Bun died from eating Hay..

[PixieStixxxx]

One of our shelters buns, Raven, died by eating hay. Her necropsy showed that she shallowed a whole piece of hay without chewing, and it became stuck in her system.

I'm just really confused as to why she would do that...

?

-April

 

[Flashy]

Aw, that's sad, I'm really sorry.

Is it possible the hay was caught on a bit she was chewing so she swallowed and had to keep swallowing because she couldn't detach it? Or maybe she had dental issues and thought she had chewed it? Although that would probably show up in the necropsy.

 

[~BunBuns~]

Poor bun.. i should keep that in mind, maybe separate bunbuns' hay a bit.


-April and Bunbuns

 

[cheryl]

Oh my gosh..that poor little bunny...how sad

 

[ra7751]

Hi April,

I am also confused. You mentioned "biopsy"....I'm assuming that you mean necropsy. How about posting that report? I have seen a lot of things in my many years of having rabbits....and the vast majority of them are special needs...I have seen many different ways in which rabbits died...but never this. I would be very interested in seeing what the lab results were on this rabbit overall....just for my own learning experience. The info might ring a bell with something I have seen previously. Regardless of the cause, it is always a sad day to lose one. Just one little note.....most vets and very very few people know that rabbits do not chew their hay as we expect. They actually do swallow the entire piece of hay usually in one piece. That is why stemmy hay is so good for a slow gut...lots of pushing power. If you watch a rabbit chew....they do not chew like we do in an up and down motion....they chew with more of a side to side motion. The stems of hay are not crushed like we would think...they are folded into something that looks like an accordian (can you tell my age?....bet most young people will have no idea what an accordian is). So in reality, they really do swallow the hay as intact as the stem will allow. I love stemmy hay for my rabbits. If you look at their poops, you will see hay in them from time to time. It will show the basic length of the fold. If the hay were crushed like we crush our food, the acidity in the gut would make fast work of it. In an effort to help us all, if at all possible, please post the findings of the necropsy.

Randy

 

[Thumpers_Mom]

:shock:Wow...I didn't even know that was possible...poor bunny...:tears2:

 

[PixieStixxxx]

No, I don't have access to the reports =[ Thanks Randy! Just makes me a little paranoid over my buns. Poor Raven though..

 

[ra7751]

Trust me...I understand paranoid. When I first saw you post...I fully expected it to involve mycotoxins. I have been expecting that topic to come up at any time due to the crazy weatherthe country has seen this year. That is an issue that everyone needs to be on the watch for....moldy hay. We have already had to discard 6 bales in the past week or so that had mold. I have been thru mycotoxin poisoning several times...I know paranoid.

But in the case of your rabbit, I suspect that it was something else that caused this problem. As we all know, rabbits (and all life)are so very fragile.

Randy

 

[PixieStixxxx]

Raven lived in a shelter though, and had a bonded mate. Poor Thor - he's been with Raven since he was only months old.

 

[gentle giants]

I don't mean to sidetrack, but I have a question. I have had to discard some hay due to mold also, but thankfully not much. Anyway, what are the sings/symptoms if your rabbit does get ahold of moldy hay? I always worry that I might have missed some.

 

[Pipp]

First off, could Raven have been trying to build a nest? I heard about several bunnies now who have choked or nearly choked to death by stuffing hair and hay in their mouths,including my former foster Sekura, who hada HUGE mouthful of hair and was turning blue.There's a pic of her in my Blog with a mouthful of hay, also. And I believe AngieLuv(?) had a bunny with a glob of hair in the very back of her throat that went undetected until it was too late.

As for mycotoxin poisoning, I think the symptoms are all over the map, which makes it so hard to diagnose. It can literally mimic just about any ailment.

Check out this link:

Mycotoxin Poisoning



sas :bunnydance:

 

[Gabby]

ra7751 wrote:

The stems of hay are not crushed like we would think...they are folded into something that looks like an accordian (can you tell my age?....bet most young people will have no idea what an accordian is).

Hmm i think you just made me realize why when we have young volunteers and I am teaching them how to fold drapes they look at me like i have 2 heads when i say fold it in accordian style..