Bunnies dying

[Lucy699]

My friend has a rabbit, and recently took 3 bunnies that she got off someone who couldn’t look after them anymore. She said they were in bad conditions. But nothing that couldn’t be treated, they just had yellow teeth and matted fur.

They also said that at their previous home, they ate things like chocolate crisps etc. Accidentally but that it happened several times.

They started to go limp but also they were trembling. Then day after day they started to die.

She had vaccinated them against rhd2.

Any advice?

 

[JBun]

How long before this were they vaccinated, and had they also been vaccinated against myxo/rhd1?

 

[Lucy699]

How long before this were they vaccinated, and had they also been vaccinated against myxo/rhd1?

3 weeks and one was vaccinated for rhd1/myxo. But they never showed symptoms of rhd1/myxo

 

[JBun]

It could have been rhd1 even without visible symptoms, or possibly even rhd2 if for some reason they hadn't developed immunity in the normal time. For sudden death in multiple rabbits, rhd1 and rhd2 are the most likely cause in the UK. There are other possibilities, but usually you will see other symptoms beforehand, such as bloating, diarrhea, or odd neurological symptoms. Being exposed to or ingesting a toxin is another possibility to consider, either a foreign one or an accidental toxin in their pellets or food(toxic plant, mycotoxins in feed, a toxic substance mixed into their pellets during manufacture, etc).

 

[Lucy699]

It could have been rhd1 even without visible symptoms, or possibly even rhd2 if for some reason they hadn't developed immunity in the normal time. For sudden death in multiple rabbits, rhd1 and rhd2 are the most likely cause in the UK. There are other possibilities, but usually you will see other symptoms beforehand, such as bloating, diarrhea, or odd neurological symptoms. Being exposed to or ingesting a toxin is another possibility to consider, either a foreign one or an accidental toxin in their pellets or food(toxic plant, mycotoxins in feed, a toxic substance mixed into their pellets during manufacture, etc).

Ah okay makes sense, what about the other rabbit will she be okay? She was vaccinated 8 weeks ago.

 

[JBun]

Is this the rabbit that was vaccinated for myxo/rhd1?

 

[Lucy699]

Is this the rabbit that was vaccinated for myxo/rhd1?

She has 1 rabbit that was vaccinated for everything.

And one that died she was vaccinated against all of them also.

 

[JBun]

Ok, you had just said that only one was vaccinated with the rhd1/myxo vaccine, and if that was the only survivor then I would have said that rhd1 would have been the likely cause of death for the other two, and so the remaining rabbit would likely be safe.

But if one of the deceased rabbits was also vaccinated against rhd1/myxo, then it means it's not as likely the cause of death. And if that's the case, it's still unknown what the cause is, so there would be no way to know if the remaining rabbit is safe. Only way to find out would be to take all the rabbits to the vet for testing, and necrospy on the deceased rabbits to rule out rhd and possibly find a cause.

 

[Lucy699]

Ok, you had just said that only one was vaccinated with the rhd1/myxo vaccine, and if that was the only survivor then I would have said that rhd1 would have been the likely cause of death for the other two, and so the remaining rabbit would likely be safe.

But if one of the deceased rabbits was also vaccinated against rhd1/myxo, then it means it's not as likely the cause of death. And if that's the case, it's still unknown what the cause is, so there would be no way to know if the remaining rabbit is safe. Only way to find out would be to take all the rabbits to the vet for testing, and necrospy on the deceased rabbits to rule out rhd and possibly find a cause.

I’m just very confused, it’s been 5 days since the last one passed, friends remaining rabbit is fine. As far as I’m aware with rdh2 at least normally if it’s that then they die very quickly of each other. But the other rabbit is absolutely fine.