Death again!

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sonjah

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May 20, 2004
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Location
Adelaide, , Australia
I have had 2 bunnies roaming free for 3 years now.My sister gave me her two she could not look after anymore. However onewas a male. I caught him attacking my Patchie (female) and saved herfor the moment. She was fine for 2 days after, until 2 days ago she waseasy to catch. I put her in the hutch to rest and found her dead thismorning. What happened? There are no signs of cuts or bleeding. She wasmy favourite! This happened to her mum also, she died out of theblue....she was only 2 yo. and had 3 litters.:(
 
Oh, Sonjah, so sorry for your loss.There are so, so many reasons and ways buns can die suddenly that it ishard to make the diagnosis that you are asking for. You don'tsay how long your sister had the buns. If you had them threeyears, and she another two or three, that would even make natural deathhighly likely, the "average" life span of our domestic rabbits is fiveto ten years, with odds more toward the short end of that statistic.

Some or our buns free range pretty regularly, so when I say that yourbuns enjoy and enjoyed their "free" life, I know I am correct basedupon the reaction of our bunnies to free ranging opportunities.

We also have house bunnies, but that is more for our ownenjoyment. I would never equate a house-bound life with thejoys and contentment of a "protective" free rangingenvironment. Our back yard becomes "Binkyville" when the bunsare left to their own free ranging resources, which I'm sure you willunderstand.

Rest assured that you have given your buns a very fruitful, if not long life. I am sure they will love you forever.

Buck

 
I'm so sorry,Sonjah,

Sometimes when a rabbit is under constant stress, itcan leadto their immunity breaking down or having a heart attack. Wasthe male in the same cage as Patchie or near it? If he wasalways bullying her, it could've puta lot of stress on herheart.

As Buck stated, it's hard to say exactly what they died of.Were there any signs of runny eyes, sneezing, anything unusual that youcould pinpoint? Are there poisonous plants in the area wherethey're able to run free?

Since rabbits are masters at deception when it comes to hiding theirillness, it's not always easy to detect when they're not feelingwell.

It sounds as if Patchie had quite a nice life and was loved verymuch. I'm so sorry for your pain and loss. You'llcertainly be in my thoughts and prayers.

-Carolyn
 
I am so very sorry for your loss. I recently lostmy little girl Athena and I find myself asking those same questions. Myheart goes out to you. You will be in my thoughts and in myprayers.

Tina
 
Oh Sonjah what terrible news - I'm very sorry to hear of your loss :(

However it happened I know it can't bring her back and the pain ofloosing her will always be there.It's hard to cometo terms with a loss of a pet, but cherish your memories that you haveof her and remember how muchjoy she brought into your life.

Vickie
 
sonjah wrote:
Ihave had 2 bunnies roaming free for 3 years now. My sister gave me hertwo she could not look after anymore. However one was a male. I caughthim attacking my Patchie (female) and saved her for the moment. She wasfine for 2 days after, until 2 days ago she was easy to catch. I puther in the hutch to rest and found her dead this morning. Whathappened? There are no signs of cuts or bleeding. She was my favourite!This happened to her mum also, she died out of the blue....she was only2 yo. and had 3 litters.:(
I'm so sorry for your loss.
 
And one more thing. I have a peach tree out back,and being Autumn here (Australia)they're falling leaves everywhere.Could she been poisoned from this? They were fine last year,,Living inthis house for 3 and a half years..Surely they ( Patchie n Flipflop)would have adjusted..Maybe as you said the immune system becomes low,hence Death of my Bun.:X



.Also THANKING Everyone with their sincere thoughts and responding to my loss..

This is a sure GREAT WEB-SITE!! Where were you4 years ago?:)
 
Hi Sonjah,

Unfortunately the webpage I liked the most has cut back substantiallyon their list of items that were bad for rabbits. I'll haveto refer to my binder which is not with me right now about the peachtree leaves. I don't think they're poisonous, but I have tomake sure. I know that tomatoes aren't poisonous to rabbitsbuttomato plant leaves are.

Were their (the buck's and the girls') hutches/cages near eachother's? Did you witness him taunting her prior tothis? Was the buck able to 'bully' the others when they werefree? That could've caused the girls some stress.

Have you treated your trees/plants/grass for pesticides?

What I was saying about the heart attack is that if arabbitis under a lot of stress for a prolonged period of time, it works theirheart and immune system overtime.Acontinuousstressful situation for a rabbit could certainlylead to heart troubles or immunity problems and quicklybecomefatal.

Don't beat yourself up over something you couldn't seecoming. Of course you would've fixed it had you known it wasfatal Rabbits are masters at deception and they make it veryhard to detect a problem since in nature, they have to hide them frompredators. It could've been a number of things that had gonewrong for you little baby. It's hard to diagnose.


I don't think you need to jump to giving the male away. Ithink you should keep them away from each other or at least a close eyeon them though until things settle down a bit. Make sure he'snot bullying the other doe. Are you sure he'shealthy? It's a littlestrange that a week after hearrives, she dies; especially since she was thriving beforehand.

-Carolyn

* * * * * * * *
I just received your PM and I'm posting it for others to see.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Patchie was never in a cage and Muffin (the male) hasonly recently moved here. About one week actually..So you see it allhappened so fast, I have this awful feeling that I could have taken herto the vet in time to save her. But I delayed and put her in a hutch torest away from the newcomers "Muffin andPatchie'ssisterMissy" Whom belonged to my sister.

She was listless for around 3 days..My son said Ishould takeher to the vets, but I thought maybe she would recoop if she wasisolated.


She looked healthy (noresportarycomplaintsvisible)apart fromher lack of energy and easy to catch.

I would never own a rabbit whom could not raomfree...but I did put the male inthe hutch for the first 48hrs before releasing him. Flipflop (English Lopp) patchie's companionhas been searching madly for her all daytoday... She has been pushed out of here domain by Muffin, and I cannottell you how bad I feel for her. Shall I give away the male..and justkeep the sister."Missy to keep Flipflop with company.

What would you do..

Muffin cannot help being what he is...he is so cute in abraod cranium way(being a male) I cuddled him today and forgavehim...If she had a heart attack it would have been much more sudden .Don't you think??



 
Sonjah,
I am really sorry to hear about your lost.... I do not know whathappend.... I only can say that your rabbits lived wonderful lives ifthey were allowed to run free. They are now in a better place I amsure- in bunny heaven. I will pray for you.
 
Well it's day 3 since Patchie passed on. I havebeen watching the 2 does and Muffin the male..It seems he does pushFlip Flop around a bit and she is not content to stay around him toolong. I have them all roaming free..I did have Muffin in the hutch foraround 8 hours yesterday, but I cannot bring myself to leaving himthere..It's seems so cruel. Thankyou all for your support and I will beraking up those Peach tree leaves first thing thismorning. Can anyone help me with what diseases orsilent killers there arethat rabbits dont show anysymptoms.? Patchie was listless for 3 days. Should I have taken her tothe vets and could she have been saved? Has anyone had the sameunfortunate experience with only the lethargic symptoms before death oftheir bun? Better still,sawthe vet and healed theproblem for their bun?? I am finding myself feeling quite irresponsibleand uncaring for not doing so!!
 


It could've been a number of things. Cancer, kidney failure, heartproblems, genetically something was passed on...the list goes on,Sonjah. Without a test done after the fact, it's very hard to diagnose.

Unfortunately, by the time the symptoms are obvious to us, in some cases the problem is advanced.

-Carolyn
 

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