Need advice after unexpected death

Hi All,

I’m fairly new to rabbits and have a bit of a story here.
Myself and my wife live both work 9-5 so haven’t got the time to fully care for a dog, so we decided to purchase a rabbit. It was really an impulse decision at the time to be honest. We seen Coco (lop-eared) and fell in love with him.
After we brought Coco home I did a bit of research into rabbits and came to the conclusion that I couldn’t leave the poor guy on his own all day and secondly that I would get him neutered.
After he was neutered we picked up a young (5mth old) female ‘Chloe’, she was a dwarf bunny approximately half the size of Coco. I introduced them on neutral territory for over a week, she stayed in the house, him out the back.Then when they appeared to be getting on great (lots of grooming) I placed her in the hutch with him.

All went well for about a month until one morning I went down to let them out to run and found the young female dead.
I Have to say I was absolutely devastated, I didn’t think I would get so attached but I was really upset when she died as she was more like a dog around me. She would follow me around, looking to be picked up and then licking me non-stop, when I’d open the hutch to let them out she’d run straight into the house everytime, very funny !
I’m not sure what caused the death as there no visible marks on her, I did think that she was losing weight a couple of days before the death yet I always watched them eating and they had plenty to eat.

Now my problem is…whether or not I should get another bunny as I really don’t want Coco on his own yet I don’t want the same thing happening to a new rabbit as did to ‘Chloe’. If I do get one should it be female or a neutered male.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Many Thanks,
Canio

I am so sorry to hear about your loss, it must be really upsetting for you . She sounds like she was quite a character. I am afraid I am very new to rabbit keeping as well, but I am sure that someone more knowledgable will be along soon with advice.....

was she vaccinated against VHD? cos that could be why.also things like bloat etc can kill buynnies very quickly.

if u do decide to get another friend for coco, it should be a spayed female.
imr eally sorry you lost little chloe

How horrible. I'm sorry.

Seeing as Coco has had a friend, he may or may not find it lonely being a single bunny again. However, before getting another bunny, maybe you could take him to your vets for a checkup? Just to make sure that whatever was responsible for your girl bunny's death wasn't contagious or something?

Awwww I'm so sorry to hear this - she sounds like such a lovely bunny

Could be any number of things - rabbits are 'exotics' and much more delicate than they look. My bunny Tia dropped dead at Christmas for no apparent reason - the vet checked her an hour before and couldn't find anything wrong except a slight drop in temperature. Without a post mortem it's impossible to say, but it could have been congenital heart failure, a poisonous plant eaten? VHD (if not vaccinated - but it's contagious so unlikely your other bunny would have survived). You say you had your rabbit neutered - they are fertile for up to 8 weeks after castration, although a lot of vets don't realise this. Could she have been pregnant? Another cause of sudden death is e-cuniculi, which is a protozoa - in which case youir remaining rabbit needs to be given a month's course of panacur wormer, as he will have picked it up, although many rabbits don't show any symptoms. Also disinfect the area with 10% bleach mix, and it's a good idea to treat any new rabbit you get with panacur too.

As for adding a new bunny - a spayed female would be best I think

Hi, I am so sorry for your loss. As previously said, could have been VHD. As she was five months old, can I ask where you got her from. She may have come to you with a pre-existing condition or infection.

Goodness, how awful. Sorry to hear about your loss. Can't help with identifying the cause, but there are some experts here who may be able to assist.

Hi All,

Many thanks for all the quick replies & condolences.

Unfortunately she wasn’t vaccinated and I had purchased her in our local ‘Petstop’ superstore.

Elve, your suggestions were very helpful and I’ll be running them by my vet.
I’ve rang the vet and have booked Coco in for a check-up, he’s not showing any signs of sickness but there’s no way I taking any chances !

Also I’ll be visiting our local animal shelter after Coco’s check-up to see if I can find a suitable female friend for him.

Again many thanks,
Canio

Im very sorry for your loss and i hope your vet can help you out and your other bun is fine. I think its good how you are going to your local animal shelter, rescue is a brill place to go. Good luck, and post some piccies xx

I'm so sorry to hear about your poor rabbit x

I'm not an expert, but I had a friend whose rabbit died of VHD - its partner was fine for few days, but then died as well. They were told not to replace the rabbits for 6 months because the virus is hard to get rid of.