My bunny, Jewel, died this morning... She was my best friend...I don't know exactly how she died. She was so young. She was only 3 years old and her birthday was this summer. Somebody gave her to us for free at a rodeo so we didn't know much background info. We saw that one of her eyes were like glued shut and some white pus was around it a couple days ago. We were going to bring her to the vet on Monday because that was the only open day for our vet and we didn't think it was that serious. Last night I checked on her and she was breathing more fast then normal and was acting a little different. But I didnt do anything about it. I woke up this morning, looked inside her hutch and she was dead. I cried for three hours straight. I can't get over the fact she's gone. We shouldn't have brought her to the vet sooner..
My bunny died this morning...
- Thread starter RipJewel
- Start date
Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:
Christiaan
Active Member
Was she eating an drinking normal? And what about her poop? Did it look different at all?
Honestly, she didn't poop much...but the poop that I saw looked normal. I noticed the last couple days before she died she wasn't eating as much. And the day before she died I barley saw her eat or drink anything. Do you think that has something to do with it? I thought they could have lived longer of they didn't eat for a couple of days.
I'm sorry about your bunny. Not eating, drinking or pooping like normal is a major warning sign - just in case you intend to take another rabbit, you should know for next time that a rabbit that doesn't eat much should be brought to the vet as soon a possible (it's a matter of hours, not days). It's generally more of an effect than a cause (even if slow or, worse, stopped bowel movements will cause death after a few days - when the guts aren't working like they should, bacteria multiplies inside the guts which causes an infection and kills the rabbit). It's often caused by pain. From what you described, my money is on a tooth problem - a malocclusion would explain the pus on the eye and would make it hard for the bunny to eat. The cause of the malocclusion might be several things, including your rabbit not eating enough hay (I'm not saying it's your fault - some rabbits don't eat as much hay as they should). Of course, it might also have been an infection. It's impossible to be sure without an autopsy. When raising rabbits, we learn to be really paranoid of every little change in their attitude. Rabbits are very fragile and, if a number of things can be cured if taken early, you can't afford to delay a visit to the vet (even if it's not always simple to just drop everything to go :/). I saved one of my rabbits last Christmas, barging at the vet on the 23th of December asking for an x-ray and cancelling my trip to my parents because Aki was kinda hunched and refused a piece of carrot. I think the vet thought I was barmy - in the end, her stomach was full, her gut movement almost stopped just because the latest hay bag didn't contain as much 'hard' hay wisps as usual. If I had waited, she would have died. Rabbits are just stressful that way. Owning them, you feel like you spend your time scrutinizing them and dreading to find anything amiss (they are lucky they're that cute, because I sometimes wonder why I do this to myself).
So sorry for your loss.
