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Strange death
Topic Started: May 24 2014, 08:55 PM (181 Views)
sidd-says-gimme
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sidd says stay gold
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Trying to keep calm here... :cry:

About 3 hours ago, I was down feeding/caring for the rabbits. Everything was normal. Bunny in question was happy to see her food, demanded some attention and was trying to escape her cage as usual. Everything... normal. I forgot to properly look over Stride's babies though, so I went down to see them a few minutes ago. I approached a cage to see a rabbit, dead on her back. Put on gloves and pulled her out, only thing I could find was a bit of a messy bum (though she usually was messy, so...) and some blood coming from her mouth and nose. Not a lot. Belly a bit bloated/hard. Further inspection revealed a front tooth ripped off...

I've never experienced this... at all. I'm completely floored. WHAT happened?

Any input would be appreciated.
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ZRabbits
Love My Lions!
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Oh Sidd, I am so, so sorry. After the shock of reading your post, and then reading it again, I would think maybe wire biting and then maybe tooth got caught, panic and then stress over the injury caused the death. Could have gone for a piece of hay and not really biting the wire. My husband thinks she was spooked, panic, and hit something hard. Maybe the feeder? Was it a kit or an adult rabbit?

Again both of us are really sorry. You are in our thoughts.

KAZ
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Disney
Somebunny is a awfully chatty
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What a strange incident.. i'm so sorry Sidd. I have no idea what could have caused it but by the telling of the bloat that bloated i feel like something internal happened, but that doesn't explain the tooth falling out. I can imagine how frustrating it must be to lose your rabbit with a unexplained scenario.

I hope you find out the cause and find a little peace.
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sidd-says-gimme
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sidd says stay gold
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Thanks guys... Certainly wasn't expecting to see that. She was seriously her normal, goofy self just a few hours before. :cry:

I'm still in complete shock, but I had a long night to think. After posting this I did some Google searches and wasn't happy with the results:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_haemorrhagic_disease
Of course, this is extremely terrifying. I guess all I can really do is clean everything and keep an eye out... I haven't even heard of this before, so I'm thinking that it's unlikely but I guess you never know... I did get new rabbits a bit over a week ago...

Anyway, she was probably my most problematic rabbit. She's the one that was pulling on cage wire: http://s4.zetaboards.com/Rabbit_Addict/topic/9989806/1/ She ended up pulling again after having babies and pulling her teeth completely out of alignment. I was clipping her teeth every 3 weeks. She also was having problems as a junior: http://s4.zetaboards.com/Rabbit_Addict/topic/9942923/1/#new She ended up improving a lot but still produced more cecotropes. The babies kept digging the hay out of the nest box onto the cage wire, which I think made it possible to make a mess of herself more easily lately. I guess I'm just shocked because although she did have issues, she had never seemed "off". Never went off feed, looked uncomfortable, ect. Always the same.

She turned a year old in April. As horrible as this sounds, I hope the tooth/wire pulling had a factor. I really don't want to lose another... either way, the herd is on lock-down right now and I'm going to hope, extremely hard, that I don't have any more losses. The last year has been hard...
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NeuBunny
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Try not to worry - VHD is extremely rare in the US. My understanding is that VHD also wouldn't be described as 'a little blood', but rather looking like the animal bled out completely.


VHD wouldn't explain the tooth. But a broken tooth could explain the blood. And stress/panic the rest.

Sorry for the loss - I know how much of a shock the sudden ones are -- we had quite a few over the winter where the rabbit seemed perfectly fine - only to find them dead a few hours later. After the last one toward spring (when it had warmed up enough that the stuff wouldn't just freeze on contact with the wire) I sprayed down every cage in the barn with vanodine.


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sidd-says-gimme
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sidd says stay gold
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I'm in Canada. More specifically, Nova Scotia. Do you have any idea if it's common in Canada? I haven't heard about it at all until I did the search. I'm not sure if the position she was in would suggest that she was panicked. Do rabbits generally pass away stretched out on their back?

Last night, I estimated that there was a drop (or a bit less) from each nostril and maybe 3-5 from the mouth. Didn't look like she "bled out". There was a drop or two of blood in the pan. The tooth was completely ripped out, but I can't find it anywhere on the pan or nest box. I don't have J feeders, the only thing in her cage is a dish (zip tied to the cage wire) and a nest box. The only changes made recently are two new bunnies (who are healthy and normal as far as I can tell, and they are no where near this doe... I also take care of them last) and the day before last, I got a dehumidifier. It was placed a few feet away from her cage and I ran it all day with no problems. I did turn it off before leaving the room after giving them their supper (she died a few hours later, so it wasn't running then, lights were off).

Just trying to give as many details as possible. I'm very worried. Everybun is looking normal this morning, but unfortunately that's not very reassuring.

Rest in peace, Suzume. :angelbun: :angelbun: :angelbun:

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Disney
Somebunny is a awfully chatty
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She was beautiful.. i like the japanese name. Rest peacefully little angel :(
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wooly_queen
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Hey, look at you! You chatterbox you. Now you can request a new title! PM the Admin to do so
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Very odd! Sorry for your loss. :(
~ Briana - Open Breeder in Michigan ~
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NCK
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Somebunny is a awfully chatty
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I have no idea what could have happened other than what others have guessed. I'm so sorry - she sure was a beauty. :angelbun:
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NeuBunny
Genetics Geek!
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I've been told that rabbits (and other small mammals) dead stretched out on their back is an indicator of a heart attack. No idea if it is really true or just another old wives tale.
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sidd-says-gimme
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sidd says stay gold
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Thanks everyone. She was a real character. I forgot one of my favorite pictures of her.

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I guess there's a small bright side... I was going to try to find her a home very close to me so I could continue clipping her teeth. If this had to happen, I'm glad it did before I gave her to someone else.

Anyway, now that I have done more reading I'm much calmer. When I was doing the search, pretty much everything that came up was about RHD. It seemed like there was no other options, so I was really freaked out. I feel like I've been doing something wrong with the rabbits lately, but I guess the more rabbits you have, the more likely that something ridiculous like this would happen.

:angelbun: Thanks again for your help, everyone. I really appreciate it.
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