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My bunny died but why

22 10:18:13

Question
Hi Lee,

my 4 year old rabbits Mittens passed away last weekend.  I am not sure of the cause but as she seemed to be in good health prior to her passing ie clear eyes no runny nose etc I am wondering if it was an intestinal blockage.  She had previously enjoyed mainly eating pellets and usually wasn't very interested in rabbit & guinea pig mixes & hay or carrot & apple pieces, prefering the carrot peelings etc but in the last few weeks she became more interested in the fresh food & hay and wasn't eating many pellets.  She shares her hutch with a guinea pig who she also groomed, could this have been the cause.  I was unaware of the importance of pineapple juice preventing hairball etc as she has never had any issue in her 4 years, nor with any previous rabbit, my first dying of cancer. Can you please offer me some insight as I am still very upset over her death and whether I could have prevented it but missed some tell tale signs.  Also I think the bedding material had changed from straw to screened and dust extracted wood shavings in the past month as they absorbed the guinea pigs mess better who did not use the litter tray.
Leanne

Answer
Hi Leanne,

I am sorry to hear about your bunny passing away.

A necropsy by your vet would be the only way to know for sure.

It could very well have been a blockage.  Did she stop eating and drinking?  those are generally the signs, because since nothing is passing the blockage, they can't eat anymore.  Did she stop dropping pellets?  When input and output go down, and they aren't interested in food the way the normally are, there is a gut problem going on.

Grooming another animal in addition to themselves can cause a hair plug/blockage to occur.  My mom's rabbit had one because she was recently bonded to another rabbit and had been grooming him a lot.  Luckily she got surgery in the nick of time and she pulled through fine.

Another possibility was if she could get to and eat the new litter.  If that litter broke down into sawdust, in the gut it could have formed a solid wet blockage.

A third possibility or added cause would be the diet changes.  Lots of the things you mentioned are higher carb, higher sugar items that can cause bad bacteria to overgrow and cause problems in the gut.

Petromalt is an excellent thing to give your rabbits.  It is malt-flavored petroleum jelly.  It lubricates the gi tract and really helps (in my opinion, some people don't think it is good) keep things from potentially backing up in the stomach and intestines.  Small papaya pieces are good with hair, they have an enzyme that helps break down hair.  I give all my rabbits a small dose of petromalt every day, and a papaya tablet every day.  I use it as a preventative every day, because I believe it works better at preventing a blockage from occurring, and it might not work if there already was a blockage.

Again, I am sorry Mittens passed away.  If you are a Christian like myself, you can look forward to seeing her again, we have that hope.  I am sure she knows how much you loved her and took care of her.  She had a good life with you and never had to worry for one moment you didn't love her or wouldn't take care of her.

Lee