# Sudden death in rabbits no signs!



## tinks7410

Hi my 1 year old rabbit had bust suddenly died he was a lop and lived inside he would occasionally go in the garden and hop around the house got excercise, diet hay pellets bit too many greens, i moved out and my parents changed to muesli about 2 weeks ago. He was just lay in his side in the cage no signs if discharge anywhere he didn't have runny nose and seemed fine the night before, he was coming up to get vaccinated as it was nearly a year ago 

I had another 2 rabbits die exact the same way about 4 years ago but they lived outside and hadn't been vaccinated I really thought I'd fine all the right things this time ! And he's was only coming up to 1! 
We do have a pet dog I'm wondering if maybe he's carrying something or maybe don't big poisonous in garden? But he hadn't been out for a few days due to weather 

Can anyone shed any light on this for me? 

I love having indoor rabbit and wanted to bring him to my new home, I would like to get one in my new house but anxious obviously 

Thanks


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## FreezeNkody

Possibly GI Stasis.. it's a silent killer. isn't muesli like granola? Rabbits should just be on a pellet/greens diet. and being a year old should be on a timothy base pellet and timothy/orchard grass hay.


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## Bville

:yeahthat:

I agree with FreezeNkody. I think the change in his diet may have been what killed him.


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## JBun

I'm so sorry you lost your rabbit. There are many things that can cause sudden death in rabbits, such as e. cuniculi and heart problems, but without a necropsy there isn't really a way to know for sure, and even then necropsies can be inconclusive. GI stasis is a slim possibility, though it doesn't usually cause sudden death and you would most often notice symptoms of it occurring. So it doesn't seem as likely to me. The fact that the food was changed is probably just a coincidence.

Again I am so sorry for the loss of your bun. I know how heartbreaking it is when we lose them.


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## zombiesue

The sudden rabbit death is not an uncommon story. Rabbits often don't let us know that they are sick until it's too late. There was probably nothing that you could have done. I had a rabbit about 3 years old that was fine when I went to work--when I got home he was clearly sick, I made a vet appointment for the morning and he died maybe an hour later.

Don't focus or worry a whole lot on how he died if you can help it. Think about his happy life with you. I think that, when you're ready, getting a new pet is a great idea. If I were giving a rabbit to you, I would feel confident that you are taking excellent care of her.


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## ladysown

GI Stasis is NOT always the first culprit.

I tend to, in cases of unknown death, suspect things like heart attack or choking...rabbits can and do scare themselves to death and their reason for fright is often unknown. And sometimes rabbits will choke on a piece of food.

If rabbit was eating and drinking, pooping and peeing normally there is no reason to suspect GI Stasis.. and more reason to suspect heart attack or choking.

Only the owner can say if rabbit was acting normally before death or not. From what she's written, rabbit was acting fine, despite a change in diet two weeks ago.


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## tinks7410

Thanks for helping and kid thoughts 
In reply no not granola I mean the muesli style rabbit food rather than pellets, he had bin having it for 2 weeks prior to his death,


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## tinks7410

*kind thoughts 

Ye it is strange that he was acting normal before, it's really disappointing as the other rabbits died the same and I thought this time keeping him indoors and vaccinated he would be okay, I've moved out now and don't have any other pets I was hoping to move him in, I'm thinking of maybe getting another one as I have a lot of love for rabbits and think they are great characters. 

Thanks all for your thoughts


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## Predawnisland

Sometimes when rabbits get scared they will have heart attacks. I have also had a rabbit die after going into shock. More recently I had a rabbit die after getting bitten by a spider


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## Imbrium

While the pellet/food change was definitely a healthy one and shouldn't have been done abruptly, I can't see that contributing to his death - there would've been symptoms if he had an issue like GI stasis.

I doubt it was a heart attack (at least not due to shock/fear), since he was lying in his cage and unlikely to be terrified by anything. I also don't know of anything transmittable to rabbits that dogs can carry.

You said he'd been about to get vaccinated... not sure where you're at that you get rabbits vaccinated, but I'm guessing UK or Australia? Was he about to get vaccinated for the first time, or was he almost due for follow-up vaccines? Rabbits get vaccinated for Myxi in both countries, but that disease has very obvious symptoms and too slow of a progression to be a possibility here. If you live in the UK, rabbits also get vaccinated for RHD (also known as VHD). That one is a possibility, as it can be spread by insects and has a brutally swift progression - the incubation period is 1-3 days and death usually occurs 12-36 hours after the onset of fever. Furthermore, some rabbits die of RHD without ever showing any symptoms prior to death or giving any indication after death (such as bloodstained fluid around the mouth/nose) as to what caused them to die - it leaves so little evidence in these rabbits that only a necropsy can reveal RHD as the cause of death. However, if he was due for follow-up vaccines rather than initial vaccines, then he would've been protected from RHD (and by the sounds of your more recent post, it was follow-ups he was almost due for).

In all honesty, it was probably something we'd never guess and that would've taken a necropsy to reveal. I had a sugar glider fall very suddenly ill last summer and die on the way to the emergency vet. Had I not discovered her until after she passed away, her body wouldn't have given me even the *slightest* clue as to what had happened. She had appeared happy and healthy the morning before she died and was only nine months old. Her necropsy revealed a liver infection, of all things.

It could've been some sort of genetic issue (a "ticking timebomb" sort of thing) or any number of silent killers. Chances are that in your case, like in mine, there wasn't anything you could've done differently to prevent it and it was simply a tragic fluke of nature.

I'm very sorry that you've suffered such tragic losses, especially after trying to hard to do everything perfectly with your last bunny. It sounds as though you were taking excellent care of him and it's unlikely that something similar would happen if you were to get a new rabbit. If you truly want a rabbit (and who doesn't??), please don't let your previous bad experiences stop you!


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## tinks7410

Thanks for your comments I have taken the plunge my new bunny domino 16 weeks, do you think it is best for bunnys to have another bunny as a companion ?


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## Imbrium

The majority of bunns really enjoy having a bonded companion, though a few really just want to be alone. However, a companion isn't *necessary* for rabbits like it is for some animals (sugar gliders, for example), so keep in mind that a second bunny is another mouth to feed, another potential source of unexpected vet bills and another lifetime commitment to an animal that lives for a decade (also, depending on age, another expensive spay/neuter surgery to pay for).

If you really want to get Domino a companion, I would wait until after you've gotten him/her (I can't tell, heh) fixed... keeping in mind it takes about 4 weeks for a female's hormones to be totally gone and up to 6-8 weeks in males. Once those pesky hormones are gone, I would look for a shelter bunny as a potential companion, as they come already fixed. I don't know about other countries, but in the US, many bunny-savvy shelters allow you to bring in your spayed/neutered bunny for "play dates" with their adoptable bunns to help find a good match. These shelters also pretty much always allow you to return/exchange the second bunny if the bond just isn't working out, which means you don't have to worry about caring for two separately-housed rabbits for the next decade if bonding just isn't in the cards.

Domino is positively adorable, by the way!


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