Rabbit Died Suddenly?

[Burrow Beans]

Hi there-

I generally only use this forum for emergencies or burning questions, so I appreciate any help with this situation. I posted a few months back (last december-ish) about my rabbit, Avocado, suddenly not being active/not eating as much. My dutch rabbit, Panini, was bonded to him at the time. Anyways, I asked for help on here with Avi, took him into a vet, and then he passed away at the emergency vet’s office. We had thought he had E. cuni culi, but the vet said he had an underlying medical issue (that no one picked up on when he get neutered.)

After Avi passed, I got another rabbit for poor Panini. We adopted a mini lop mix from a local shelter- Avi had been from craigslist so we didn’t know too much about him, but Raleigh (new rabbit) was health/vet checked and neutered before we got him. These two bunnies fell in love, and meshed perfectly together. They went to a petsitter for the summer as I was away for 2 months and Raleigh came back significantly skinnier. I helped him get the weight back on, and he was back up to a healthy weight a few weeks ago. 

Sorry for rambling so much! The two rabbits lived in my garage, as we’re currently in the process of converting it into a full-blown pet room. Tuesday night I went to go feed the bunnies; they both ate their veggies, pellets, and plenty of hay. I went to go feed them Wednesday evening, and Raleigh was stretched out on his side and very stiff. 

I have no clue what happened. I’d love some ideas, input, or guidance on where to go from here. Poor Panini’s been through 2 bonded mates in the span of one short year, and I really don’t know what to do. She’s (obviously) a very healthy rabbit and really enjoys the company of another rabbit, but I’m really reluctant to get another without knowing what happened to Raleigh. At this point I’m just so worried if I get another rabbit, they’ll just die again. 

Does anyone know what might’ve happened? I know rabbits hide illnesses very well, so that’s the best I can assume right now. I’d really just love some closure and input on whether I should get another rabbit for Panini. Should I get 2 rabbits in case something happens again? Is there a pattern here, or just bad luck? Thank you so much.

[Katiebear]

I would get Panini checked out incase Raleigh was sick and passed it on to her. Any idea why Raleigh was skinnier when you got him back? I’m not an expert on bonding but I would wait a while untill getting another bunny for Panini to bond with. If Raleigh was sick then I would clean the cage really good aswell. I’m very sorry to hear about the passing of your bunnies.

[tobyluv]

I’m sorry about the loss of Raleigh. Without having a necropsy performed, there is no way to know what happened to him. Rabbits can seem fine in the morning and be gone that night, with no apparent symptoms. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often. GI stasis or blockages can cause sudden death. Rabbits can also die without warning from strokes or heart attacks or conditions such as liver torsion. I don’t know if the fact that Raleigh lost a lot of weight while you were gone, indicates that he had some kind of underlying problem or not or if that somehow compromised his health and it took it a while to catch up with him. Rabbits do hide their illnesses. Did the pet sitter say anything about his weight loss or how his health seemed to be while he was there?

I agree that it might be a good idea to take Panini in for a vet check, since you are unsure what happened to Raleigh, but it’s probably unlikely that he had any contagious illness.

I’m sure that Panini would love another companion. Hopefully you will know when the time is right to think about getting another rabbit.

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