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my rabbit died under anasthetic today

22 10:21:28

Question
hi
just wondering if you could help me understand as to why i lost my 3 month old lion head male rabbit whilst being given anasthetic as he was due to be neutured.. he was extreemly healthy as far as we were aware,lively and eating and drinking as normal and was regularly checked at the vets, he was up to date on all his injections, i was told that this does not happen very often but when he was given the anasthetic his heart just stopped..
i am left wondering if i know the whole truth, i just need to know for my own piece of mind.. would be grateful for any information you could give me
many thanks
lisa

Answer
Dear Lisa,

I am so very sorry about the terrible, unexpected loss of your friend.

It is true that some individual rabbits have an idiosyncratic reaction to anesthesia, and die unexpectedly from simple procedures that are tolerated without problems by other rabbits.  No one knows why this is the case.  It just does happen, and it's horrible.

I don't think the vets lied to you.  This is truly something that does happen.  Since your bunny was a purebred Lionhead, there is also some reason to suspect that he may have had some underlying genetic condition --the product of inbreeding--that might have predisposed him to this tragedy.

I am so very sorry about your loss.

Dana