# I was plucking my angora rabbit and she died



## fffarmergirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Hi, all. Sorry I haven't been around in a while.

I was just plucking Lafonda, one of my angora rabbists, and she died in my lap. It just now happened.

I don't know if I did something wrong. I hope it's not my fault. I hope she didn't die of terror or something.

I just started plucking them because it seems a lot less traumatic to them than trimming. You don't have to yank the hair out or anything - you just wait 'til they start shedding and pull it out a little bit at a time.

She was about 18 months old,and there was something wrong with her anyway. She had some sort of seizure disorder. BothLaFonda and her sister, Jane,have seizures.When I bred them (at separate times) all ofLaFonda's babies died and all but one of her Jane's babies died. The other rabbit I bred didn't have any problems at all with her babies so I think it was something genetic.

I'd been plucking her for about half an hour. She hated it when I turned her on her back or when I plucked her cheeks, so I was switching her onto her back for a short time and them back on her belly, doing the cheeks and then doing her back, trying not to upset her too much. I'm not even sure how long she'd been dead on my lap. She was right side up and I was plucking her butt. She had been kind of burrowing back behind me, hiding her head like they all do while I pluck their butts. when I went to turn her back over, she was limp and her eyes were glazed over.

I don't know - maybe I shouldn't be doing this. I haven't felt right about it since I got them. It just seems like a stressful life for them. I've been thinking about getting rid of them but I can't think of what to do with them. I'd hate for somebody to adopt them and not keep them trimmed or brushed and have them get matted, so I'm stuck with them. They have to be brushed and trimmed or plucked or they'll get matted, but the grooming is so stressful for them . . .

It just seems immoral.

God, I hope she died painlessly and she wasn't terrified.


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## gingers_giants (Sep 10, 2009)

oh goodness. I am so sorry to hear that she died in your lap. I hope that you are okay.:hug:


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## peppa and georgie (Sep 10, 2009)

oh dear you poor thing, i would have thought if she was in any sort of pain at all she would have screamed. I have had two rabbits die on me which was horrible over the years and both screamed. Sounds like she might have just had a heart attack or something even a brain heamorrige what with the seizures and died probably instantly. 
Hope you are ok, must be hard, i hate having to do things to them when they dont want to be held still etc


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## irishbunny (Sep 10, 2009)

Oh I'm so sorry, that must have been scary for you :hug:
When she was on her back did she struggle? Maybe she broke her back or something....
Binky free bunny!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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## BlueGiants (Sep 10, 2009)

I am so sorry you lost her. Please don't blame yourself. I've plucked Angora's before and most don't find it stressful, especially while they are in a moult. I'd suspect it had something to do with the seizure disorder she had. You would have known if she was that terrified or in pain. 

Most angora's adapt to the brushing and grooming pretty well.My friends Angora's love the attention. 

Maybe you should consider new lines of Angora's, some new genetic diversity. It's not your fault.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 10, 2009)

I have never been very emotional when it comes to animals, but I am totally NOT OK with this. She's outside in the garbage. I didn't know what else to do with her. There's really nowhere on the property to bury her . . .

She did not scream at all. She acted the same way they all do when I groom them - like she didn't want to be held. My rabbits don't seem to enjoy the attention much, although they seem to be getting more used to it. 

She was struggling to get away when she was on her back. She's always had an attitude, compared with the rest of the bunnies. She's the only one that really bites. She'd nipped me a couple of times and I was trying to hold her still but every time my hand would touch her whiskers, she'd startle and try to flip back over, so I just let her turn over . . . and when she turned over, I kept plucking her back . . . then when I tried to get her belly again that's when I noticed she was dead.

She wasn't struggling that violently, really - I've had them exert themselves a lot more and they've always been fine -

My husband does most of the feeding. I called him and he said he'd noticed she wasn't eating as much and he'd witnessed a few seizures. I hadn't realized they were getting more frequent because she wasn't seizing in front of me. She was pooping OK - normal-shaped rabbit turds.

She had the most awful expression on her face - her eyes so wide and glazed over.


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## BlueGiants (Sep 10, 2009)

:hug: It wasn't you... totally not your fault. (Hmmm... about the communication with the husband? Not eating and seizing more... yeah, he could have told you...) But there probably was nothing you could have done. Something was wrong and it had nothing to do with you plucking her. It was her time to go...

Do you spin the fur?


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 10, 2009)

My first instinct was to throw the fur in the garbage, because I felt like it was my fault that she died. But now that I've thought about it, I'm going to go see if it got dirty at all and if it didn't, I'll spin it.

I took her body out in the forest and laid it under some pine trees. The coyotes and the crows will take care of it. That seems a heck of a lot more dignified than being buried in a plastic bag in a land fill.

Thanks for the reassurance. I feel a lot better now.


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## polly (Sep 10, 2009)

I am so sorry. Its not been your fault sounds like it was to do with her siezures horrible for you that it happened when you were grooming her though


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Sep 10, 2009)

So sorry about your loss  

Although I find it awful that you think laying her body out for the coyotes and crows is more dignified than burying her; throwing away in the trash is awful too, but so is giving her body to wildlife.  Plus, the coyotes will now know that there are rabbits around and that could lure them in closer and attack to your other bunnies  I would just bury her out in the forest, a good 1 or 1 1/2 feet deep. 

Also, can I ask why you would have even bred rabbits with seizure disorders? Surely those would just pass on to the offspring and cause further problems. Did you have medication for the rabbits with seizure disorders? 

Just my $.2 worth. Not trying to sound harsh/mean or anything.  

Emily


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## Bramblerose (Sep 10, 2009)

Since we live on a shale hill in the woods we often put our dead out in the woods to be eaten by wildlife, circle of life and all that, seems to me like giving them back to the world and not wasting them, I hate being wasteful. Besides bury something here and it don't stay buried, even under heavy rocks, bears make sure of that. I've had lines of rabbits that seized, it does appear to be inherited. I had a lovely mini rex doe who had never seized until after two does from her third litter did, one of those rabbits just died on the folks I'd given it to, other one I was keeping. I got rid of the entire line, whole litter, all close relations, watching a rabbit seize was terrible, not something I ever wanted to see again. Its horrible that your angora died in your hands like that but its not your fault, obviously her condition was worsening per your hubby, I'm sorry your so upset. I used to have a Satin Angora doe and she wasn't ever happy to be plucked so I sheared her and that didn't make her happy either. Think it was just her temperament and she wasn't raised here, got her as an older bun. Some rabbits are okay with being plucked, don't give up and don't blame yourself. Learn from this and move forward, rabbits can have a really sharp learning curve, I've been feeling the jab of it lately myself.


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## HopsandLops (Sep 10, 2009)

Oh I am so sorry for you loss (Hugs). I actually read this earlier in the day, right after I finished Plucking my giant girl and I honestly worry about that happening to me when I start pulling hard on mats. I am so sorry, I know how much joy she must of bought you! I am sure it wasn't you fault, and it was her disorder that took her from you.


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## TinysMom (Sep 10, 2009)

I'm so sorry for your loss....

I want to remind folks that the point of this thread is to talk about what might have happened...not how you would bury/not bury a rabbit.

We all have to make choices sometimes in how we do things...and not everyone will agree with them. However - we can all agree that we feel bad this bunny has passed.

Once again - I'm so sorry for your loss.


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## Bramblerose (Sep 10, 2009)

Sorry TinysMom, I just didn't want her to feel like she was the only one who did that.

Really sorry about your angora again Farmergirl, hope your feeling better tonight.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Sounds like we're on the same wavelength - and living in similar circumstances, Bramblerose. I also live in a very rural and rocky area. Burial is easier said than done here - but no big loss. I'm not a fan of burial. 

The wildlife is so prolific that one rabbit isn't going to make a bit of difference in the # of predators/scavengers in the area. We've got cougars and wolves, coyotes, bear, eagles - you name it. They're here because of the very large # of prey animals such aswild rabbits, deer, skunks etc. etc. This year, the coyotes are right outside our window every night - close enough we could probably hit them with a rock. I'd certainly rather have my body eaten by wildlife than beburied. If I had my choice, I'd be laid atop a platform and let the birds eat me and let my bones dry in the sun - like some of the Native Americans did it. I considered leaving LaFonda in a tree but couldn't find one I could climb.

As far as breeding a rabbit with a seizure disorder - "if hindsight was foresight." This is my first experience breeding animals, and also my first experience with rabbits. Despite being an ER nurse,I didn't even know what the seizures were, at first. They look so different from human seizures, and they were mild at first. I'd heard of "binkies" but never seen a rabbit doing binkies. I remember watching her seizures and thinking "wow - I really don't know why on earth anybody would think binkies are cute! But to each their own I guess." They didn't happen very often, at first. By the time I realized they were seizures, she'd already been bred and lost her babies. Her sister, Jane, had one or two seizures. I bred her anyway, thinking a seizure every month or two couldn't be too bad. I know better now.She hasn't had any seizures that I know of since she was bred. She had her babies on Mother's Day and all but one died around the age of 5-6 weeks. I don't know why they died - no seizures, no diarrhea, their bellies were nice and soft, and the babies born to the unrelated female bred to the same buck at the same time did just fine. . . But, anyway, now I know better and neither Jane nor herdaughter, Sugar,will ever be bred. They both seem to be quite healthy and happy - they're closely bonded.

So now I have Bucky, Jane, Sugar, Buffy, and Buffy's 6 babies born on Mother's Day. I haven't named all the babies yet - the sweetrabbits will be named after sweet things (eg Brown Sugar, Honey, Candy . . .) and the feistier ones after spices or peppers. I do have one that appears to be androgenous so far - so it's name is "Pat". I imagine it's just a male that hasn't developed yet . . . a question for another thread.


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Sep 11, 2009)

*fffarmergirl wrote: *


> Sounds like we're on the same wavelength - and living in similar circumstances, Bramblerose. I also live in a very rural and rocky area. Burial is easier said than done here - but no big loss. I'm not a fan of burial.
> 
> The wildlife is so prolific that one rabbit isn't going to make a bit of difference in the # of predators/scavengers in the area. We've got cougars and wolves, coyotes, bear, eagles - you name it. They're here because of the very large # of prey animals such aswild rabbits, deer, skunks etc. etc. This year, the coyotes are right outside our window every night - close enough we could probably hit them with a rock. I'd certainly rather have my body eaten by wildlife than beburied. If I had my choice, I'd be laid atop a platform and let the birds eat me and let my bones dry in the sun - like some of the Native Americans did it. I considered leaving LaFonda in a tree but couldn't find one I could climb.
> 
> As far as breeding a rabbit with a seizure disorder - "if hindsight was foresight." This is my first experience breeding animals, and also my first experience with rabbits. Despite being an ER nurse,I didn't even know what the seizures were, at first. They look so different from human seizures, and they were mild at first. I'd heard of "binkies" but never seen a rabbit doing binkies. I remember watching her seizures and thinking "wow - I really don't know why on earth anybody would think binkies are cute! But to each their own I guess." They didn't happen very often, at first. By the time I realized they were seizures, she'd already been bred and lost her babies. Her sister, Jane, had one or two seizures. I bred her anyway, thinking a seizure every month or two couldn't be too bad. I know better now.She hasn't had any seizures that I know of since she was bred. She had her babies on Mother's Day and all but one died around the age of 5-6 weeks. I don't know why they died - no seizures, no diarrhea, their bellies were nice and soft, and the babies born to the unrelated female bred to the same buck at the same time did just fine. . . But, anyway, now I know better and neither Jane nor herdaughter, Sugar,will ever be bred. They both seem to be quite healthy and happy - they're closely bonded.



Ahh, I see now.  

Once again, so sorry for your loss.  

Emily


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## Bramblerose (Sep 14, 2009)

*fffarmergirl wrote: *


> As far as breeding a rabbit with a seizure disorder - "if hindsight was foresight." This is my first experience breeding animals, and also my first experience with rabbits. Despite being an ER nurse,I didn't even know what the seizures were, at first. They look so different from human seizures, and they were mild at first. I'd heard of "binkies" but never seen a rabbit doing binkies. I remember watching her seizures and thinking "wow - I really don't know why on earth anybody would think binkies are cute! But to each their own I guess." for another thread.



I must admit, you made me smile with what you posted above because quite frankly even after all these years in rabbits I have absolutely no idea what a 'binky' is. Guess cause I'm a breeder and hang out with breeder types I've missed it somehow, I feel so ignorant!


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 14, 2009)

*Bramblerose wrote*


> I must admit, you made me smile with what you posted above because quite frankly even after all these years in rabbits I have absolutely no idea what a 'binky' is. Guess cause I'm a breeder and hang out with breeder types I've missed it somehow, I feel so ignorant!


I finally got to see binkies today. I put several of the rabbits out to play (no boys and girls together) and one was so happy. I was doing these cute little joyful jumps - twisting his bottom back and forth in the air. It's really adorable.


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## MyRabbits (Sep 15, 2009)

So sorry to hear of your loss. While it may have been terrible for her to go on your lap, I think it is nice that she did not die alone. We lost a white Flemish Giant doe a month or so ago. She died in our arms. I think that was better than if she had died all alone. Just my thinking.

. . . Need to add something to the comments on binkies. My 16-pound Flemish Giant buck sometimes binkies when he is out in the pen in the yard. It's really funny seeing a rabbit that large binky. You sort of blink your eyes and look again, not believing it.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 17, 2009)

The binkies are just the sweetest thing! It's like watching joy!


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## JadeIcing (Sep 17, 2009)

*fffarmergirl wrote: *


> The binkies are just the sweetest thing! It's like watching joy!



Never thought of them like that but you are right!

Sorry for your loss.


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## tonyshuman (Sep 17, 2009)

*fffarmergirl wrote: *


> The binkies are just the sweetest thing! It's like watching joy!


This is one of the reasons I love having bunnies. It's a powerful feeling to know that you can raise an animal and make it literally "jump for joy!" I'm so sorry that your rabbit died, while you were holding her no less. I hope you have better luck with your lines in the future.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 19, 2009)

Thanks, Tonyshuman!


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## Saudade (Sep 19, 2009)

If we're still talking about what could have happened. She could of had an aneurysm in her brain, which could explain the seizures and the suddenness of her death. Nothing you could of expected, noticed or prevented. I would be keeping an eye on the other's who are experiencing the same thing though as it may have been a genetic condition.


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## fffarmergirl (Sep 19, 2009)

Somebody else mentioned an aneurism as well . . . .

Her sister hasn't had any more seizures, that I know of, since May. Actually - I don't think she's had any since she got pregnant in April. I think you're correct about it being genetic, though.


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## DeniseJP (Sep 19, 2009)

Fffarmergirl, I am sorry for your loss...:hug1

Denise


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