Our bunny died suddenly...anyone else have something similar happen?

[conniez]

Our almost 2-year old dwarf rabbit, Golden, died suddenly today. Just a day ago she was fine, eating and drinking normally. She's always been quiet and kind of timid, but DH noticed something was wrong when he picked her up today to take her for a stroll and she didn't kick/fight like she usually does. DH then tried feeding her a bit of banana to see if she would eat. she then went to the corner just in front of her cage, then she went limp and died. :cry: This happened so suddenly...out of nowhere really...and while I'm torn apart by this, it just broke my heart to see DD crying when we took Golden to the pet hospital to be buried. Has anyone else had a bunny who was fed the proper diet, was allowed to run, and still died unexpectedly?

[secchick]

We lost one of our three bunnies suddenly, though she was older. Emily, our little agouti, died last September. One night I went to feed her and picked her up and she was like a rag doll. I briefly tried to syringe feed her Critical Care, but she was really bad off. DH drove her to the emergency clinic, but she passed away on the way there. We had her cremated and found a statue on ebay of an angel/cherub holding a bunny that we added to our flower beds in the back yard. We lost another bunny in January, our little dwarf, Thumper, but she'd had a hard life before being rescued and always had health problems, so it wasn't unexpected. We recently adopted another bunny to be a friend for our boy, who had lost both of his girlfriends. I understand your grief. All of our bunnies were 7+ years old, but when you can finally tell that a bunny is sick, they decline very quickly.

[toby]

I am so sorry for your loss. What an upsetting experience...
Not sure how old your DD is, but it might be helpful to read The Tenth Good Thing about Barney. It's about a boy and his cat, but I think that your DD (actually, your whole family!) would relate.

http://www.amazon.com/Tenth-Good-Thing-About-Barney/dp/0689712030
:hug:

[vejemom]

I'm so sorry!

I've never had a rabbit, but I handled them occasionally as a vet assistant. Delicate isn't the right word, but they are far more vulnerable to outside stress factors than dogs and cats. It sounds like it could have even been heart failure. You did absolutely nothing wrong. What a lucky rabbit to have been loved and cared for so well as you did.

[ThreeofUs]

So very sorry this happened to you and your bunny.

I know a lot of people this has happened to, from farms to suburban households. It's just really hard to know when something is going wrong with a rabbit, and they are extremely delicate.

Please don't think this is your fault - sounds like you gave your bunny the best care possible. Sometimes, this just happens.

((hugs)) to you all.