Bunny Survivor Stress. Please Respond

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bunny.love555

New Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Location
Nevada
Hey. So I’m pet sitting for a family who has/ had two small house bunnies. Unfortunately last night one passed away, and was discovered in the morning. I was traumatized to tell the family, They were amazing and reassured me that I had done nothing wrong and that he had been losing weight and not thriving like his brother. Bunnies seem to die so easily. They will be gone for 2 more nights and I’m TERRIFIED this second one will die. I’ve been taking an extra careful watch but it’s getting late and I’m exhausted but too scared to leave it be and sleep. He seems to be doing good, poop is normal, eating and drinking well (for what I’ve seen I’m not normally around the bunnies and watching this closely at behavior) and is moving around a good amount. I’m just so so so worried the other was sick and passed it on but I deep cleaned the cage. But I also have been reading that they can die from lonliness. I can’t handle the stress! I just want to get peoples opinions on what they thing would be good?
 
Last edited:
The vital things to watch are eating, drinking and pooping. Stress shouldn't actually kill a rabbit outright, but it CAN make them stop eating - not eating, drinking and/or pooping for 8-12 hours is a medical emergency for rabbits.

Try to spend a little extra time with the remaining bunny if you can... if it isn't too late, you can also show them the corpse of their dead mate to help them understand what happened and why the other rabbit is gone... but honestly, the remaining bunny should be fine unless the other bunny died of a communicable disease. I've been through this a couple times and rabbits are troopers - the other rabbit won't die of loneliness.

Take a deep breath, relax and give the surviving bunny some nose-rubs! You guys will be ok :).
 
Like Imbrium said, as long as he's eating, drinking, and pooping normally then he should be fine. Poop changes and a lack of appetite are usually the first indicators of something being wrong with rabbits.

Some rabbits can show signs of depressed behavior after losing a companion, but it sounds like this bun is coping just fine. Nothing you've mentioned makes me think anything could be going wrong with him. I would call it a night and get some sleep.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top