Did rat germs kill my rabbit?

Question
Our dwarf lop eared house rabbit, Branulot died two days ago suddenly, and we are very distraught. He became very bloated and stopped moving one afternoon. We took him straight to the vet, but he died an hour later. The vet said it was some bacterial growth or build up of gases in his gut that killed him. He had had a previous problem a few months before in which his droppings being very small and dry, and apparently that had been something called "stasis".

We had become aware of a rat that had somehow found it's way into our kitchen a few days ago, and we had put a board up to stop it cominmg out of the kitchen, with the intention of putting some rat poisin down. As far as we know the rat cannot have had any actual contact with Branulot, but I am just wondering, is it possible that germs from the rat somehow killed him?

Answer
Dear Rod,

I am very sorry about the loss of your friend.

What you describe is consistent with a condition sometimes suffered by rabbits who may have a congenital predisposition to it (no one knows for sure):  an acute bloat, caused by gastric blockage.  It is doubtful that the rat had anything to do with this.

Your bunny may have had chronic GI problems for any number of reasons.  But once a bunny suffers a bloat like what  you describe, there is almost no way to save him.  We have tried gastric gavage and been able to relieve the pressure, but even then the bunny usually dies a little while later, possibly from cardiac stress.

No one is really sure about the ultimate cause of bloat.  It may be bacterial at first, with Clostridium species (possibly perfringens, which produces a lot of gas) producing gas.  But because the rabbit intestine just posterior to the stomach takes a very sharp turn, it appears that if the stomach has even a slight blockage or gas buildup that pinches that turn just the wrong way, an irreversible bloat can occur.  The only relief is gastric gavage (sticking a tube down the throat to suction out liquid and gas) or even puncturing the stomach with a needle through the body wall.

I am very sorry about your loss.

Take care,

Dana