Looking for explanation for death :(

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LlamaJenn

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Southeast, Massachusetts, USA
Hi, I am new here. I have been caring for my mom's rabbit while she's been on vacation the past 4 days. To give a little history, he is a lionhead rabbit that she's had for the past 3 years (is about 4 years old). He had some medical issues a year ago (can't remember what...he wasn't acting himself, his eye started looking weird, the vet thought possibly a tumor & he'd need lots of money in testing and treatment) then it seemed to clear up. Still, he never eats much. Daily he gets some sort of feed (guinea pig), rabbit treats, a baby carrot, and usually a little grass or clovers. (Since I've been trying to reading up on rabbits tonight, it seems to be a problem as the diet is too low in hay and possibly fiber?) He doesn't seem to ever eat much. He'll eat some of the colored pieces of the feed and leave the rest. This is how he's been for as long as I've remembered. My mom just keeps giving him more feed even though he never eats the majority. And treats of course (rabbit treats, almonds, raisins, etc.) ...not sure how much, but I think she tries to limit? He always feels thin to me -- I can feel his spine when I pet him (not sure if this is normal).

Behaviorally, he is EXTREMELY ATTACHED to my mom. It's actually unhealthy for her, as she spends hours a day sitting in her bedroom petting the bunny and watching t.v. or otherwise zoning out (she suffers from depression). The dependency has worsened over the past couple years. She lives for this rabbit. She spends far more time with him than anyone in her family or any other person. Meanwhile he has become increasingly attached to her. I don't want to sound like I'm judging or dodging blame, but I do think the relationship and recent separation was part of what happened.

So for the past 4 days I've been coming over in the morning, turning on the AC for the bunny if it's going to be a hot day, coming back at night to turn it off, feeding him and giving fresh water daily of course, offering a couple treats as she does, trying to pet him a little, etc.
This morning I forgot to go over and turn on the AC.
Tonight he was dead.

I can't express how awful I feel.
Of course my first thought was "What an idiot I am!!!! How on earth did I forget to come over?!?!?!"
It was 83 degrees in the house when I came over tonight. I'm sure it got hotter earlier.

I tried to see if there were any other signs of what could have happened. He was just laying on his side under her bed near the wall. There was some pee and poop in the litter box as usual - except some of the poop was in weird, larger sized pellets, and the rest was the normal tiny-sized poop but it looked a little clumped together.

I called the on-call vet right away. She said it's hard to pinpoint what happened. Heat can raise the stress level, so can separation from my mom, and not eating much can worsen it.
I noticed last night (AC was on that day) that he didn't want a carrot or yogurt treat that he normally loves. I think he ate 1 almond though(?) Could this be a sign that something was wrong already?

Honestly I feel horrible. Every day I went over I was a little nervous because I was afraid that this could happen (not because of me messing up something, but because of the separation from my mom). Well this time I messed up and he was probably stressed already. I can't believe I forgot to turn the AC on this morning. It was a busy day & I have 2 little kids and a husband who's been working almost constantly, but I had really thought I did it (I was surprised to see it off when I went over).

Anyway, I am looking for any answers.... I have to tell her in the morning. I know she will be crushed, her vacation will be ruined, I will probably get blamed (I do think it's my fault), it's not going to be good.

Any advice is appreciated. Ideas of what happened, ways to tell her, anything.
Thank you

Jennifer
 
I'm so sorry for your loss..It sounds to me he had a problem before hand with the not eating and such. Guinea pig food shouldnt be given to rabbits. Hay is a very important part of their diet and should be offered daily in unlimited amounts. Carrots are treats and should be given sparingly. The food your mom was feeding was the type that had bits and pieces of colored puffs, thats not good either, because then the rabbit will ignore the pellets and eat just the puffs.

I personally wouldnt tell my mom this on her vacation. My mom suffers from depression too and I wouldnt want to make it worse when she's trying to make it better (vacation). Maybe you could wait till her last day or something?

Then on the other hand I would feel like crap for holding this information from her...This is a very sticky situation..

Sorry I couldnt be more help.

Wishing you the best of luck..
 
Thank you for your quick reply. I've debated when to tell her. I will be joining her on vacation in 2 days (neighbor was schedules to take care of bunny then). I'm not good at keeping secrets.I will probably tell her in the morning....or haveh sister or dad tell her because they're there with her. I don't know.
 
I'm so sorry this had to happen when your mom was gone. It does sound like there were several things going on and all contributed to his death. You need to let her know your observations related to his lack of eating. The lack of AC probably had something to do with it, but the separation/stress did too. It might be possible to have a necropsy done to see if the vet can find a cause of death. You have to keep the body cold and get to the vet within a certain amount of time, I think.
 
My grandmother had a poodle she took everywhere but when we visited family in Georgia she would leave her with a friend because they had dogs that picked on the poodle and every time the poodle was away from her she would get insanely sick. Throwing up, diarrhea, shaking etc. As soon as granny came back she was fine... there are many factors here.. poor diet, seperation anxiety, heat etc. No telling which was worse. You both have to admit fault and you have to tell her asap. She won't forgive you if you hide it. As weird as it sounds you should freeze the body, wrapped up so your mom can say goodbye and bury it herself. This will help her get closure. In sorry you have to go through this.
 
Turns out my mom was worried about him before she left since he wasn't eating much and was being extra needy. Amazingly she said it wasn't my fault. I still feel terrible, but am very thankful that so far she seems to be taking it well (as well as possible anyway).
 
LlamaJenn wrote:
Hi, I am new here. I have been caring for my mom's rabbit while she's been on vacation the past 4 days. To give a little history, he is a lionhead rabbit that she's had for the past 3 years (is about 4 years old). He had some medical issues a year ago (can't remember what...he wasn't acting himself, his eye started looking weird, the vet thought possibly a tumor & he'd need lots of money in testing and treatment) then it seemed to clear up. Still, he never eats much. Daily he gets some sort of feed (guinea pig), rabbit treats, a baby carrot, and usually a little grass or clovers. (Since I've been trying to reading up on rabbits tonight, it seems to be a problem as the diet is too low in hay and possibly fiber?) He doesn't seem to ever eat much. He'll eat some of the colored pieces of the feed and leave the rest. This is how he's been for as long as I've remembered. My mom just keeps giving him more feed even though he never eats the majority. And treats of course (rabbit treats, almonds, raisins, etc.) ...not sure how much, but I think she tries to limit? He always feels thin to me -- I can feel his spine when I pet him (not sure if this is normal).

There was some pee and poop in the litter box as usual - except some of the poop was in weird, larger sized pellets, and the rest was the normal tiny-sized poop but it looked a little clumped together.
Click to expand...
The AC might have been the last straw, but maybe it was better that you come upon him dead than for your mother to do so. You did the best you could.


His diet was far from ideal, so I hope your mother will come on RO & learn some things before getting another rabbit. Those yogurt & other colored things shouldn't be part of a rabbit's diet & neither should guinea pig food. And, as you discovered, hay is needed to keep the digestive tract moving. The amount of food should be monitored, not just added to. And did he get any exercise?

The strange 'poop' was cecals, which a healthy rabbit eats straight from the butt, for further digestion.
 
I'm so sorry. It's hard to know what kills our furry little friends, and not much research money is used to find cures for them. I was glad to hear that your mother didn't blame you.

One year we were at the Fair (our week of vacation every) and I had just won the Grooming and Showmanship class (which is VERY hard to do, once, and that was my second time doing it...haven't shown in it since. LOL). Anyway, after my class was over and my horse tucked back in his stall, my hubby came over to the camper and said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but Shasta died last night." He said he didn't tell me sooner because he didn't want to ruin my class for me. Shasta was my constant border collie cross dog that went every single place I did, and lived to be 15. Anyway, it's hard to know when to tell someone, and I think you handled it very well.
 
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