Rubbish Week, possible RHD

Hi everyone, Okay I'm not sure how to explain this and people are going to think I'm stupid.

Last Tuesday my bunny Spot came out of his hutch looking disorientated and unwell, that night he died We thought it was possibly a stroke or something.
We had 8 rabbits at that point, well up until Spot passed away which me and my parents broke our hearts about.

Maybe I should explain my bunnies housing situation at the time, we had 6 outdoor bunnies, 3 in each hutch. All 6 bunnies were let out of their hutches in the shed each day to play in the garden, which is walled off to stop any dogs coming in from anywhere and to protect them.
Ok, umm on to Sunday, my dad fed the bunnies first thing as he usually does and on Sunday it was raining buckets, so we kept the rabbits in their hutches with the door open for fresh air. Around 3pm I went to check that they were all ok, because they get bored when they can't come out so I went to give them a stroke and a rub and chat to them. That is when I found Parsnip dead on the hutch floor

We checked the internet for possible causes, and I don't know why but none of my vets have never mentioned RHD. As soon as I read about it we got all the remaining 4 bunnies into the house and put them in house hutches. Roger in one (because he was in more contact with Spot and Parsnip) and Daisy, Patch and Sweep in the other hutch. Me and my dad disinfected the hutches, and I phoned the emergency vet.
The vet said there wasn't much I could do, but keep them apart and disinfect everything. Which I have done.

The vet phoned me back Monday afternoon to see how all the other bunnies were getting along, and I said theyre ok, but Roger wasn't eating. Roger has always had bad teeth and we've had to clip them back (not the best thing to do I know, but my dad is pretty good at it and he's always seemed to do ok with it). Roger has been to the vets before about his teeth and the vet said that he could have the front ones pulled one day (this is a different vet).
The reason why we're not using that old vet is that last year we lost Basil (all the kid bunnies father) and we run up a huge bill with them for medicine and treatments and everything, which we are paying back slowly and we are unable to go to that vets at the moment because of that.
So we're using this different vet at the moment and they are horrid. She looked at Rogers teeth the other day and said was wanted to euthinize him His teeth really aren't that bad though, and she didn't even check the back ones.
So yeah the point of being at that horrible vets the other day was to vaccinate all remaining 6 bunnies against myxi and RHD and they all had the Nobivac injection.

The thing now is Roger is still off his food, and had a slight runny nose. We don't know if this is because of the vaccine and the stress of his two close mates dying and him being put in a little hutch by himself. Me and mum have been rubbing his tummy and syringe feeding him. He's still very alert, and has even nudged us but he is very weak from not eating now. I'm not sure if he;s in a sulk and pining for mates as when I've let him walk around the kitchen he runs to the back door and looks out.
I'm just so worried about him.

If it had been RHD would all of my 6 other bunnies died by now? As they all had contact with eachother in the garden, and use to sit together washing eachother.

I just can't take him back to that vet, I felt like she was evil and didn't give a damn about our bunnies

So sorry for your loss

I'm a bit confused I'm afraid are your buns vaccinated against RHD/VHD? If they are and have been for more than 3 weeks then they are covered and this is not RHD.

Are they all eating and pooping normally?

Incubation for VHD is 3 days, and from illness to death is less than 48. I would say if you've gone more than 5 days with no deaths then you can relax a bit.

Keep in mind, it takes 3 weeks for the vaccination to give immunity, so make sure you don't let them in contact with anything that could have come into contact with the others within that period.

If Rogers been off for 3.5 days, I would say it's unlikely to be VHD in his case. He's likely be much sicker if it was. Has he had any treatment for his teeth? The symptoms you describe would certainly fit over grown teeth.

Has your good vet said they won't treat your rabbits? Although you've got a debt, if you are paying regularly they may be happy to still see him - particularly if you pay for that on the day. They may just be unwilling to add more credit to your account.

Tamsin said:

Incubation for VHD is 3 days, and from illness to death is less than 48. I would say if you've gone more than 5 days with no deaths then you can relax a bit.

Keep in mind, it takes 3 weeks for the vaccination to give immunity, so make sure you don't let them in contact with anything that could have come into contact with the others within that period.

If Rogers been off for 3.5 days, I would say it's unlikely to be VHD in his case. He's likely be much sicker if it was. Has he had any treatment for his teeth? The symptoms you describe would certainly fit over grown teeth.

Has your good vet said they won't treat your rabbits? Although you've got a debt, if you are paying regularly they may be happy to still see him - particularly if you pay for that on the day. They may just be unwilling to add more credit to your account.

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Thank you Tamsin, that's quite reassuring to know. All buns are in the house now just in case there's something in the garden that's caused this.
It probably is Rogers teeth, I think he's missing cuddles with his two friends too.
The debt is in my mums name, so I'll have to see if she can sort something out. I don't trust the other vets at all.
Oh and we had the bunnies vaccinated on Tuesday against myxi and rhd.
Thank you for replying.

I'm also confused . Can you clarify if they were vaccinated?

Even so your bunny does need to see a vet if he isn't eating properly. Whether it's stress-related or an illness he will need support in order to get him better again, and the vet can give him a proper diagnosis and treatment.

Also, this isn't something to worry about right now as the priority is to get Roger better by taking him to the vet, but in the future I would really suggest not to clip a rqbbit's teeth at home. You can do some quite serious damage by doing this. I believe the teeth can split if it's not done with the proper tools, without thinking about the stress of having it done. You would be better off finding a vet that you trust and have a good relationship with, and taking him to have them done properly.

Good luck ip with your bun.

Hele said:

So sorry for your loss

I'm a bit confused I'm afraid are your buns vaccinated against RHD/VHD? If they are and have been for more than 3 weeks then they are covered and this is not RHD.

Are they all eating and pooping normally?

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Thank you. Losing a bunny is so hard, but two in one week has been an absolute nightmare
They were only vaccinated on Tuesday.

All the others and eating and pooping very normally, it's just Roger who is unwell.

When my mum gets home I'm going to go buy some carrot tops and juice them for him, he usually likes them.

AnnieElms said:

I'm also confused . Can you clarify if they were vaccinated?

Even so your bunny does need to see a vet if he isn't eating properly. Whether it's stress-related or an illness he will need support in order to get him better again, and the vet can give him a proper diagnosis and treatment.

Also, this isn't something to worry about right now as the priority is to get Roger better by taking him to the vet, but in the future I would really suggest not to clip a rqbbit's teeth at home. You can do some quite serious damage by doing this. I believe the teeth can split if it's not done with the proper tools, without thinking about the stress of having it done. You would be better off finding a vet that you trust and have a good relationship with, and taking him to have them done properly.

Good luck ip with your bun.

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Thanks, they weren't vaccinated until Tuesday morning.

I think as soon as Rogers strength is up and he's not weak we'll get him sorted. I think he will need those front teeth out. I think it would make life so much easier for him.
I'm just scared because my friends rabbit went to have his teeth done and he died

christina83 said:

Thanks, they weren't vaccinated until Tuesday morning.

I think as soon as Rogers strength is up and he's not weak we'll get him sorted. I think he will need those front teeth out. I think it would make life so much easier for him.
I'm just scared because my friends rabbit went to have his teeth done and he died

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Sorry yes I posted before I saw your reply about the vaccination.

I would advise taking him to the vet in order to get him better though. Unfortunately bunnies don't do well at all once they stop eating, and it's likely he needs fluid treatment/pain relief and maybe a gut stimulant to get his guts moving again. Then you can look at treating the cause (likely the teeth as you say).

If it is his teeth he will need some pain killers at the very least.

You said your Dad clips their teeth? Is he a vet? :?

Tbh, the only thing I can suggest is to get Roger to a vet. The longer he goes without eating properly the more danger it will be for him to undergo at GA.

AnnieElms said:

Sorry yes I posted before I saw your reply about the vaccination.

I would advise taking him to the vet in order to get him better though. Unfortunately bunnies don't do well at all once they stop eating, and it's likely he needs fluid treatment/pain relief and maybe a gut stimulant to get his guts moving again. Then you can look at treating the cause (likely the teeth as you say).

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Ok thank you. We have been syringe feeding him to keep him hydrated. We'll have to phone the vet and see what they say. I think he could do with some of that tummy recovery stuff.

I'm sorry for your losses If two rabbits have died in a week and a third is poorly I would be suspecting something like coccidiosis. Please get Roger to a vet asap. If you're not happy with your current vet you could start a thread on here with the title "Rabbit savvy vet needed in xxx area". Or contact your old vet as suggested, they may be happy to see you if you're regularly paying off the debt.

Coccidiosis can cause sudden death without any symptoms. If it is that, all the buns would need a course of an antibiotic like Septrin and everything would need cleaning either with a steamer or with boiling water.

I would guess Rogers problem might well be his backteeth have overgrown too and have little spikes that are rubbing on his tongue/cheeks which is why he's reluctant to eat.

Unfortunately until the vet files these down he's probably not going to start eating much so it's really better to get them done asap as he'll probably get weaker rather than stronger the longer he's not eating as much as he should. Your nursing will certainly help keep his guts going in the short term, which is very important but he needs to see the vet asap

Captain Helen said:

I'm sorry for your losses If two rabbits have died in a week and a third is poorly I would be suspecting something like coccidiosis. Please get Roger to a vet asap. If you're not happy with your current vet you could start a thread on here with the title "Rabbit savvy vet needed in xxx area". Or contact your old vet as suggested, they may be happy to see you if you're regularly paying off the debt.

Coccidiosis can cause sudden death without any symptoms. If it is that, all the buns would need a course of an antibiotic like Septrin and everything would need cleaning either with a steamer or with boiling water.

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Thanks, oh I've never heard of coccidiosis before, I'll have to look it up.
Ok, I'll see what we can do about a vet, we're pretty rural so I'll probably start a thread later. Thank you.

Tamsin said:

I would guess Rogers problem might well be his backteeth have overgrown too and have little spikes that are rubbing on his tongue/cheeks which is why he's reluctant to eat.

Unfortunately until the vet files these down he's probably not going to start eating much so it's really better to get them done asap as he'll probably get weaker rather than stronger the longer he's not eating as much as he should. Your nursing will certainly help keep his guts going in the short term, which is very important but he needs to see the vet asap

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Ok, the vet never checked his back teeth on Tuesday but looked at the front. We'll have to see what the other vet says, thanks so much for your help

Christina..hi i'm the lady who posted on the other forum and advised you to get the bunnies vaccinated after you had lost two.

As others here have said looks not to be VHD but you do need to find what kiled them. With the warm weather and storms lots of bunnies have been going off their food, if this isn't spotted and dealt with properly they can die. Had you rabbit shown any other signs as in lots of wee or runny poos?

Your "good " vets who you owe money to..can you pm me who they are and also do you think they would treat him well and do a good dental?

christina83 said:

Ok, the vet never checked his back teeth on Tuesday but looked at the front. We'll have to see what the other vet says, thanks so much for your help

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I would say that this vet doesn't really know rabbits. If a rabbit is off their food, one of the first things they should check is their back teeth, especially if they have a history of dental issues. I would definitely post up and ask about vets in your area.

honeybunny said:

Christina..hi i'm the lady who posted on the other forum and advised you to get the bunnies vaccinated after you had lost two.

As others here have said looks not to be VHD but you do need to find what kiled them. With the warm weather and storms lots of bunnies have been going off their food, if this isn't spotted and dealt with properly they can die. Had you rabbit shown any other signs as in lots of wee or runny poos?

Your "good " vets who you owe money to..can you pm me who they are and also do you think they would treat him well and do a good dental?

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Hi I have PM'ed you.
No the other rabbits were perfectly healthy before they died. There was no runny poos either, they were happy and healthy running around the garden and then just died. We thought Spot may have had a stroke from the thunder the night before, but when Parsnip died we didn't know what to think, we were completely shocked
My rabbits are very loved, and they're my life so all of this has been very hard.

Vegan_Bunny said:

I would say that this vet doesn't really know rabbits. If a rabbit is off their food, one of the first things they should check is their back teeth, especially if they have a history of dental issues. I would definitely post up and ask about vets in your area.

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Thank you. I think we found the nearest exotic bunny vets to be in Haverfordwest before which is a 2hours drive away, and my buns get very stressed in the car.

Roger has just been eating a little bit and his tummy has been rumbling. We've been massaging his tummy too, to help the wind.