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Sudden death of our 2 year old dutch

larandsandy Aug 07, 2006 10:49 AM

We are so sad. We woke up yesterday to find our 2 year old dutch bunny (Cupcake) dead. We don't know what happened. She was fine the day before. My daughter had her out on the hammock reading with her and I fed her a treat before going to bed and we found her dead the next morning. We feel so bad. She didn't have any signs of anything wrong. She was a little overweight, but not too much. She didn't have a cold, or any symptom that we noticed. Anybody have any idea what went wrong? We feel so bad. If we knew she was sick we would have taken her to the vet immediately. Thanks for any comments on what may have happened.

Replies (6)

dustbunny Aug 08, 2006 01:01 PM

Aww that's so sad, I'm so sorry for your loss!

That's never happened to me, thank god! My first bunny died of old age when he was 15, and Zeus is still a baby but I had a teacher in high school who kept two rabbits and explained the same things...her rabbits suddenly died for no explainable reason only about 2 days apart from each other. So first of all, if you have any other rabbits I would take them to a vet and explain what happened, just in case.

There could be alot of things that actually cause the death. If you want to know for sure you can take her to a vet and have a autosopy, but I assume you've already burried her. She could have had some kind of infection that became systemic. This could cause very rapid death with very little warning beforehand - but is not the only posabillity.

I'm so sorry again about your tragic loss!

larandsandy Aug 08, 2006 01:29 PM

Thanks for your comment. We don't have any other rabbits, just Cupcake. We still have no clue to why this happened. She seemed in good health and also when she died, she looked like normal. She was laying with her ears up and her eyes wide open. She looked alive. It must have been a heart attack or something sudden. We don't have a dog or anything that would have scared her, so I wonder if she had some genetic problem that we didn't know about. I guess we may never know, and it seems like it went quickly, which I am thankful she didn't suffer. Thanks again for your comment. It helps talking with others with pets.

ReptileGurl08 Aug 14, 2006 05:16 PM

Sorry about your loss.

Was Cupcake,a outside rabbit?If so was it over 85 degrees?She might have had a heat stroke...but anything could of happend..

Might be even sudden doe death sydrome..this can happen to young does.She was young(2 years).

Right now I have 50 something netherlands..all outside in my barn..12 fans out there and so far none have died.(thats great).

-Kara

larandsandy Aug 14, 2006 07:15 PM

Hi, no she was an inside rabbit. We had a large cage and she was in our lower level of our house where it is cool. She did go outside with us on a leash and loved that. But, she was never left outside alone and overnight. She could have died from what you said. We never had rabbits other than her, so I don't know alot about what they can get. She did go to the vet for check ups and was given a clean bill of health not too long ago. Like I said, she had no symptoms whatsoever and it happened very suddenly. I don't think we will ever know what happened. But thanks for your comments. I hope your rabbits do ok with the heat wave. Fans are good.

PHEve Aug 13, 2006 05:50 PM

Geesh, this is so very sad, I'm terribley sorry, I feel your sadness and frustration over her death and not knowing. Sometimes this happens and we just never know why.

Seems as though Cupcake had an awesome 2 years with you guys though. Guess we sometimes have to hang on to that though. They were very well taken care of while we had them.

Hope you feel better soon ,
-----
PHEve/ Eve

Contact PHEve

larandsandy Aug 14, 2006 07:10 PM

Thanks for your sympathy. It is hard. They become a member of your family. Like I said earlier, I don't think she suffered as she looked alert and alive. It had to be something quick. We will remember her kisses and sweetness. She was the best rabbit. Never bit and loved to be held. She was black and white - that's why we named her cupcake! She will be missed and I hope she was as happy as she made us. Thanks again.

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