Just found my youngest rabbit dead - what should I do?

[MoreRainbowsPlease]

I have/had 3 rabbits. 2 7 year old males and a 15 month old female. I found the female dead when I went to check on her about an hour ago.

She was very quiet today and not her normal zoomy self, but she was eating and drinking and as it was hot I thought maybe that was why she was sat around more. But because she had been acting a bit differently I went out to check on her when I went to the loo tonight.

She was not neutered or vaccinated as I had not been able to get a vet to take her on as round here there is a shortage of vets. My other 2 rabbits are fully vaccinated and neutered. I will call the vets as soon as they open in the morning, but I was just wondering if anyone was up now who might be able to suggest what I need to do or what she is most likely to have passed away from at such a young age.

I have not been able to have a good look at her as I am so upset. DP has looked at her and has said that she looks normal but there is a pool of blood coming from her bottom. Does that sound like it was RHD? Or is that normal after an animal dies.

All my rabbits are in separate hutches and runs due to fighting in the past, but they are all next to each other. So obviously I am now worried about the other two if it was something other than RHD (which they are vaccinated against).

I’m sorry OP I can’t help but just want to say sorry for your loss, hope you find the answer x

Hi, I only owned rabbits as a child so my parents did the work when one died. As a cat owner (who has sadly had one die), the body will stay ok for a week or more if you put your rabbit somewhere cold. It is also perfectly fine to bury your rabbit in your garden, you don’t need any permission to do that.

As for what it could be, I think you’ll only know that if you see a vet. Can you get an appointment for an assessment of cause of death? If you can’t because of the vet shortage then you might need to just accept that this is a mystery. It does sound like the poor thing had a bad illness if there’s blood coming from her bottom. I hope she rests in peace. Sorry for your loss xx

I would take other two to vets. Not an expert but flystrike might be possible.

I found ds 2 year old rabbit dead, no signs of flystrike, he was a house rabbit, nothing looked different when I fed him at 10.00am, went to give him veggies & more water at 4.00pm & he was dead. Spoke to vet who said it most likely could have been bloat or a heart attack, he was neutered & vaccinated.

Thank you all for your answers. I have checked the other 2 and they seem ok, no evidence of flystrike with them.

I have got a couple of hours of sleep. I'm worried about burying her in the garden as I don't know what she died from because of the other 2 rabbits so I will call a pet cremation service once I've called the vets. I can't believe she's gone.

You sound like such a loving pet owner. I’m sure you’ll be grieving for a while. Let yourself feel however you need to. Pet death leaves a hole in your life. Sending best wishes xx

Thank you everyone for your advice and kind words. I called the vet who said just to keep a close eye on the other 2 and to bring them in I was was at all worried, but as long as they are eating and drinking and behaving normally then not to worry about them.

We have buried her in the garden as thats what the dc's wanted and tbh I want her nearby. I contacted the person I got her from and they had to have one of her littermates put to sleep a few weeks ago due to gastro issues, well this afternoon when I was clearing up her run I realised there was no poo in it (I moved it yesterday), but her hutch does have some poo although not as much as normal so now I'm starting to think she had GI Stasis which makes me feel so bad that I didn't realise, but it must have come on fairly quickly as she was absolutely fine and her normal self till yesterday afternoon. Even then the only thing that I thought was a bit odd was that she wasn't running as round as much, but I did still see her eat and drink.

I think I am still just so shocked as she was so young.

It is so sad losing a bunny, I am a 46 year old man and we had to have one of our bunnies put to sleep. I can only put her rapid decline down to eating a few leaves of my potato plant I was growing in the garden, they are house bunnies but they also have free roam of the garden, I seen her eating the leaves and for some reason I asked my goggle assistant about Potato plant leaves which I now know are toxic to bunnies, I removed this from the garden but from last Monday 19th June I seen a slow decline in our bunnies life. We took her to the vet and they said it could be the plant but it could be a blockage, she also had a sore bum that we believe may have originated from her eating the plant. We discovered that our now very lethargic bunny there had tiny maggots appearing from her backend on Friday 23rd June and on the Saturday she was getting worse. On Saturday 24th we chose the heart wrenching decision to have her put to sleep, the wife was a little upset on the day but I am in absolute pieces and trying very hard to hide my grief from the wife and kids, I am masking how I look with saying my hay-fever is bad - I cannot understand why I feel heartbroken about a bunny, in tears as I write this and looking out onto the garden at our other bunny who I am giving constant cuddles and affection to whilst I try to work from home. I really want our remaining bunny to have a new bonded friend ASAP as I know they can quickly deteriorate with their loss of their partner but my wife is 100% against getting another as she wants her house back as she says it always smells and they bite the skirting boards etc, they have tonnes of toys, a massive area in the house and a large garden, so I am feeling awful as I feel the wife is against me as I am secretly grieving 😢I cannot talk about it to anyone as I start to get upset. I don't feel this way when a human family member passes away but I suppose the wife working 2 jobs, the older kids never here I am with the bunnies all the time, cleaning them daily, feeding them, putting them etc. I need to man up and grow a set I think 😐