What illness caused my bunny’s death?

[flutterby]

Hello everyone, 

I’m new here and sadly, the reason why I’m here is because my 11 year old pet bunny died this saturday. She was ill and was clearly unhappy and suffering from her condition, so I did what was best for her and chose to euthanise her. Unfortunatly, I’m still not sure what exactly was wrong with her that caused her so much discomfort. My vet tried to explain it to me, but I still don’t seem to fully understand what happened to her. He didn’t give me a specific name of an illness and my research on the internet didn’t give me much more info. So I was hoping maybe someone here knows what was wrong with her

I’ll explain how it all happened: 

On Tuesday, when I was checking up on my rabbit, I noticed she was lying down in a weird way. Her legs were bent and she was unable to stand up, even though she did her best to do so. I tried helping her get up, but she immediatly sank down as soon as I released my hold on her. Here’s a picture of how she looked like at that time: 

Ofcourse, I called my vet for an appointment. While I was preparing to leave, my grandma told me that when she checked up on her monday evening (I wasn’t at home that day so she fed her for me), she already noticed she was lying down strangely and had some trouble getting up. But since my rabbit managed to stand up, she assumed nothing was wrong and forgot about it.

My vet inspected her. She still had some feeling in her feet, but she had a problem from the waist down (he also mentioned something about her bladder probably being affected, which would result in her urinating a lot more). There was nothing wrong with her spine and she hadn’t broken anything. He gave her an injection of anti-inflammatory and told us that her condition should be better within 48 hours. He also noticed that she had flystrike because she had been lying in her own urine all night since she couldn’t move. He treated it and told us to give her antibiotics each day. He also told us to keep her inside in a warm room for the time being.

I did as I was told, but after only one day her condition became worse: suddenly she was unable to move her front legs as well, resulting in her not being able to move at all. She kept lying down in an uncomfortable position: her hind legs on one side, her front legs on the other side. She tried desperatly to kick her legs trying to get up, but she couldn’t do it. I tried moving her in an attempt to make her lie down in a more comfortable position, but her legs kept sliding back to their original position. She was still eating, though not as much as usual. She could still drink. 

Thursday she was in an even worse condition: her head was leaning to the right now. She could only slightly move her head up and down. Most of the time she was breathing quickly, still tried to kick to get up and made wheezing noises while doing so. She barely ate, but I remember when I offered her a carrot that day, she violently took a few bites and then suddenly stopped eating it. Since she could barely move, I had to put her head down into her little waterbowl so she could actually drink (and get her out of it once she was finished). She was drinking a lot more than the past days. Since she barely got any rest, I often held her wrapped in a blanket in my arms so she could doze off in a more comfortable position, and that seemed to calm her down a lot.

Picture of her that day: 

Friday I called the vet. He told me that if the treatment didn’t work there probably wasn’t anything he could do for her anymore. We arranged an appointment on saturday morning and decided that we would euthanize her if she couldn’t be saved. Her condition hadn’t changed much, except for the fact that she had only taken a few bites of food and wasn’t drinking as much as the day before. I also heard her making munchy sounds despite not having anything in her mouth. She was a lot more calm than the days before. 

Saturday morning came by. She wouldn’t drink or eat at all that morning. We went to our appointment. Our vet did a last check up on her, told us that the flystrike was healing nicely (he told us that flystrike didn’t cause the symptoms she has). But the way she was lying down was unnatural and he said there really wasn’t anything he could do for her. So we allowed our bunny to have a peaceful death, away from all the pain.

I’m still devestated by what happened, partly because I’m still not sure what exactly happened. What was wrong with her? Why did it happen? Could I have prevented it? Did this happen because she was old? Was there still a way to save her? These questions are killing me 

Hopefully someone can help me, maybe it could ease the pain if I know more about her illness.  

[Sarita]

Oh I’m so sorry about your sweet rabbit. She lived a very long life at 11 years old.

Unfortunately we cannot tell you for certain what caused her death – the vet could have done an necropsy and that might possibly have given you an answer but it’s not always definitive.

Flystrike can certainly be fatal and it can definitely happen with rabbits that are kept outside full time….but we cannot be certain that is why she passed away either.

I would say to you that it sounds like you cared very much for her and she lived a long life and she is now whole again and not in pain and that is the most important thing.

[Cottontail]

I’m so sorry for your loss.
I don’t know what could cause this decline in rabbits; but maybe at her age it could have been a series of strokes with the flystrike being a complication?
No matter what caused it, it sounds like she was well loved and cared for. I’m sure that she knew you loved her and did what you could.
It’s always difficult losing a family member, but best to remember and be grateful for the time you had together.

[MK]

I’m so sorry she passed away. Unfortunately the only thing I can possibly think of is E Cuniculi?? (not even sure how to spell it) because her head was tilted, but I am not any kind of authority

[Megabunny]

So sorry for your loss. Eleven years old is very good, so rest assured you were doing well for her. Rabbits hide their pain very well for as long as they can. It’s a defense mechanism born from wild bunnies. She likely only drank well for those days because of the antiinflammatory. By that age they can be losing all kinds of organ functions. Some people feel the need to know WHY, but without a lot of painful and unnecessary testing, at that stage of the illness, I would say you absolutely did the right thing. Again, I’m sorry for your loss. We here can sympathize with the sadness of losing a beloved pet. Just try not to let the details eat you up. You did a good job and I hope you are able to come to peace with it soon.

[JackRabbit]

11 years is a long life, and at that age, it could be any number of things. I know its so hard to let a pet go, but you did the right thing. I’m so sorry for your loss.

Binky free sweet bunny … .

[Beka27]

I am so sorry for loss… She had a long wonderful life with you. What a lucky bunny…

It does sound like it could have been something like EC or a neurological condition… Or anything really. At her age, her prognosis was probably not very good, i believe you made the right decision for her. I know it is so hard and i really feel for you right now.

[Dr. Doolittle]

I’m so sorry for your loss. 🙁 It can be hard not having answers. (We went through this twice in the past year–once when a bunny passed suddenly during her spay operation last January and again in May when our elderly dog went into shock one morning.) I hope with time the not-knowing will not weigh as heavily on you. Again, my condolences. It’s so hard to lose our beloved pets.

[flutterby]

Thanks for the support everyone, it means a lot to me.

I was hoping that her symptoms might’ve been typical for a certain illness and that it could give me some conclusion, but I guess I’ll never really know what happened. I probably should have asked for a necropsy when I had the chance, that might’ve indeed given me some more information.
But after her heart stopped beating, I couldn’t really think rationally. I just wanted to take her home, cuddle her for as long as I could and give her a nice little ceremony before burying her.

Now it’s too late. And even if it weren’t, I wouldn’t have the heart to dig her body back up. I don’t want to disturb her resting place

I’ll just be grateful that I was able to spend those last days together with my little Tecna and that I was with her when it ended.

I know I did the right thing in the end… If I hadn’t done it, she might’ve died a painful death and I didn’t want that to happen to her…

[Megabunny]

FWIW I still feel you did the right thing all the way around and at 11 years old it could have been a lot of things that they MIGHT have found after EXTENSIVE testing and biopsies… Just not something you likely would want to have put your baby through, even in death. Good calls all the way around, flutterby

[Bam]

I’m so glad she got to live for 11 years with you, obviously very well loved and cared for. I’m sorry you had to go through it, but you did what was best and you were brave. I’m sorry for your loss. She was very pretty with her little black nose. Thank you for being such a good bunny-mum!

[Author]

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