Is my rabbit dying?

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Joined
Apr 5, 2020
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Gaithersburg Maryland
My rabbit has always been healthy but today my family and i were at our dinner table and later went to the living room to find my 5 year old sister on top of a blanket. I asked her what was under the blanket and it was my rabbit. She was still alive but she’s breathing heavy and i think she was suffocating under the blanket. she ate an apple an hour ago but she’s still breathing heavy and moving her head back and forth (not side to side)
 
Any possible way to get her to a rabbit vet today as an emergency? Breathing difficulty and the odd head movement may indicate there is something very seriously wrong with her, possibly with her heart or lungs. She in the very least, may need to be put on oxygen.

If you can't get her seen by a vet today because there are no rabbit vets open, then I would try and keep things very calm and quiet for her and let her rest. This trauma may have put a strain on her heart, so you want to keep her as calm as possible and don't want her to be in a situation that will increase her heart rate or stress her at all. And if she's not completely back to normal tomorrow, call the vet and tell them you need to bring your rabbit in as an emergency.
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
 
All vets near me are closed on sunday. But will be open tomorrow on monday. She has been resting a lot. She’s still hopping around and eating but I’m worried about her breathing. Is there any way I can send a video for you to see how she’s doing?
 
Upload a video on youtube and then share the link with us. This is an emergency and this rabbit needs to go to the vet. Are there any emergency vets near you? Even if it is a cat and dog vet they will still be able to help a little.

Just like JBun said, keep her calm. I would also keep your little sister away from the rabbit, she does not sound careful.
 
link:
I have kept my little sister away from my rabbit and she will no longer be allowed near her, sadly there are no open vets near me. I was able to give her water with a clean pipette, but she ate lettuce perfectly fine on her own. She seemed to look happier after eating and drinking
 
I'm not sure if it is a collapsed lung, but the way she is gasping for air makes it seem like that. I think she would need surgery if it is a collapsed lung.
 
No, she does not have a collapsed lung, at least not now. She would be in severe respiratory distress if she did, and be on the verge of dying. She definitely has an increased respiratory effort which has the potential to worsen tonight, so keep a close eye on her.. But at least it's not so bad that she is severely mouth breathing with her head up yet.

If she starts mouth breathing at any time tonight and you can find an emergency vet that will see her, I would take her in immediately. You can see a photo in this link of what a rabbit mouth breathing looks like. They may look like they are chewing on something as they open and close their mouth in an effort to breath.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Respiratory/Bacterial/URI.htm
 
Prayers and hugs.
Hoping everything is okay with your baby. And definitely agree, to keep sister away. I'm sure she wasn't meaning any harm. Definitely time to give to bunny rules. 🙁
 
Hi, I checked on her this morning and she seems to be breathing the same, she hasn’t been mouth breathing. The vet is open today.
Good! I'm so glad she didn't get worse! Make sure she is eating lots of hay and drinking lots of water. Please get her to the vet today, and let us know what they say! 😁
 
link:
I have kept my little sister away from my rabbit and she will no longer be allowed near her, sadly there are no open vets near me. I was able to give her water with a clean pipette, but she ate lettuce perfectly fine on her own. She seemed to look happier after eating and drinking

Poor girl she's definitely having difficulties with breathing but honestly I just don't know how to help her. Hopefully she will recover soon, she's a very pretty girl
 
Hi, I wanted to update you guys and let you guys know what the vet told me when I spoke with him on the phone. He suggested to keep her home and observe her for now since she is still eating and drinking water and seems to be doing better. He said that if she gets worse to bring her in.
 
Took her to the vet today because she wasn’t getting any better. Turns out she has tapeworms! I gave her all the medicine the vet gave us about 4 hours ago and she recently ate some lettuce and drank lots of water. But she seems to look really sad :( is there a possibility that the tapeworms are causing her to be stressed and breathing heavy?
 

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