14 and a half week old rabbit suddenly dies

[Felica Dickerson]

Hello. My beautiful Aero pass away tonight. He was a Mini Rex, he was 8 weeks old when I got him, and the first one I have ever had (I have had a few rabbits, he was just the first mini rex). I got another one, Serenity, about 2 weeks later that was 7 weeks old, and she was a good bit bigger than Aero, who was approx. 10 weeks old at that point. I thought maybe the person lied about Serenity's age or maybe she wasn't actually a mini. However, I then noticed that in 2 weeks, Serenity (9 weeks old) gained 0.34 pounds, while Aero (12 weeks) only gained 0.13 pounds. I weighed them again the day before yesterday and Serenity (11 weeks old) had gained another 0.22 pounds, while Aero (14 weeks old) only gained 0.08 pounds... I thought this confirmed my suspicion that Serenity was not a mini, until 2 days later when Aero passed away. If he was younger I would think he was a fader, but he was too old, right? Aero and Serenity shared a cage and were fed an endless supply of Timothy Hay, and about half of a cup of pedigree rabbit chow pellets daily... He always ran to the pellets and ate, he wasn't acting odd, and he seemed completely normal. What could have happened to him?

 

[JBun]

Having a rabbit be a fader and fail to thrive, just means that it had some sort of underlying illness that was undiagnosed, that caused it's death, so can really happen at any age. Though if it's a genetic cause then it will usually happen while they are young. But being a 'fader' doesn't mean that the illness couldn't have been treatable if the cause had been discovered and it wasn't genetic.

It's really impossible to know what the cause of his failure to thrive was without having a necropsy done, but one common often undiagnosed treatable cause is hepatic coccidosis, or possibly other internal parasites, even e. cuniculi. They cause low weight gain, retarded growth, and can ultimately cause organ damage and death. There of course are other possibilities such as heart problems or other genetic issues.

 

[Felica Dickerson]

He acted completely healthy, so I had no concerns. I thought that he wasn't gaining as much bc he was older so his growth had slowed down, and I honestly thought he was smaller bc my other rabbit wasn't actually a mini. I have had many rabbits, but this was my first mini rex. I take my rabbits to the vet when I very first get them, and at 8 weeks, he was perfectly healthy. However, at almost 15 weeks, he died from something that hasn't effected any of my other rabbits (I have 7). I take my rabbits to the vet at the first sign of something being wrong (How much they eat changes, how much they drink changes, ect...) I did not believe there was anything wrong with him, he was playful and loving, he was eating very good (both pellets & hay), he had no runny poo, he was drinking perfectly fine, he wasn't making any grunting or chattering, he was acting perfectly healthy and happy. I do not believe he had anything that could have been prevented bc the preventable illnesses you listed have at least 1 sign of illness, which I watch for with all of my rabbits.