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rabbit with rapid breathing/heartrate u/d lost him today

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter

Mama Doe
Hello

Already posted in rabbit health as a few people seem to have the same kind of problem with their bunnies, but thought I would reach more people here.

My three year old rabbit appears to be either breathing quickly or his heart is racing I don't know what it is. My other rabbit when she is breathing in and out is at a regular pace but the others is going so fast and he appears to be bobbing his head in time with his body. I do hope this makes sense.

I took him to the vets on thurs last week as the other needed her vacs so thought i would get him checked out at the same time. However his heart rate was so fast the vet couldn't count the rate of it. Vet said only way to determine if there was something wrong would be a GA.

Noticed this morning that some healthy dropping have been left by one of them think this is normally quite unusual for them not to eat them?:?

Going to go back to vets on monday anyway but wondered if anyone could shred any light on the problem as can't find any info out in any of my rabbit books or the net.
 
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You are right a few of us with this same problem unfortunately!

With Lionel we do not know what is wrong with him, he had xrays which were all clear, he has had 3 different antibiotics, one helped to begin with but now there is no effect, he is almost finished with 4 weeks of panacur and again no effect, he also had steroid injection which had a slight improvement with his breathing.

He is bright and happy within himself, still playing and eating which is a good sign. My vet thinks he migh thave lots of micro abscesses on his lungs (which wouldn't show up on xray) as he has a bad history with them in other places.

For the time being we have stopped all meds apart from the panacur which he will finish the course of, and there is no change in him without any meds (no better no worse).

Sorry thats not much help is it? I would ask for xrays first to see if there is anything showing up x
 
Thanks Katie you have helped in some way, if I can find out what other people have gone through with their rabbits then I can do a bit more research on it. Will definitely ask for an x ray.
 
Took Squirrel to see a different vet today. he is normally petrified of going there anyway but wriggled more than he has ever done. Vet recommended I put him on the floor which I did, he just flopped on to the floor. I hoped he had just sort of gone into a fit or something but I think he was dead...vet scooped him up to give him oxygen but ten mins later came out and said there was nothing she could do.

I'm having a post mortem done on him in the hope that they can tell me what was wrong with him.

i am absolutely devastated and the worse thing of all was bringing home my little wild bunny spudsey back on her own....she looks all vulnerable and lost and keeps sniffing around for him. i wish i could just put him back in there for her its just awful. this is the first time i have lost a rabbit that was part of a pair.
 
thanks everyone. i have just read about if a rabbit from a pair dies then its a good idea to show the other rabbit its body :? it makes grieving easier as the remaining mate then knows what has happened to it?
 
What a horrible shock, I'm so sorry :(

It is generally recommended to show a grieving rabbit its partner's body, so it can understand what has happened. Depends on the rabbit though, both mine ignored their partners' bodies.
 
thanks, I've read it in a few articles now on the net. Will ring the vets first thing and arrange to bring him back for the day. To be honest I regretted just leaving him there in the first place, felt awful knowing that I would just be getting his ashes back and not being able to cuddle him beforehand.
 
I am so sorry for your loss. It must have been such a shock.

When we showed the remaining bunnies their partners to sniff, they showed no interest either. However, they did stress during the weeks after so I ended up getting a new partner on both occasions.

Spudsey will need some extra cuddles, it will help both of you.
 
suzynick said:
thanks, I've read it in a few articles now on the net. Will ring the vets first thing and arrange to bring him back for the day. To be honest I regretted just leaving him there in the first place, felt awful knowing that I would just be getting his ashes back and not being able to cuddle him beforehand.
Click to expand...

I know how you feel, I wouldn't have believed it before i lost my buns, but being able to give them a last cuddle really helped me. hope you and spudsey are ok :(
 
Just rang the vets, she thinks squirrel has probably had his post mortem by now and if not then would have been kept in the freezer so all his natural smells would have gone. probably not a good thing for spuds to see him but i think i might bring him home although the vet did say if he has his post mortem then things wouldn't be put back how they were. waiting for someone to ring me back. at work at the mo and feel a wreck
 
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