why my baby rabbits die

Question
hi my doe had 6 kittens which are now 8wks old ready to go to new homes in last few days 2 have died 1 took day and a half then nother today was ok one min died cpl hrs later they just seem to  loss controll off back legs then go week any idea please some one did say could be mice urine on the hay could that be true

thank you lynn

Answer
Dear Lynn,

I am sorry about the loss of your babies.

Unfortunately, a post mortem exam including histopathology of major organs is the only way to confidently establish a cause of death.  While it's true that rodent urine can carry pathogens, I don't know of any that are commonly found on good quality hay, and even if a baby consumed bacteria from such a source, it would be more likely to suffer intestinal problems than the type you describe.

It is possible that the babies are suffering some type of systemic bacterial infection.  This can cause overall weakness and death, if not treated very quickly.  But truly, without more information it's just not possible to know the cause.  It could even be heat stroke, but I don't know enough about where they are living to say that.

If this happened shortly after you separated them from their mother, it's possible that the combination of stress of leaving her and exposure to foreign pathogens just took too much of a toll on them--but there is no way to know for sure without a real, medical investigation.

I am sorry about the babies.  You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana