Can't explain sudden death of 2-month-old rabbits

[Tracy S]

The thing is there was no sign anything was amiss until literally hours before they died, that's what I don't get...would any of the possible culprits mentioned - cocci, blockage or entritis - present that way?

I'll definitely start to regularly feel their abdomens to try to recognize future blockages. Would olive oil or grape seed oil do instead of mineral oil to lubricate a blockage?

 

[pinkfox]

should do, but you mght need slightly higher dosages or more freqent as both are readily absorbed by the body and you realy want something to lubricate lol.

in terms of sighns/symptoms. unfortunaty rabbits being prey animals will typically not show symptoms/distress untill whatever it is has gotten to the danger point. to show signs of illness puts you and your warren at risk so they hide all signs of illness untill they literally cant hide it anymore...usually by the time you see something is wrong there already in pretty bad shape.

 

[DianeS]

pinkfox is right - by the time the rabbit "gives in" and shows signs of pain or distress, it's serious and often means impending death. They will hide signs until they simply can't hide them any more. Regular checks will show you more potential problems and milder problems than relying on the rabbit's behavior. One exception to that is their food and water consumption - if the rabbit lives alone you can often tell things from that, but obviously not in a communal living situation like young rabbits are often in.

The rabbits I've had that passed away didn't show symptoms until the last minute either. I had one that did not eat her pellets one night, was listless the next morning and I could feel a mass in her abdomen, in distress an hour or so later, and 3 hours later I put her down because nothing was helping - necropsy showed she had a complete intestinal blockage. I've had two die of enteritis, they ate normally but didn't want to move much and when picked up I could hear their bellies sloshing, they both died less than 12 hours after that without showing any other symptoms. I've had a couple complete mystery deaths, one a male that was just "off" for a full day before he died, and another a female that died with no symptoms whatsoever. That female could have been stress- and heat-related, but the male I would have chalked up to old age based on how he was acting if he hadn't only been 2 or 3.

Rabbits are strange and fragile creatures. Don't let unexpected deaths get you down too much, or worry you too much. They happen surprisingly often, even when you think you have done everything right. Do some regular checks so you know what "normal" is for yours, do some preventative maintenance when it seems right (you're doing that with greens and hay already), and try to learn something new every time you lose one. Hang in there!

 

[Tracy S]

Wow, I hadn't thought of them acting "normal" to avoid showing weakness to potential predators...I appreciate all your time and feedback, lots of tidbits I'll add to my bag of tricks.

 

[Corn Woman]

I had the same thing happen with a litter of my bunnies and the culprit was cabbage. I will never give mine anything from that family again. Broccoli, cabbage, kale and the like. I have read that other people use it but I won't risk it. Sorry for your loss.

 

[hqueen13]

Horses are the same way, they can be 90% lame and have no visual change in their gait :/ Prey animals are tricky.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Entritis was the first thing I thought of when I read your post. It is usually considered fatal, since you usually don't see it until it is too late. It seems to happen most during the heat of summer. Here are a few more to consider. http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/crescentvalley/rabbitdiseasesandtreatments.html

 

[Tracy S]

Great link Dirty Harry, thanks...

Regarding the feeding of cole crops, my buns don't get a lot, but I do occasionally give them kale and broccoli leaves. It's been a couple of weeks though.

 

[pinkfox]

kale is great for bunnies...
broccoli and cabbage can be too much in large amounts but in small amounts i highly doubt thats the culprit

 

[baymule]

So sorry for your loss. When you have animals, sometimes even when you do everything right, things still go wrong. You are doing right by trying to find out why and what happened, no one wants to lose all their animals to some mysterious malady. I too thought of enteritus when I read your post and you have recieved some good advice. Enteritus swept through my rabbitry years ago when I kept several hunderd rabbits. I switched feed to all grains for the summer months ant that seemed to help. There is no easy answer. Best of luck to you.