Orbifloxacin

Question
Dear Dana,

I had a client bunny I was grooming today, and he died in my arms within about 15 seconds with a small convulsion and breathlessness. It was devastating. It's the second time this has happened to me with a bunny in my 6 years of grooming. I am so depressed about it. I know it most likely wasn't my fault, but probably I caused him stress that brought the heart attack (if that's what it was) on.
It was a friends bunny, and she was with me at the time. He had been sick with a respiratory condition for the last weeks and was as his owner says, a somewhat strange, but totally lovable sweetheart of a bunny. He was only 3.She had been giving the med above (Orbifloxacin) and I had never heard of it. Can you tell me more about it and if it could have had anything to do with the death?  Please let me know what you think. Thank you so much.
vicki

Answer
Dear Vicki,

I am so sorry about this terrible tragedy.

Orbifloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, and is considered safe for rabbits.  I very much doubt that it had anything to do with his death.

A sudden, unexplained death like this could be due to any number of things, from cardiac arrest to an embolism.  If he was very stressed by the grooming, he might have been compromised enough by his illness to simply have an intense stress reaction that caused his death.

There is really no way to know without more information, such as what a necropsy would provide. But even that would be no guarantee.  Since he was already sick, it might be that he would have died, grooming or not.

Sadly, there is just no way to know for sure.

I am very sorry.

Dana