# My Rabbit died



## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

Went out earlier this morning before food shopping he seemed fine, eating hoping around, just went to check on him and his dead. 

Im gutted.


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

he is still warm, so must have been in the past hour, i dont really understand. Or what to do now?


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## SammyJo (Oct 22, 2012)

sorry for your loss xx


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## Grace_Lily (Nov 28, 2010)

seanmac said:


> he is still warm, so must have been in the past hour, i dont really understand. Or what to do now?


So sorry for your loss. Was he vaccinated? If so, it could have been something totally unavoidable like a heart attack. You can either take him to the vets to be cremated or bury him yourself, you don't have to make a rash decision now you will probably be in shock at the moment x


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

Grace_Lily said:


> So sorry for your loss. Was he vaccinated? If so, it could have been something totally unavoidable like a heart attack. You can either take him to the vets to be cremated or bury him yourself, you don't have to make a rash decision now you will probably be in shock at the moment x


he was fully upto date on injections.

Wondering if we should get the vet to take some tests.


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

I am so sorry.

We have had that happen once too.

VHD would be the first suspect, but if he had been vaccinated, it can't be that.

You could go through the autopsy process, but that is very expensive, and may not actually be conclusive (we've had that too). It is worth going through if you have other bunnies, but if I remeber, you only had the one.

Bunnies are a prey species, and because of that, they hide their illness very cleverly. He might have had a seizure, he might have choked - we had a bun choke, but were oh so lucky that we saw it happen, and were able to whizz her to the vets. She survived, but it was very touch and go. He might have had a severe fright - any foxes around?

you could look for any signs - runny nose, is the hutch as it was or disturbed, anything disturbed nearby? could bun have eaten anything odd/poisonous? Neighbour creosoting?

It may be that bun had something genetic going on. We fostered a litter of very vulnerable babies . We kept the 2 with known difficulties (hermaphrodite!, fast metabolism, mishapen head.....) and the other 3 seemed healthy and were rehomed. 

One, I believe, is still healthy. One took ill, collapsed and died within a few days, and the vet had no idea what was the matter. 

The other came back to us when her owner could not keep her. She was healthy one day, then the next, she just didn't seem right. The vet could not identify anything and she died within a couple of hours. An autopsy showed nothing.

Many bunnies are sadly the result of awful inbreeding, which often leaves them with hidden problems.

Your bunny was loved - hold on to that - some bunnies aren't lucky enough to have that.


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Re what to do with the body -


- you can bury bun in the garden - that is what we usually do , and plant a rose and put a solar light as a marker.

- the vet may offer a creamation service - if not they will know who does.

- you can leave bun with vet for creamation (group cremation), or have the ashes returned to you, to put where you wish. 

For now, just put bun in a box - unless I've remebered wrong, and you have a pair, in which case, let the other bun see the body - it helps them understand.

Hugs.


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

Have just the one he had a bit of blood aroud his mouth, his head was over his food bowl and the rest was laid across the hut.

Im not sure what happened we have buried him in the garden.

Gutted is an understatement


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

seanmac said:


> Have just the one he had a bit of blood aroud his mouth, his head was over his food bowl and the rest was laid across the hut.
> 
> Im not sure what happened we have buried him in the garden.
> 
> Gutted is an understatement


Did he have blood anywhere else, from his eyes or genitals? Blood on a rabbit that has died suddenly is a sign of VHD. How long ago was he vaccinated for VHD, maybe he was coming up to being due to have it done again?


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

I am thinking exactly the same as Kammie - when did he have his VHD? Was it the combi vac or separate Myxi and VHD?


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

Kammie said:


> Did he have blood anywhere else, from his eyes or genitals? Blood on a rabbit that has died suddenly is a sign of VHD. How long ago was he vaccinated for VHD, maybe he was coming up to being due to have it done again?


8 moths ago maybe less il ask Lindsey to dig out his vaccination record when he is back, it was only around his mouth just in a corner off it


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

Summersky said:


> I am thinking exactly the same as Kammie - when did he have his VHD? Was it the combi vac or separate Myxi and VHD?


personally i dont know Lindsey will know but she is at a friends at the moment


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

apparently it was the double jab with them both in 1


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## Mese (Jun 5, 2008)

I dont know anything about rabbits so cant help with why your bun possibly passed , but I did want to say im so sorry for your loss hun


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Hi,

Best person to talk to will be Bernie (B3rnie), I think. She knows far more than I do.

So sorry for what has happened.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

had he been eating plenty? could he have had teeth troubles? and cut his tongue. really sorry for your loss they are very quiet animals and hide all signs of being unwell I've recently lost my girl and its heartbreaking


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

emzybabe said:


> had he been eating plenty? could he have had teeth troubles? and cut his tongue


teeth where fine eating loads, he seemed really happy doing hops and going mental sprinting in the garden.

I dont get the sudden death, reminds me of my best mate


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## Grace_Lily (Nov 28, 2010)

OP you say he had blood coming out of his mouth and he died suddenly, this is a sign of VHD and I've just had a thought - would it be worth contacting the manufacturer of the vaccine to see what they say? It's a new vaccine which I'm sure has been researched for a long time but I think they should be informed of any deaths which could potentially be caused by a failure of the vaccine.


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## Louiseandfriends (Aug 21, 2011)

I'm so sorry!  xx


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

just reading about VHD and it sounds like it my neighbor has rabbits should i let her know


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## jaxb05 (Apr 12, 2009)

Really sorry to hear about the little guy xx


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

seanmac said:


> just reading about VHD and it sounds like it my neighbor has rabbits should i let her know


VHD is spread via contact so providing your bun hasnt been near theres and you been to see their rabbits they should be ok.

It takes quite a bit to kill of the virus. I would wait until spring before considering getting more rabbits. I would also disinfect the hutch and anything rabbity with Vikron S - even if you sell the hutch.

I don't know if the vaccine manufacture will do anything or make a record of the death without a postmortem carried out by your vets to confirm cause of death.

Had your bunny previously had the single VHD vaccine prior to this years combine vaccine? There are some concerns over the effectiveness of the VHD side of the combine vaccine.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

please dont beat yourself up over this, they do suddenly go and as you said he was fine any very happy running about shortly before hand.


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## Guest (Oct 31, 2012)

Firstly I am really sorry for your loss 

Due to the symptoms that you have described VHD will be very high on the list of suspects, although the only way to be certain would be to preform a necropsy.

I would contact your vets and tell them so they can pass the info onto the manufacturers.
I would also let your neighbours know, because VHD can be passed through flies/fleas too.


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

emzybabe said:


> VHD is spread via contact so providing your bun hasnt been near theres and you been to see their rabbits they should be ok.
> 
> It takes quite a bit to kill of the virus. I would wait until spring before considering getting more rabbits. I would also disinfect the hutch and anything rabbity with Vikron S - even if you sell the hutch.
> 
> ...


we got him 7months ago he was to old to be sold by Pets at home so we adopted him, he is not even a year old yet so i dont think he had one before my partner is more upto date on that stuff


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Yes do let them know - then you have done your bit.

There is a lot of conflicting info about the effectiveness of the new dual vaccine.

B3rnie has really researched it. Perhaps PM her.

VHD is cruel and sudden


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Sorry -I type slow!


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## gem88 (Jun 2, 2012)

oh hun im so sorry for you loss


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## seanmac (Oct 22, 2012)

spoke to vet today, he was fully up to date on his injections. She said she didnt think it was VHD due to no loose stools at all, she said it could be a 100/1 things but also advised me not to get a rabbit from pets at home again


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

he could have had a fit and bit himself, the only way to tell for sure is a necropsy. I'm sorry for your loss though, it must have been a heck of a shock


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