What happened to my bunny?

[Margeaux]

  Hi everyone. I am a first time bunny owner. I adopted two chinchilla rabbits about 3 weeks ago, a male and a female, who are about 12 weeks old now. Unfortunately the male, Mr. Bunny passed away the day before yesterday, and I’m very sad. I have no idea what happened but now I am scared about caring for Mrs. Bunny. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about what could have happened. I am hoping it was just really bad luck, and not something I did. I’ve had tons of cats and rats and hamsters etc in my life, so in general I feel like a pretty confident pet caregiver, I’m just so confused :/.

The day before Mr. Bunny died he started having a little nasal discharge. He seemed totally fine before that, running and hopping and eating and playing normally, maybe a few sneezes but I thought it was just dust. So around 11 AM he had a bit of a runny nose. By evening it got way worse and he was struggling to breathe. Between that time, he did eat a few munches of hay and had some poops that were a little too small. I took him to the vet at night and she gave him a penicillin shot for a URI and some fluids and gave me Critical Care and oral Baytril. Later that night when I tried to feed him Critical Care, he swallowed a teeny bit and then started convulsing in pain, I couldn’t tell if he aspirated it or it hurt his stomach to swallow the food. I was freaked out and didn’t want to do that to him again, so I left him as comfortable as possible overnight to rest. In the morning his discharge seemed a little better, and I had to go to work so I left him under the care of Mrs. Bunny for the day . He seemed like he wanted me to leave him alone anyway. When I came home, I tried Critter Care again and he had the same reaction. Then he also started having those convulsions without  my feeding him, and by 11 that night he passed away .

I felt like everything happened way too fast for it to be just a URI or stasis or a blockage from eating something. There were no warning signs and it was so quick and intense. What could’ve happened?

I would really appreciate your opinions. I am concerned about Mrs. Bunny now, I hope she is ok. I feel paranoid about her eating things she shouldn’t, like I haven’t put anything in her cage besides her litter box, food,water, and a toilet paper roll. I had assumed that like my rats, rabbits would chew things but not swallow them, but now I’m worried. Can I put things in her cage so she can be comfy, like towels, doggie beds, a stuffed bunny to cuddle with, etc or will she eat that stuff? Was I right to assume that they’re pretty competent when it comes to actually eating things, or is a blockage a big concern? I was letting them run free in my house a lot of the day when we were home, and we were watching over them but not following them around or anything. Is that a mistake? I didn’t see them chew cords but they did find little bits of paper and things on the floor, and they chewed the cats cardboard scratching block, but I figured it was made of paper, so of they did swallow some it wasn’t a big deal. I want to block off half of my living room for Mrs. bunny to have more space, she loves to sleep under my chair, but is tht safe? You can tell I’m really paranoid now haha. I really appreciate any insight anyone has about what happened to Mr. bunny. Thanks!

[Deleted User]

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. It is never an easy thing to deal with, and be prepared to deal wi Mrs Bunnys grieving that is yet to come if they were bonded or kept together. Well, I would hope you did your homework before getting a rabbit, since I have learned from experience they are not easy to tend.

My best guess is something respiratory. If Mrs Bunny doesn’t seem right, assume she’s not and get her to a vet, since you are still not sure what caused poor Mr Bunny’s final binky, eye discharge or runny nose is not normal in rabbits. Crying, changes in mood, eye color, or temperature is also a bad sign.

If you need anything else feel free to mail me

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m very sorry your bunny passed away. It could have been any number of things, and unfortunately, the only way to know for sure is to have the vet perform a necropsy.

I suggest you take Mrs. Bunny in to the vet for an exam asap. Your male bunny may have had something that could have been passed on to her.

[RabbitPam]

I am sorry to hear about your loss of Mr. Bunny. I totally agree with LPT that you should take Mrs. Bunny to the vet without any delay for a full exam, explaining what just happened. She probably will need some treatment, and if so, it may save her life. Most bunny ailments – if not a quiet condition they were born with like heart trouble – are treatable if caught early. But don’t beat yourself up if she has a serious issue. It may be genetic as well.

[Margeaux]

 Thanks so much for your responses. Unfortunately I am a bit concerned that my vet is not very good with rabbits. Before I got the bunnies, I checked with them about caring for rabbits, and their answers to my questions made me feel confident that they were good rabbit vets, but after the emergency visit its Mr. Bunny I am a bit skeptical. I am hoping to find another vet who will be better. In the meantime I am keeping VERY close tabs on Mrs. Bunny and would hopefully be able to to take her to Cornell if she shows any signs of illness. Cornell is great with exotics but is almost 3 hours away from me, and I don’t think I can take her in for just a checkup there. 

I do know that there was a respiratory component to Mr. Bunny’s illness but what do you all think about the convulsions after eating? That just seemed to weird to me if it was purely respiratory. 

Also, can anyone reassure me about giving Mrs. bunny other things in her cage? I saw her chew on a bit of plastic this morning and decided to watch to see if she spit it out but I don’t think she did. I’m worried that left unattended with fabric or other non-paper items she will ingest it. But I feel bad for her in her cage with no carpet or bed or cuddly thing especially after losing her Mr. Bunny. Thanks!

[Sarita]

Here is a link to vets in Upstate New York – maybe one of these vet’s might be closer to you than Cornell:

http://www.therabbitresource.org/rec_vets.html#page=page-1

There are links at the top for different areas.

[LittlePuffyTail]

If you are concerned, I suggest taking out any fabric of anything she can ingest. Bunnies can get a serious blockage if they ingest enough plastic/fabric etc. Some bunnies are just not able to have carpets or blankets.

[Margeaux]

Just wanted to thank everyone again. Mrs Bunny seems to be doing fine. I got her a grass mat and some more toys and she seems happy in her safe little bunny area I set up for her. Thanks for the vet link, but unfortunately the closest one is still an hour and a half away. I must just live in a bad bunny vet area :/. I live near oneonta ny, so if anyone knows a vet that’s closer to me than the albany area, I’d appreciate a tip off. Otherwise thanks so much for your support and info!

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