Puzzled by Sudden Rabbit Death

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 17sd replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 15 years ago by loomistunes.

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- 03/04/2011 at 4:01 AM
  Patrick Murtha
  Participant
  17 posts
  My eight-month-old male Lionhead, Benjamin, died suddenly today, and I am very puzzled over it. Maybe someone has insights that could be helpful.
  
  Teaching here in Korea, I work a split shift — mornings variably from 6:30 AM to 12:30 PM, evenings variably from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. Yesterday (Thursday here), Benjamin was 100% fine at both my afternoon break and when I came home at night. His appetite was vigorous, and he ate his timothy hay, bok choy, carrots, pellets, and water as usual. He had tons of energy for playing between 10:30 PM and 11:30 PM last night, and we had our usual good time.
  
  This morning when I woke up at 5:00 AM, Ben was resting, which is typical at that hour. When I got home from my morning classes around noon, he seemed a little droopy, and didn’t show interest in the bok choy I put out. I let him out of his pen for a while, but he was not as energetic as usual. He was peeing and pooping absolutely normally, though. His poop pellets were perfect, numerous, the ordinary size, neither too hard nor too soft. But he seemed tired. I put him back in his pen, and planned a visit to the vet tomorrow (Saturday) if he was not looking any better.
  
  When I got home tonight at 8:30 PM, Ben was dead, stiff although still slightly warm. Maybe gone for an hour or two? He was stretched out on the floor of the pen and I did not realize he was dead until I went to pick him up. It was quite a shock.
  
  What can carry off a healthy-seeming rabbit this fast? I have heard from locals that Korean store-bought rabbits often have health issues and that they live short lives, in part because they are taken from their mothers too early. Ben was a cryptorchid — both his testicles were undescended, as my vet discovered when we were planning neutering surgery at six months. We decided to let that situation be and see if the testicles would descend over the next few months.
  
  I doubt that this could be GI stasis, since he never stopped eliminating normally, not even today. Or could I be wrong about that?
  
  Ben was a playful, affectionate bunny, and I shall miss him greatly. But he brought me considerable joy in the few months I knew him.
- 03/04/2011 at 4:38 AM
  GrumpyBun
  Participant
  643 posts
  I’m sorry to hear this news – I really feel for you.
  
  I don’t know what some of the causes could have been, perhaps others will suggest some options. I do know that rabbits, being prey species, hide illnesses very well and it can be too late before they show any symptoms. Often, we simply do not know. I believe it can be possible to have a necroscopy done but this doesn’t always give the answer.
  
  My condolences to you – I hope you can find some comfort from the fact he was a very well looked after and happy bun. I can’t see how you could have done anything more.
- 03/04/2011 at 4:52 AM
  Patrick Murtha
  Participant
  17 posts
  I am comforted to know that he was happy and energetic yesterday, and that I got to hold him gently this afternoon.
  
  I had a similar event with a pet ferret once — bouncy one day, comatose the next morning. The vet determined it was pancreatic cancer, and we had to put him down. These events tear me up, but I know they are an inevitable part of sharing your life with companion animals. I do wish Benjamin could have had longer.
- 03/04/2011 at 5:37 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Oh, I am so sorry you lost your sweet rabbit.
  
  Unfortunately it is impossible to know unless you have a vet do a necropsy and you may be able to get some insight that way as grumpybun mentioned.
  
  Rabbits are so good at hiding illness too.
- 03/04/2011 at 5:49 AM
  Patrick Murtha
  Participant
  17 posts
  I doubt I’ll be able to have a necropsy done, but I am curious as to the possible causes of death, if anyone has any ideas about that. It was just so sudden. He seemed like a robust rabbit, but he can’t actually have been very robust if he passed so quickly. He was well cared for.
- 03/04/2011 at 6:40 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  I know you really want to know possible causes of death to help you bring some closure but the reality is that there are so many possible causes and we just aren’t able to give you a speculative answer because that would be wrong of us.
- 03/04/2011 at 9:22 AM
  kralspace
  Participant
  2663 posts
  I’m so sorry you’ve lost your sweet Benjamin, it is a shock to lose one that one and so suddenly. It’s very hard to know why in cases like that. I came home one day to find one of mine had passed in his sleep last year. He was a bit older but always healthy even though the vet had noticed a slight hear murmur. We could only speculate that maybe his heart had stopped because there were no other signs and he had died still his ‘meatloaf’ sleeping position.
  \
  He sounds like he had a great life with you and I’m so sorry you’ve lost him.
- 03/04/2011 at 10:51 AM
  Zombie-Sue
  Participant
  875 posts
  I am sorry about your rabbit
  
  안아
- 03/04/2011 at 1:21 PM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  I’m very sorry for your loss.
  
  (((Binky free Benjamin!)))
- 03/04/2011 at 2:03 PM
  lashkay
  Participant
  1548 posts
  Sending my condolences for your loss of your sweet Benjamin. Sounds like you had lots of good times with him. I hope you heal from this quickly.
- 03/04/2011 at 2:07 PM
  Otti
  Participant
  535 posts
  So sorry for your loss. It sounds like you cared very well for Benjamin, and I would think that his sudden passing was due to a pre-existing condition of some sort. I’m sure there was nothing more you could have done for him. Just try to think about the good times you had with him and know that he was loved and well taken care of.
- 03/04/2011 at 5:00 PM
  Patrick Murtha
  Participant
  17 posts
  Thanks so much to everyone for all the kind words! I suppose I shall never really know what happened. It just stuns me that a rabbit can be bouncy and energetic one night, and dead 20 hours later with no obvious cause or event.
- 03/04/2011 at 5:07 PM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  Makes me realise how much we should cherish them while they are with us.
  
  I’m so sorry for your loss. It must have been an awful shock. It was evident from your other posts that Benjamin was in a great home and well loved. If you let your vet know he’s passed away, perhaps they could give you some possible reasons?
  
  *Binky Free Benjamin*
- 03/04/2011 at 5:27 PM
  Patrick Murtha
  Participant
  17 posts
  A poster at Animal Rescue Korea suggested that this might have been a case of Viral Hemorrhagic Disease:
  
  http://www.rabbit.org/care/vhd.html
  
  The symptoms fit to a tee, although I don’t know what the vector of transmission could have been.
- 03/05/2011 at 4:39 AM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  We have that a lot in Australia also though there is a vaccine available. It doesn’t protect them 100% but it does give me peace of mind to have it done. RVHD does take them very quickly. I read someones personal account just this week. She said you don’t even get time to get them to a vet.
  Here it’s mostly transmitted via mosquitoes. Generally it’s through biting insects but can be transmitted from rabbit to rabbit also.
  There is really only so much we can do to protect them really. Even indoors, they could be bitten by an insect carrying such a virus or even by a venomous spider.
- 03/05/2011 at 5:43 AM
  Heather&BabsyBooboo
  Participant
  120 posts
  we have that here too (England) every vet here recommends 2 vaccines for viral haemhorragic disease and myxamatosis but i dont know how its transmitted as we dont get mozzies maybe just flies??
- 03/05/2011 at 5:54 PM
  Patrick Murtha
  Participant
  17 posts
  An insect bite would have been very possible. Mosquitoes and other bugs can get into my apartment rather easily when I open the door to the outside walkway, and through windows and other access points. I’ve been bitten. The apartment is provided by my school and is actually pretty nice otherwise for an ESL teacher’s digs, but I’ve certainly noticed the insect issue. So that might have been it.
- 03/10/2011 at 10:15 AM
  loomistunes
  Participant
  7 posts
  So Sorry about your sweet bunny
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