sudden death

[melissadawn]

My boyfriend and I found a bunny on the road and rescued him. He was clearly a pet bunny he was white with grey spots and didn’t mind being held. We took him home and gave him romaine lettuce then went out and bought rabbit food right away. The bag said to feed 1/4 a cup to 1/2 a cup a day and said you should also include hay in the diet too. So a day or two later we bought a cage and hay. Before then I was feeding the bunny 1/4 cup of the rabbit food in the morning then 1/4 a cup at night. Then once I got the hay I put hay in the hay guard frequently along with the food I give him in morning and night. He had normal big poops and lots of them. Whenever I saw there wasn’t hay I put some in. He wouldn’t have gone more than a day without hay. The only time I didn’t put hay was because he had emptied the hay guard out into the cage onto the bedding. So I didn’t give him hay for a day so that he could eat his mess he made so I wouldn’t have to throw away all that hay after him peeing in it. I noticed he only ate a bit of it the next day so I figured he soiled it all and I put more new hay in. Then a couple days later we were almost out of food so I decided to get a bigger bag of pellets to last us longer which was a change in his food so I gradually changed it within a few days time. His old food had pellets in it along with seeds and dried fruit. His new stuff was just pellets so I knew I should probably mix the two foods a bit so it wasn’t harmful. I mixed the food for a couple days till it was just pellets left to give. The pellet bag said to always provide pellets in the rabbits bowl and that you can also give veggies or hay as treats once in a while. I thought I should still give the hay the same amount I already was which is anytime I noticed it empty. But I filled his bowl up with 1/4 of pellets more often than I did the first food. About 3-4 times a day with quite a bit of hay as well. I also gave the bunny a bit of romaine lettuce every couple days as a treat and a couple baby carrots every day or so. I also gave the bunny a honey and seed treat stick about once a week if that. The bunny seemed fine with this diet up until I changed the food to plain pellets. I don’t know if I wasn’t feeding enough or if I was feeding too much… or not enough hay or what… but I followed everything the bags of food I bought said and I even researched too but a lot of people were saying different things so it was unclear. Some people say only give veggies as treats and others say give veggies every day. There were mixed opinions about hay and pellets as well. I just followed what the bags I bought said to be the safest. Either way the night I went to bed I filled his guard with hay and his bowl with food and he always had water in his bottle. I woke up and gave him more food to last the day when I was gone. I came home and the bunny was dead without any hay or food eaten. Did I not feed him properly or did his stomach get upset by the food change or did he become picky from the food change and stop eating and die? In total we had the bunny for a month or so maybe more I am not sure. I’m stressing out and very sad about this. I did everything I thought I was supposed to do never owning a bunny before.
Thank you

[jerseygirl]

Im sorry for your loss. Even though you only had him for a month, I know how quickly one can get attached to these little animals!

It can be very difficult to work out what is an appropriate product for a rabbit and what is not. So many things marketed for rabbits are really not good for them. Having said that, with your boy going suddenly like he did, I personally do not think it’s anything you fed him that caused this. But i know that feeling of responsibility – was it something I did or didn’t do..

Had he been still out on the roads. he may have been hit by a car or taken by a predator. Even though it is sad he didn’t have a long life with you, at least he was
safe, cared for and loved. You were responsible for that!

[Bam]

Thank you for taking him in and caring for him! As Jersey says, it doesn’t seem like something you did caused his death. If a bunny gets new pellets that it doesn’t like, it can refuse food and eventually die. But as a rule that takes a couple of days, at least.

You mixed the old food with the new exactly like it should be done when you switch a bun on to new food. It seems he was eating well up until his last day. So it doesn’t seem like it was food-related at all. He could’ve had some underlying condition already when you found him, like a weak heart. Bunnies don’t show symptoms of illness if they can help it, because predators prey on weak animals.

I’m sorry you didn’t get to keep him longer. I bet he felt very lucky to get to be your bun.

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