Help! Diagnose this young rabbit

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How heartbreaking this is for everyone that has followed your heroic actions from afar, but even more so for you who took these sweet creatures under your care. You have earned my respect and many more, if not everyone else, here. Thank you for trying so hard to give them a better life. The little guy certainly looks to have recovered very, very nicely from his original condition, so his last months were probably the best of his life.

As to the sudden lost of mobility, I've had this happen before and it can be very alarming. If memory serves, it is some form of bacteria that rabbits are especially susceptible to. The buns head tilts severely to the ground and their hind legs seem to be completely out of coordination with the rest of their body and they just kind of squirm around in a circle. I'm no expert, but I am hoping it was something like this and not a case of poisoning.

Prayers for you and daddy rabbit.
 
My heart goes out to you! I read your story for the first time last night from beginning to end. It is a terrible shame the life these bunnies have led and the conditions they live under. Know that you have made a great change in their lives, you have given them better conditions to live in, have shown compassion and love and have given them companionship. It is a wonderful thing that you did. On behalf of the buns, Thank You!
 
oh god... I was catching up on this and saw the video, I was going to say it was amazing how much healthier and happier they looked... then I got to the horrible news about the baby :tears2:

I'm SO sorry you lost him after five months of caring, nurturing and nursing him back to good health. life is so unfair sometimes! while I know it's breaking your heart that you got so attached only to lose him, I'm incredibly thankful that you did - it's far better for him to pass away now after finally getting to know GOOD care and the love of a human and getting to enjoy months of good health than for him to have passed away miserable and still suffering from those horrendous mites. you gave him more than he could ever have dreamed of a mere six months ago. you took away his suffering and made a tremendous difference in his life before it was tragically cut short - I know he must've been awfully grateful for all you did.

binky free, little guy! :rainbow:
 
I'm just feeling so sad about little bun right now. I was so happy when you were able to help him, and he got better. You made such a difference in those rabbits lives. If you hadn't come along when he first had the mites, he probably would have just suffered until he died. At least he got better, and had a few months, where he was happy and healthy.

There are a few things that I can think of that may have caused this. E. cuniculi is a protozoa that can commonly affect rabbits. It can cause problems with the nervous system, and can cause hind limb paralysis. But it usually doesn't cause such a sudden onset of symptoms, or death. So I don't know if it's something that can progress as quickly as this all happened. Mycotoxins, often found in corn, can cause sudden death in rabbits. It seems to more commonly affect the digestive system, but can also affect the central nervous system, and will cause a sudden onset and progression of symptoms. Or some other unknown poison could have caused this, but I don't know how he would have gotten to any, unless someone put some in there.

I'm just so sorry. It's so hard to lose them. I hope daddy bun is going to be ok. I'm sure he's feeling pretty lonely and misses his buddy.
 
Thanks for everyone's support. The pellet food that he was provided everyday was some sort of mix that did involve corn kernels...i don't know much about this myoctoxin but since he did he a lot of that corn...it could have been a factor?

The bacteria thing also sounds likely. He may have had a weaker immune system than his dad? Just got into work few minutes and checked up on the dad rabbit to see how he was doing (he was fine yesterday when I left). He looked very lonely. He was just sitting quietly by himself in the middle with one ear flopped down and the other kind of up.

I'm wondering if it was poisoning from something they ate, how come the dad rabbit isn't affected? It's either a case that the dad rabbit is stronger or the young rabbit was weak? Or maybe it was a bacteria disease only in the baby rabbit? Usually, if anyone gives food to the rabbits from outside, the dad rabbit is the more eager one to come greet the visitor and eat whatever it is they bring. I highly doubt the baby rabbit ate something first...even then, the dad rabbit would come and snatch it away. The baby rabbit was much more shy and timid so all these clues including the symptoms are leading me to believe it may have been a bacterial disease, then poisoning.
 
I was absolutely gutted to read this and can´t believe that after he´d got back to good health, this could happen. So glad that he got a few months of wonderful care and knew what love and affection was from you. I thought as well that someone may have deliberately given him something but you would have thought dad would have been affected in the same way. It just makes me think that if they´re capable of leaving them like that, then they´re capable of anything.

I wa going to say Lucky or Star as a name, I know he´s sadly gone over the bridge but he was a really lucky little fellow to have had you caring for him.

Binky free little fellow, no more pain for you :bunnyangel2:
 
I was so sad to hear this! I actually cried for you and the dad rabbit and I usually never cry :(. At least his last few months were full of love and happiness. I'm sure he was very grateful for what you did for him. And he was soo lucky to have had you care for him. That's why I agree with Chris, I think you should name him Lucky or Star or you could even name him Lucky Star, I really like the name Lucky Star.

RIP little sweetheart, go binky free in bunny heaven.
 
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Thanks. My eyes and face was all puffy from lastnight and ppl were asking me what happened to me. I loved your responses about the name. Lucky Star is a PERFECT NAME. When I look up at the sky and see a shining star twinkling at me, I'll remember it's my LUCKY STAR. Thanks for that name.

There's a chance I can adopt the dad rabbit if they decide to get new rabbits because they said the new and old rabbit would fight so that wouldn't be good and they were considering getting rid of the current rabbit if they get new ones. I told them, IF they do that, please tell me first, because I will adopt the dad rabbit and keep him while I'm here. I don't know how or if it's doable to even take a rabbit back home to Canada with me if I leave.

The groundskeeper also said he will now put up a mesh fence to cover the open space between the wall and the roof (the wall is about 4 feet tall and then it's just open for any animal or person to jump in there). That might help to keep out other animals and birds that come into steal the rabbit food and leave behind piles of bird poop.

Here are 2 pics I took of the dad rabbit this morning...he seemed so alone now...but more excited to see me...i guess it's good company now that he doesn't have any one left (lost his wife, and now his son).

2vxf4ph.jpg

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any name ideas for him?
 
I LOVE the name "Lucky Star" for the younger rabbit... that's absolutely perfect!

again, I'm so sorry you lost him... but so glad you found him in the first place. I'm crying again, heh... it's just so sad, after all he'd gone through and overcome, to die so suddenly and so young. I'm sure you're like the patron saint of bunnies to these two, with all the wonderful changes you brought.

looking at that second picture of the dad, I feel like there's a name right on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't quite find it :(

oh, and if they do decide to get replacement bunnies, pretty please convince them not to get a M/F pair unless at least one of them is fixed! god knows these people shouldn't be breeding more rabbits.
 
wry neck or e.cuniculi....

could be poisoning, but if nothing was around.....probably wry neck. Would have needed to be aggressively treated.
 
I was thinking something along magical or mystical lines and I like Gandalf, he looks so sad in the photos, I bet he´s missing the little one. I was thinking of the name Max and then Mad Max popped up for some reason, how weird is that. Lucky Star is perfect for him , I was still thinking about that poor little fellow when I went to bed last night and I, like Jennifer, shed a few tears. Just thinking about him brings tears to my eyes. But yes, he was so lucky to have you even though it was such a short time, you brought him so much joy. I think everyone who´s read about his story on here will always remember him, I certainly will.

I´m praying that they let you adopt dad, I´m a sucker for white buns and those flopping ears are just so cute.
 
Yes it will be nice looking up at a star at night and see him twinkling in the sky. He was your lucky star.

Again, I'm so sorry you lost him. I will always remember the little bunny who finally got some love and health.

I love Lord Of The Rings so I think Gandalf would be the perfect name for the dad rabbit, and he does look like a Gandalf.

I really hope they let you adopt the dad rabbit. He would be so much better off with you. Why do they keep rabbits anyway?
 
hello, just think you will be able to look out your bedroom window at night and see him twinkling in the sky i hope they let you adopt and keep the male rabbit you would be a really good owner too it x RIP cute bunny x:bunnieskiss:bunnieskiss
 
Aww i read this whole thread start to finish im new to bunnys i just got mine 2 days ago but i also loveee animals im so glad that you took the time to care for these buns and help them thrive atleas Lucky Star had a amazing last few months he passed happy. I do hope u get to take little wizard wabbit back to canada with you !! and that those people dont get anymore rabbits ><
 
Thanks again to everyone. Your words of encouragement have really helped boost my spirits up. I've been constantly thinking about what I could have done to prevent this from happening. What eats at me most right now is wanting to know exactly what it was that he died of. I've narrowed it down to something he ate that was poisonous or an internal disease (bacterial?).
The more I gather information and try to put it together, the more I'm starting to believe it was bacterial.

Since I had last seen Lucky Star healthy at about 12noon and the groundskeeper told me he saw him in bad shape at 1pm, that means from the time of his illness to the time of his death (8pm) that was about 7hours. Can anyone tell me if poisoning usually takes 7 hours to kill a rabbit? Would it be much faster or even longer than 7 hours? If it's a disease like wryneck or e. cuniculi, from being symptomless to the sudden illness...does wryneck or cuniculi or other intestinal/bacterial disease kill in a 7 hour time frame?

As I was thinking back, I do recall Lucky Star seemed to have a very thick, pasty, yellow urine at times...it wasn't thin and watery...but sometimes it looked very thick. Most of the poop I saw were round and dry but sometimes it was wet looking and sometimes I saw small splatters of poop....back then, i wasn't sure if that was just cuz they stepped in the poop with wet feet or maybe it was the weather (humidity on rainy days) that made the poop wet. But I feel that I should have looked and examined the poop carefully or even send some samples to a vet to get it analyzed and tested to make sure there was no bacterial disease. I wonder if it even had to do with the ear infection he had for such a long time? Is it possible during his weakened state of the ear infection (which I didn't know or treat until months after he was suffering from it), that he could have contracted a bacterial disease and even though the selemectin cured his ear infectoin (externally looked good), he may have been carrying a bacterial disease all this time (3 months) and now it took its toll or revealed itself?

Why I'm starting to rule out poisoning is because if it was insecticide or fertilizer (we have some small farms nearby), the dad rabbit would have been affected too right? But he seems perfectly fine. This seems more isolated to just Lucky Star and so it leads me to believe it may be a disease that finally manifested itself so in an attack on the body/nervous system?
 
Oh, I overheard some ppl say now that the dad rabbit is alone...he could die of loneliness? Is this true? Do rabbits fall victim to depression and lose hope and will to want to live? I read the opposite was true that sometimes a rabbit that looks like it's on the brink of death can suddenly be ok when they are in the company of a companion.
 
I actually have some experience with E.cuniculi. We had a bunny, Dino, die so very suddenly. My mom noticed he wasn't eating as much as he normally did. The next morning she saw he was lethargic and had runny stool. He died 5 hours after she noticed the diarrhea. He was perfectly fine but the only thing noticed was decreased appetite and then the other symptoms followed. This happened so suddenly I was in utter shock. I had a necropsy done and the suggested diagnosis was EC.
Here is my thread. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/i-really-need-some-ideas-73565/
 
actually, it's possible for a rabbit to die if they get so depressed they stop eating long enough to cause GI stasis and then the stasis goes untreated. however, that's not at all common, especially if he's getting daily attention from a human and has a lot of running around space (both of which are true). chances are, he'll be sad for a while and then bounce back. if you have a little extra time to spend with him, it certainly wouldn't hurt. keep an eye on him - as long as he's eating a decent amount each day and leaving poops behind, then there's absolutely no reason to worry.
 
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