Sudden Death - WHY?

My beloved house rabbit George passed away this morning in what appears to be a rather horrible death.

I've only had him a few weeks after rescuing him from Pets at Home. He was perfectly happy and healthy although I began to suspect that he'd possibly come with mites as he had very flacky skin.

I took him to the vets yesterday who at an astronomical price of £45 said he may/may not have mites so best to treat him any case. They gave me Xeno 450 and told me to apply it once a week for three weeks. For the record they also said that he was perfectly well and healthy.

I did the first application when I got home last night about 6pm. Within an hour or so he'd gone all lethargic and wouldn't eat. He wasn't drinking either just laying with head down breathing hard. I dipped my finger in water and he sucked it off but turned his head after a while. He let me pick him up without wriggling which was not like him at all. I knew something was wrong, his ears had also gone very cold.

He's a house rabbit so I checked him through the night. he started to have diarheoa around 5am and by 11am he'd passed away in a pool of diarheoa.

Can anybody help me to understand what happened? I just wish I'd got up earlier to check on him again - maybe I could have got him to the vets and done something to save him...

Oh I'm so sorry to hear this I can't offer any explanation I'm afraid, hopefully someone will be along soon who may be able to help. As he passed away so quickly it is likely that even if you had checked him earlier the outcome would have been the same Especially as the vet had pronounced him to be in good health that same day. I'm so sorry, poor little bunny He will have known that you were there for him and loved him, I am sure.

Im so sorry to hear you have lost your bun

It sounds like a possible severe allergic reaction to the xeno 450?
Seeing as he was in optimum health at the surgery yesterday and once the treatment was applied he went down hill from there.
I would ring your vet and speak to him about it and see what he thinks? Maybe even consider a post mortem to see if there are any indications as to whether it was the xeno or some other underlying problem.

Also the vet should contact the manufacturers as they need to know of any reactions to the treatment so they can look into why and 'if' it is very rare or whether its not that uncommon if it was the treatment that caused his death. This will help other rabbits in the future.

So sorry

Awww I'm so sorry - how dreadful for you to find him like that

Have done a forum search on xeno, and everyone recommends it, but it is possible he had a rare, allergic reaction to it - bunnies are all different.

Other possibility is stress of going to the vets may have given him heart failure or brought an underlying condition out such as coccidia - but that would be unusual to have such a quick effect.

Did the vet give him any other medications?

Oh Sally, how terrible, I'm so sorry for your loss Poor little chap.

It sounds too much of a coincidence to not suspect that it had something to do with the prescibed medicine. If you haven't already contacted your vet I would suggest you do. I'm sure they will be able to find out if this batch of xeno has had any effects on other rabbits. But as Elve says it may just have been your George that was allergic.

I know it's hard but have you that about a postmortem? If it is connected to the xeno and they have proof of this, it could help other bunnies it the same situation or the batch will be recalled.

Thinking of you, binky free George xx

Thanks for your comments.
Have contacted vets - he hadn;t had any other medication. They seem to think same, that is was a reaction to Xeno. Or possibly linked to an underlying symptom that along with a bad reaction to Xeno he just couldn't cope with.
The manager originally offered a post mortem but vet has since rang to say that there's very little chance now as it's been several hours of finding anything untoward as if it was drug then it would've changed inside by now. They ar econtacting drug manufacturers and getting back to me.
Can't believe this has happened.

Vets have just rung back, drugs company have had 4 cases of death out of 6000, so it is a very slim possibility. They are paying for a full post mortem to be done so I'm taking him over there now. Will keep you informed and maybe help other bunnies not meet same horrible death.

That's good that they are paying for it. I hope they can shed some light on this shocking news and at least give you an answer for how he passed to put your mind at rest

Thinking of you Sally

It will indeed help the company to build a profile of reactions and like you say, help to protect future rabbits in the long run if they can figure out whats causing the allergy and possibly change the composition if neccessary. The thing is aswell, although they have only had 4 cases confirmed, I think there could be quite a few more as many rabbit owners aren't all as well informed and would not see a connection or think to ring the vet up after their beloved pet died

hugs for you (((*)))

so sorry for your loss

Very sorry to hear what has happened. What a horrible shock.

How dreadful this happened, I'm so sorry Please don't blame yourself for not getting up to see him sooner - there was nothing you could have done anyway, you did everything right.

so sorry for your loss what a sad thing to happen

So sorry to hear of your loss, must have been so hard. xxx

I'm so sorry Sally, you did all you could x

sorry mate, you did everything right xx

I'm so sorry. It must be awfully hard finding your bun like that. Well done for chasing it up with the vets. Hopefully the post mortem will shed some light. Thinking of you xx

I am SO sorry and sad to hear about your poor bunny.

Binky free, little one. XXX

so sorry...

Oh I am so sorry!!! I haven't had any bunny deaths yet (knock on wood) because I have only had bunnies for one year but I can't imagine what I will do when something happens to one of them!!! so sorry!:roll:

Just thought I'd keep you guys updated & thanks again so much for all your kind words, has hit me much harder than ever thought it would.
Vets rang with results of post mortem and confirmed that there was no other cause of death and so that therefore the Xeno caused some kind of reaction that resulted in death. I don't want to frighten anyone as I understand that this is the best product for mites on the market but just to make you aware. Although it has caused his death it must be EXTREMELY rare as they have only had 4 previous cases. They are carrying out an investigation and contacting me again in a couple of weeks, I shall let you know the outcome. Fingers crossed George was just unlucky. Hopefully some good can come out of his death by ensuring that this NEVER happens to another bunny ever again