bluebellfarm
New Kit
sadly i found my continental giant rabbit, rosemary, lying dead today.
as well as being very sad, her death is a mystery to me because i cant really tell how she died. there was no mark on her, no signs of a struggle and no blood, but she was missing an eye. the lack of blood despite the missing eye makes me think that it could have happened after death....there are a lot of rooks that frequent my garden, it could have been them. or even my free range hens, though that isnt a pleasant thought!
she was lying in one of her favourite spots where she spent most of her time, which is also odd....if something had been chasing her/hunting her, its quite a big coincidence that they should catch up with her there. i guess she could have been lying there and not noticed a predator and been taken by surprise....but wouldnt a predator's objective be food? why wasnt she eaten?
i lost another of my giants earlier this year in similar odd circumstances, except he was indoors at the time and was in a sleep/relaxation posture, he really looked like he'd just gone to sleep and not woken up. i actually thought he *was* asleep before i took a closer look. he wasnt missing an eye though, and rosemary was lying on her side...in not quite as natural a posture.
im really confused! i called the vets to see if they had any suggestions but they were at a loss too. i was meaning to enquire about getting a post mortem done, but they said it would be very expensive and would very likely be inconclusive, so they didnt recommend it. she had seemed absolutely fine in herself, happy and healthy. shes up to date with her vaccines. i was also at home all day and outside for a good chunk of the time and i didnt see or hear anything. whatever happened would have happened some time in the afternoon. i discovered her at 4ish and she was already stiff. but i saw her alive and well earlier in the day.
has anyone ever experienced something similar? the only scenarios i can think of is that she either died of 'natural causes' from some sort of congenital defect like a heart problem (she was related to the other giant bun i found dead), or she was killed by a predator that would hunt during the day and not be interested in eating her but would just kill her and leave her. does such a predator exist??
if anyone can shed any light on this i would be interested to know
as well as being very sad, her death is a mystery to me because i cant really tell how she died. there was no mark on her, no signs of a struggle and no blood, but she was missing an eye. the lack of blood despite the missing eye makes me think that it could have happened after death....there are a lot of rooks that frequent my garden, it could have been them. or even my free range hens, though that isnt a pleasant thought!
she was lying in one of her favourite spots where she spent most of her time, which is also odd....if something had been chasing her/hunting her, its quite a big coincidence that they should catch up with her there. i guess she could have been lying there and not noticed a predator and been taken by surprise....but wouldnt a predator's objective be food? why wasnt she eaten?
i lost another of my giants earlier this year in similar odd circumstances, except he was indoors at the time and was in a sleep/relaxation posture, he really looked like he'd just gone to sleep and not woken up. i actually thought he *was* asleep before i took a closer look. he wasnt missing an eye though, and rosemary was lying on her side...in not quite as natural a posture.
im really confused! i called the vets to see if they had any suggestions but they were at a loss too. i was meaning to enquire about getting a post mortem done, but they said it would be very expensive and would very likely be inconclusive, so they didnt recommend it. she had seemed absolutely fine in herself, happy and healthy. shes up to date with her vaccines. i was also at home all day and outside for a good chunk of the time and i didnt see or hear anything. whatever happened would have happened some time in the afternoon. i discovered her at 4ish and she was already stiff. but i saw her alive and well earlier in the day.
has anyone ever experienced something similar? the only scenarios i can think of is that she either died of 'natural causes' from some sort of congenital defect like a heart problem (she was related to the other giant bun i found dead), or she was killed by a predator that would hunt during the day and not be interested in eating her but would just kill her and leave her. does such a predator exist??
if anyone can shed any light on this i would be interested to know