Hello, I adopted my bunny girl about 2 years ago and never saw anything wrong with her. She’s 5 years old and was always a happy bun. However, her partner had kidney issues and E. C. (for which she was treated at the time as well with Panacur), so I went for a checkup, and wanted to get a blood test done to help ensure she would not have to suffer the same fate.
She ate in the morning and was quite normal in the carrier. In the Vet office, they took her out and she sort of panicked. She apparently had difficulty breathing, breathing heavily through her nostrils with her mouth slightly open. Her sides were visibly contracting with each breath. So, they gave her oxygen and later took an Xray. I didn’t expect this; the vet said she’s seriously ill. She has an enlarged heart which is very close to the airways. I never noticed anything except her sides, maybe contracting but I don’t recall it exactly as I think it’s also normal to see it move in bunnies. She’s now on heart medications and I need to go back next week for another check. The Vet said he expects her to die soon. This is crazy!
I’ve done some research online as to what it could be and the results show a heart defect from birth, congenital defects, infectious Diseases such as E. C. and prolonged stress. I asked the Vet if it could be due to the death of her partner about 2 weeks ago, I believe it’s called Broken Heart Syndrome, he said it’s unlikely. We’re back home and she’s hardly eating. She just nibbled on a piece of dill and her timothy drop which she usually eats more than one of.
I tried to remember if anything happened in the last weeks. What I recall was that on one or two days she had a lot of sneezing. This was when her partner was still alive. After her partner died, I bought a ventilator and it was on the second day that she quickly came in and bit the cable. All cables are secured but this one I hadn’t secured yet. We have a safety switch and the electricity turned off; I had to turn it back on. I didn’t notice anything in her, so I thought that all was fine.
Do you have any experience with this? Obviously, it’s so hard to say what the reason for the enlarged heart could be. Could it be stress from her partner dying? I brought the body back up and she had a chance to sniff it and realize he had died. They were bonded and grooming each other but not spending every second together. She also enjoyed her alone time. Or could it be from biting the electrical cable or perhaps something related to the sneezing? I forget to mention the sneezing today and the electrical cable to the Vet, I will let them know as well. She had one operation with her previous owner and one operation (full spay) with me. So she had two anesthesia and those went down with no issues which I think somebody with heart issues may struggle with.
What’s the best way to deal with this news is that she may be dying soon. Obviously, now after the traumatic experience with my first bunny boy, I am more cautious and make sure I talk about these things in order not having to panic again. Also, when she does not start eating properly. It’s frustrating and really sad!
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