sudden death

[bunny lady]

Please help. Everyday for the last week, I have found 1 dead bunny in my outdoor cage. They are all healthy, active, eating and drinking normally. They are approximately 2 months old, meat rabbits. I have sterilized all their feeders and waterers, made sure they have lots of hay and pellets. They are off the ground, so not eating their feces, not overheated as I have continued to lose them even as the weather cooled. I don't think it is their food as I only lose 1 at a time. Their stools are normal. I see no sign of diarrhea or bloody stools. They appear to be perfectly healthy and then one dies. I have looked in all of my rabbit books, and can't find anything that explains their deaths. I hope someone can help me. Thank you.

 

[naturestee]

How long have you had them? Did you switch their feed all at once, or by mixing their old stuff into their new stuff? What is the temperature and are they in the sun?

 

[tonyshuman]

Any chance a predator is coming nearby and harassing them to death?

 

[tamsin]

I would get a post mortem done asap. Even a basic one with no tests may give you some clues.

In the short term just try to minimise the risk of cross contamination by not sharing any equipment between pens/cages. Disinfecting yourself in between touching rabbits/equipment.

Is R/VHD active in your area? It doesn't necessarily present with blood, it can just be sudden death.

 

[tonyshuman]

RHD isn't common in North America. There was a person with rabbits that died suddenly not long ago, in one of the Western/mountain states of the US, and we suspected RHD However, seizures were observed. It ended up being toxoplasmosis from contact with cat feces. Is this a possibility?

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=56804&forum_id=16