Bunny life and heatlh question

[Flopsie]

First off, I want to say I have a love-hate relationship with this forum.

 I love it because I’ve gotten so much great info here and furthermore, i’ve received a lot of help/feedback which I have found to be invaluable and I greatly appreciate.

 However, at the same time, I kind of hate reading these forums because I start reading about bunnies that are sick and pass away.  And also GI STASIS!!! I wasn’t very concerned before, but reading the number of questions regarding GI stasis daily has freaked me out…

 

Anyway, my question is regarding death.  I’ve been reading this forum a lot and it seems like some bunnies don’t live the full 8 to 13 years.  And often i’ve seen or read about sudden deaths.

 Is this the case? Or is just the information skewed? e.g., i’m reading only about the deaths and not of the ones that live 8+ years?

 I know I shouldn’t be too worried about this now as my meatball is only 1.1 years old but I have to admit the thought is on my mind.

 

[Daisy1015]

Like all animals and humans here is a range. Rabbits tend to mask illness well due to being prey animals per my vet which is why sometimes it seems sudden. He also said sometimes rabbits seem to give up easier too. Unaltered females may have a shorter life expectancy due to reproductive cancer. Plus you will see with the large sample of members it seems like more deaths than it really is. Cuz we have somewhere to post it where people care. Rabbit breeds can have different life expectancies too with dwarf breeds tending to be a little shorter than some others. Or their lives before rescue and many, many were rescued on here .

If it makes you feel better my unaltered indoor dwarfs lived to be 91/2 when 5-10 is the range and 5-7 is average for that breed.

[Flopsie]

yeah i understand. its just a bit overwhelming when i’m reading my “rabbit of 2 years” suddenly passed…

my friends rabbit lived a good 8 years so that was my only point of reference before.

9.5! thats awesome! finally a good story I can hold on to

[litheandgraphic]

Posted By Flopsie on 8/29/2014 11:47 AM

yeah i understand. its just a bit overwhelming when i’m reading my “rabbit of 2 years” suddenly passed…

my friends rabbit lived a good 8 years so that was my only point of reference before.

9.5! thats awesome! finally a good story I can hold on to

I know, it’s terrifying, right?? But you know what’s great about a little bit of terror? It lights a fire under you to really be prepared should anything go wrong, and also to prevent those things that could go wrong!

It’s why this forum is so great, and why it should exist! It’s a support network of people who can help you when you’re not sure what to do, and also help you prevent anything terrible happening to your beloved bunny.

Try not to let the worry consume you, though. Just remember to always be very, very observant and attentive and everything will be just fine. c:

As Daisy1015 said, rabbits’ lives depend on the breed, but if you make sure to keep your bunny happy, healthy, and safe, there’s a very good chance they’ll outlive the average. Plus, we’re here for you if you need us!

[JackRabbit]

I know how you feel Flopsie. I read the threads and it seems like there’s always a bunny who is sick or someone just lost a bunny and it scares me to death. I think it really is that we run to the forum for answers, reassurance, and support when something does happen, but don’t always post about the everyday things.

I am a bit unsure about average life expectancy though. After reading Daisy’s post, I started looking around online (my buns are small and one is a dwarf mix), and all I found was the opposite — that, like dogs, the larger breeds have shorter life expectancies. Who knows. I guess we just do everything we can to take the best care of our bunnies and hope they’re with us for a really long time.

[Flabebe]

I think an important part about research on the internet in general is to stay positive! If youre taking care of your bun and youre feeding him good quality stuff then things should be all right! One way to look at is from a human perspective: If I google search symptoms I’m pretty sure risk of cancer would come up :p Or if I eat unhealthy I wont live as long. Or occasionally things just seem to just happen, even if you did everything right! My friend had a sweet bun that lived to 10 but passed due to cancer. So just do the best you can and dont let anything make you paranoid

[MK]

Also remember that most people post on here because they need help with their rabbit because its sick. So you will naturally see more sad stories of death and illness. My dwarf has a (non-curable) tumor and he’s nine years old and still going strong!!! Rabbits are pretty resourceful little critters.

[Flopsie]

ok! good to hear this! I was beginning to think bunnies were too fragile…

[Author]

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