I am so sorry for your loss.
I know how tough it is to lose beloved buns sooner than you expected. @}}======
I wouldn’t jump on the vet too much. Rabbits are so delicate that any kind of vet care is tricky. We also have to remember that the idea of rabbits as house pets who need vet care is a relatively new concept. We sometimes forget that our views of bunnies is not the dominant view – most people look at rabbits as livestock rather than a house pet. Because of this, there is still a lot of research and learning needed in the field of veterinary medicine; and this takes time. Until recently, vets only looked at rabbits in cases of animal testing or epidemics in a herd. Their anatomy and biology is so different than other house pets that every test and procedure has to be redeveloped – even the aenesthsia. Vet medicine as a whole has improved dramatically in the last couple of decades – 7 years ago my vet said not to bring my two senior dogs back in for vacinations because they were old and the shots could kill them. Now they have special vaccinations for seniors! If a dog or cat got cancer in the early 90s, it was just put down. Now they operate, treat and hope for the best, although the success rate is low. My grandfather used to tell me that with rabbits and canaries, you sneeze and they are dead. This meant that they are such delicate creatures that sometimes they just get sick or die when there is really no reason. We are still discovering all the different illnesses they can get and how to treat them. And their little hearts are so delicate that they can easily be scared or stressed to death.
Trips to the vet can be very stressful and frightening to rabbits.
I imagine that this holds true for other regions as well, but in my area you also have to think of the lineage of most rabbits. Yes, there is a few show breeders in the area asking $100 per rabbit, but most rabbits in pet stores or being bred are not specifically house pets. They are mostly mixed breed mongrels that can be used for meat or pets. There is no good family history and no idea of the longevity or medical history of the past generations. And the breeders that have popped up in recent years saying “pet only homes” are still using that stock. It takes a lifetime of dedication to change this stock into long living house pets with good genetic histories. Growing up, all of my rabbits were from meat stock, even the dwarf and mini rex crosses. The oldest one lived to be 7, most only lived to 4, and I spoiled them rotten and took great care of them. I had a gorgeous mini rex who was in perfect health and then one day I walked into the room and he was dead. He was only 2 and to this day, 7 years later, I still don’t know what happened.
PS I hope this doesn’t count as discussing intentional breeding or breeding for meat. :S I see it more as history.