of the outdoors. For the first couple of weeks they lived with me they lived outside fine, as I was getting them used to the indoors etc. All of my rabbits have always spent a lot of time outside, I believe in letting animals into a more natural environment when possible as they get so much joy from it.

I keep going over and over everything trying to figure something out. I thought perhaps calicivirus, but Cassidy has had shots for that, could it still be a possibility though? I haven't seen any wild rabbits around, dead or alive, for some time as it is winter here right now.

I've gone over every inch of their bodies looking for marking, swellings or blood and I can't see anything, even used a magnifyng glass.

They are used to other animals and the noises they make, my cat interacts with all my rabbits nicely, and the two dogs nextdoor bark all day so that noise doesn't even bother the cat or the bunnies any longer.

 

[Bon]

Whats their food like? Any spoilage in the bag or anything along those lines?

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

I am so sorry

 

[seniorcats]

I've heard stories of something called a white-tailed spider and another that resembles a black widow. The deal is, all spiders are poisonous, it's just a matter of degree. Some may have very weak venom that wouldn't kill a human but might kill an animal. I had a bunny die with no obvious signs of what killed her. She was fine at dinner and dead hours later. I thought a spider had gotten in doors. I never found a mark and a necroscopy revealed absolutely no cause of death. She was about 5 years old. Maybe your vet will have a better idea.

Another rambling thought - I got bitten by a spider while horse back riding in the woods. Hald my face swelled up. The actual mark where it bit was miniscule/

 

[SOOOSKA]

I'm so sorry for your loss the those two Beautiful Babies.

Binky Free at the Bridge Cassidy and Hamish:rainbow:

Susan:bunnyangel2:

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I am so very sorry Michelle:sad:. I, too, would be completely devastated. At least you're strong enough to get a necrop done. Hopefully, this will answer our questions. How scary.

Did they come from a breeder? Could it be a breeder thing maybe? Have you spoken to the person you got them from? How are the rest of those buns? Very strange, indeed.

I want to send you some vibes to go on and get to feeling a bit better, so here are those vibes for you! And a big :hug:.

Keep us posted, hon.

 

[12354somebunny]

I'm so sorry to hear about Cassidy and Hamish Losing a bun is tough, losing two at the same time... *hugs*

Keep us posted on the necropsy results. Hopefully it'll shed some light on the situation.

Take care.

 

[MyLOVEABLES!!]

RIP. Binky free bunnies.

Im so sorry for your loss.

 

[undergunfire]

I can't believe it. This is very upsetting. I am so sorry Michelle . I hope you can get some closure on this.

 

[Dublinperky]

I am so sorry for your loss.:bunnyangel2: I hope you can find out what happened.

 

[NZminilops]

Aren't some spiders only poinsonous if you decide to eat them, but not in their fangs, or something like that?

I had a pet praying mantis once who had a fight with a whitetail, got bitten and lived, so if something that small can survive would it affect a rabbit? And would a spider normally bite two animals one after the other? And would it kill them in less than 40 minutes? Most of the talk about whitetails here is that if they do affect you if they bite you, it's due to some bacteria rather than any venom. I have been bitten by one before and had nothing happen to me, then was bitten by a similar spider and it left a large round scar.

So spider could be possible, I didn't see any in there when I cleaned it out but doesn't mean there wasn't one.

Thanks for all the ideas, their bodies are with the vet now so it's up to him to find out what went wrong. I miss my babies so much .