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Author Topic: What might have happened?
Bob
Member
Posts: 7
Post What might have happened?
on: October 20, 2009, 20:25

Hello, I am new to this site and was new to our daughters first dwarf bunny. Unfortunately she just passed away a few hours ago. Misty was 3 months old, full of energy and loved to eat her Timothy hay, drank plenty of water and always had an active bowel and bladder. What struck me a little strange at first was that she went into her “house” and didn’t come out for awhile. When she went in a second time she would not come out. When we lifted the house she was laying on her side which she never did. Paws had some movement and the eyes followed your finger. Very shallow breathing, then she would stop, rub her head she would breath. I picked her up to clean her up and put her on her other side and she died. Any ideas of what we might have done? This all happened way too fast. Our daughter (10 yrs) is not going to take this very well in the morning.
Thank you for your time.
Bob

Trumbull, CT

Dana Gillin
Administrator
Posts: 11
Post Re: What might have happened?
on: October 23, 2009, 10:03

Hi, Bob.

I’m so sorry that you had this bunny die on you this suddenly. Unfortunately, rabbits are very fragile creatures (which is part of the reason they breed so prolifically — nature tries to keep her own numbers up). This is a sad truth that brings together all of us who love the fuzzy little guys.

Was your bunny eating right before she died? Rabbits get what’s called gastric stasis, which means their gut just stops cold and that can kill them pretty quickly. You said she always ate her hay and water and pellets, but did that include the 12 or so hours before she passed away?

When you picked her up to clean her off, was her tummy soft or hard? Soft tummies with gurgly noises are good. Hard tummies can mean there’s a big gas bubble in there and often bunnies can’t get rid of it themselves, which can put them into stasis. Tummy rubs and infant gas drops usually do the trick with a gassy bunny, but only if you catch it in time.

I commend you for looking into the reason for your bunny’s death. Education on the common ailments can only make you a better owner in the future. We’re here to help…

–Dana

I blog at BunnyBlab and serve as the webmaster for Hopline.org. I’m a simple, complicated 32-year-old woman. I live near Boston with my wonderful, brilliant husband, Paul, SweetPea the bunny and Bandit the kitty. I welcome feedback on the site (see the forum topic “Hopline questions and issues”) and would love for you to check out my blog.

BunnyDiva
Member
Posts: 7
Post Re: What might have happened?
on: October 23, 2009, 12:23

Hi Bob,
I too would like to offer my condolences. From what you’ve said I don’t think there was anything you could have done. Sounds like you offered your rabbit everything she needed to be happy and healthy. I think the important lesson here isn’t what you should have done but what to do next.
The death of a pet is in some ways as much a learning experience for our children as their life. In a world where you want you kids to feel safe and secure these milestones in life can actually become a very positive learning experience. We recently lost one of our bunnies and rather than hiding the situation from my three year old we explained it in terms he could understand. I would suggest giving your daughter the opportunity to honor your rabbit. Some people have a ceremony; others plant flowers, trees in honor of the lost pet.

Adoption Chair for HRC

Bob
Member
Posts: 7
Post What might have happened?
on: October 23, 2009, 19:00

Hi again, I thank you both for responding. The day the bunny died I noticed she was acting a “little” strange but NEVER figured it wound come to this. She usually would be in her cage in the corner with her back to the wall. That afternoon she was facing the wall. Then I seen her licking the side of the box for the cage(!?). She acted somewhat despondently even when I opened the door to the cage, she was first to want to get out but not that afternoon. Again if I ever knew! She was eating normally (which was a lot!) and drinking her water from her bottle. She has her normal poop (again which was a lot and they were hard and round as usual) She never seemed to like to chew anything other then her Timothy hay, even her toys. She went into her cardboard house and at first was quite a long time since she normally goes in then out and slept on top of the house. The second time she went in she would not come out. I am not sure of the time that passed because we were outside but figured about an hour or so. When we lifted the house she was on her side breathing shallow. The eyes were opened and she would follow my finger but her front and rear legs were twitching at times. Fast forward 5 minutes. Her breathing became less frequent and would stop at times. I would rub her head and the breathing resumed until it stopped again which I did for a few minutes. Then I carefully picked her up and laid her on the other side to clean her up (bedding and poop balls in the fur) that’s when she died, stopped breathing and her eyes dimmed. I did notice a pinch of like, crust in the corner of the eye lids and her eyes did appear to have some type of “film” on them. We got her at 9 weeks and had her for 3 1/2 weeks.
Ok if your still with me, Thanks. Now — What might have happened? Is it something we did? I was under the impression that she had some type of stroke or something. Is that possible? Something toxic she ingested but everything was clean. We always held her gently too. I am a total loss. So before we adopt a new bun, I just want to make sure if we did something; we don’t do it again cause it just plain sucks having her die in your hands and burying her is not something I am fond of really.
Thanks for letting me ramble.

The sad and unhappy campers in CT :(
Bob

Trumbull, CT

Bob
Member
Posts: 7
Post The death of our pet :(
on: October 23, 2009, 19:13

Oh BTW her tummy was soft when I picked her up and she was eating fine up to late that afternoon. We did have a ceremony when we buried her in her house right out in the front yard close to our house. My daughter Sarah is doing much better now. Me too. :|
Bob

Trumbull, CT

Dana Gillin
Administrator
Posts: 11
Post Re: What might have happened?
on: November 9, 2009, 22:24

Hi, Bob.

Rabbits are fragile creatures. That is the sad fact. They breed rapidly because, in the wild, they don’t live all that long. We take them into our homes, and they get away from predators and are fed well and they live longer, but sometimes nature just catches up to them too quickly. It really sounds like you did everything you could for her. She may have had a stroke. Bunnies do have them. She may have also had about a dozen other things go wrong with her. Unfortunately, unless you get an autopsy done, there’s no real way to figure it out. Even then, they don’t always come up with a reason for a death.

I’d say just make sure you’re up-to-date on the latest know-how before you get another rabbit, and don’t be too discouraged (I know, it’s difficult now). I’m glad to hear your daughter and you are doing a bit better.

–Dana

I blog at BunnyBlab and serve as the webmaster for Hopline.org. I’m a simple, complicated 32-year-old woman. I live near Boston with my wonderful, brilliant husband, Paul, SweetPea the bunny and Bandit the kitty. I welcome feedback on the site (see the forum topic “Hopline questions and issues”) and would love for you to check out my blog.

Bob
Member
Posts: 7
Post Re: What might have happened?
on: November 11, 2009, 12:06

Thanks again for your reply Dana,
I was also reading somewhere that if the Netherland Dwarf has the dwarf gene from both parents it will surely die and not make maturity due to some types of complications. They were saying that for a Dwarf to have any type of life expectancy it needs one dwarf gene from one parent only and not from both parents. Something I did not know either. We are learning a lot and thank you and everyone for all your help. We are holding off to adopt till the right time comes. We will be checking back often.
Bob in CT

Trumbull, CT

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