My poor rabbit :(

MarthaMyDear

I posted a thread here a few weeks ago about my rabbit asking about how to make sure they do not get too cold in the winter...unfortunately she died two days ago

She was just a little bit less than a year old and was a beautiful lop eared rabbit.

I fed her pellets and a small amount of fresh veg and a piece of fruit as an occasional treat and she had fresh hay and straw. She lived in a medium sized hutch in the garden that was up against the house to keep it sheltered. I adored her. I was never done worrying if she was ok at night if it was windy or rainy. On some of the particularly stormy nights I would give her extra hay and turn her hutch around to face the wall for extra shelter then turn it back in the morning so she could see out.

She used to love running around the garden but managed to get stuck at the side of the shed twice, I used to let her run around my room or the kitchen until I blocked up the shed :rolleyes: I just loved her she was so cute and I was always fussing over her

On Monday I went out to her during the day and changed her water, I also gave her some veg which she ate straight away. I went out again a while later to let her out to run around but a few minutes later it started pouring rain so I put her back in. That evening I fed her pellets at around 7 or half 7. The next day I was in a big rush to go out and I stuck my head out the door to make sure she had water, I went out for a while and when I came back I went to feed her and she was right in the far corner of her hutch dead She just looked like she was sleeping but her eyes were open and I just knew straight away. She usually came running over when she heard me

I can't help wondering what I did wrong. I was in the middle of planning to make a bigger hutch for her as she was getting bigger and I was looking into rescuing a rabbit to keep her company as I read online they are happier in pairs.

I keep going over in my head if I did something that led to her dying. I wish I'd let her out for longer that day or that I'd taken her out of her hutch for a while the morning of the day she died maybe I would have noticed something and brought her to a vet. She had finished all her food in her bowl so could she have been that sick? I know I should have brought her to the vet after she died but I was bawling my eyes out and my OH put her in a shoebox and buried her for me. He said there was no blood, no marks no nothing she looked perfectly normal She was only a baby..I feel awful that she might have been in pain while I was off being busy...

My OH said he would buy me another rabbit as he said I'd looked after that one so well but I just feel now that I can't be trusted to look after one.

KamiKazeKitten

That's awful OP, sorry to hear about it. Losing a pet is always hard.
Don't beat yourself up about it, it sounds like you were the perfect pet owner!
Go for it and get another rabbit, as soon as your over losing this one of course...

Sigma Force

Sorry about your bun, I don't think it would of been the cold at this time of year if that's any consolation.
Rabbits are delicate and there could of been a number of reasons. Could of been as a result of bad breeding or she could of picked up a bug.
Was she vaccinated against VHD and Myxi although with both of those diseases she would of shown obvious signs of illness.
It could of been a respiratory thing or just one of those things that happens. The vet could of done a post mortem to see if there was anything else that caused it but sometimes the results can come back with no real answers.

If you do go for another rabbit perhaps consider a rescue bun or a pair of rabbits, but first ensure the hutch is totally disinfected or since you are building another one perhaps wait until you have a bigger hutch for two.

It's not any consolation but it might help keep your mind off things if you concentrate on building a wee bunny hotel and then adopt two rabbits that need a good home.

Have had a guinea pig die for no explained reason, had an autopsy done and everthing but it was inconclusive it's such a shock though. Rabbits and guineas are both very good at hiding illnesses.

loveisdivine

Try not to beat yourself up about it. It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong at all. You seem like a responsible pet owner so you should definitely get some more when youre ready.

I do feel for you though. I know I'm going to be a mess when the day comes that one of my pigs leaves us.

My thoughts are with you.

x

Blissy

I'm very sorry to hear about your rabbit. Something similar happened to my sister, she also had a lop eared rabbit that died after less than a year from what they call floppy rabbit syndrome. Her rabbit was acting perfectly normal till one evening her back legs stopped working and by the next morning she was completely paralysed. The vet treated her for two days to no effect and she had to be put down. Apparently the cause of floppy rabbit syndrome is unknown so maybe your rabbit died from this, through no fault of yours or maybe its a problem in they're breeding.

MarthaMyDear

Thanks everyone.

I'm really regretting now not bringing her to the vet after she died, I can't stop wondering what happened. I just hope she was in no pain.