Took Rabbit to Vet, died later

Question
I had a lionhead rabbit of about 2 1/2 years. Today I noticed him acting lethargic and not eating or drinking. I rushed him to the vet. The vet took his temperature and it was 103.6. Since this was in between normal and fever they told me just to keep an eye on him but that nothing was probably wrong. I brought him home and left for about 4 hours to go to my mom's house. When I returned I pulled him out of the cage to try to get him to eat. I put him on the bed and he freaked out. It looked like he was having trouble with balance. He jumped off my bed and when I picked him up he was making a gurgling sound and had crust around his eyes. I put him in a carrier and he laid on his side and twitched a lot. By the time I got him to the pet hospital he had died. I actually have two questions.

1.) Should I be mad at the vet, or was what he did by the book? I told him I was really concerned and that he was not eating or drinking. I told him he was lethargic. He still sent me away without doing much other than taking his temperature.

2.)I have another rabbit (half lionhead) and I was wondering if I should be concerned about her getting sick.

Answer
Dear Erin,

I am very sorry about the loss of your friend.

If this vet was not familiar with rabbits and their peculiar medical problems, s/he might not have realized that lethargy can be a sign of a serious problem in a rabbit.  The temperature was slightly elevated, but because that can happen with just a car ride, it might not have raised any red flags.

A more experienced vet might have palpated the abdomen, listened to the intestines and lungs, perhaps taken radiographs of the chest and abdomen to see if there was a problem.  But if the vet was not experienced with rabbits, s/he might not have known that lethargy combined with not eating and drinking can be very bad.  Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

for clues about how to tell if a rabbit is sick.  Unfortunately, only a necropsy might reveal the cause of death, which could have been any of dozens of things.  It might give you peace of mind to find out that the cause of death was something that could not have been prevented, as is not infrequently the case.  However, I would be sure to have histopathology done on all major organ tissues, as gross necropsy will sometimes not reveal the problem.

Problems like this are rarely contagious.  But if the two rabbits were bonded partners, watch her closely for signs of grieving and, later, illness.  A grieving, stressed rabbit is more susceptible to becoming sick, though it's not likely that she would "catch" anything your other bunny had.  If you're not sure, then get her to a rabbit-experienced vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

for a wellness check.  And if she is grieving, then please consider eventually contacting your local rabbit rescuer:

www.rabbit.org/chapters

to set up some bunny play dates and see if she would like a new friend to help her heal her heart...and yours.  No one will ever replace your lost bunny.  But there are so many needy rabbits in want of homes that I'm sure your little one would be happy to know that his "mom" was helping at least one.

I hope this helps.

Take care,

Dana