Sudden Death..

Question
Hi, my girlfriend and I had a indoor bunny named Luna and she was only about 20 months old.  She died today and we just need some kind of closure as she was our baby and we're truly hurt about the loss.  The day before she seemed fine, frolicking around on the floor like usual being so cute.  Later that night at around 11:30 pm she still seemed fine as she got excited that we got home and eager to see us and I nuzzled her and went to bed.  This morning my girlfriend went and petted her and she seemed fine.  A couple hours later Luna was laying on the bottom of her cage and she didn't jump up like she normally does when is approached.  I came home as quickly as I could and called the local vet clinics to see if they could care for bunnies but as I was calling she died in our laps.  While in our laps she was very limp and she was gasping for air.

She was only fed pellets besides some carrot yogurt treats that she absolutely loved.  We only gave her 1 treat a day.  She always had timothy hay in the cage as we knew she should always have access to it.  Her droppings were normal and she looked great.

I have read more than a 100 postings on this site about sudden deaths in rabbits.  I know we have just recently been using cedar bedding which I read could cause liver damage mixed with corn cob bedding on the very bottom of under the cage but she was never in contact with/ the cedar bedding as we only used the corn cob bedding for her litter pan which was in the cage itself. The whole thing is just so shocking as in less than a 12 hour period she seemed fine and then now gone.  If you can shed any light that would be helpful.

Thanks,
Tim

Answer
Dear Tim,

I am so very sorry about the terrible and tragic loss of Luna.  

As you probably know from reading the other posts about sudden rabbit death, the only way to know for sure why she died is to have a post mortem exam done by an experienced rabbit vet.  Sometimes, histopathology of major organs is also necessary to solve the mystery.

In cases like this, where an apparently healthy and young rabbit crashes so suddenly, a few possible culprits are things like (1) intestinal obstruction, (2) liver torsion, (3) peracute onset of systemic infection, (4) some congenital problem (cardiac?) undetected previously.

And of these can happen extremely quickly, and in a case like this there is almost nothing one can do in time to save the bunny.  It is very unusual for a healthy bunny to die like this, but it does happen.  From the sound of it, it's nothing you did.  Cedar shavings are not very good for bedding, but they will not cause sudden death like this.  If her droppings were normal, then it's less likely that it was an intestinal problem, though these can happen suddenly, too.

I wish I could help give you closure, but sometimes a sudden death like this will remain a mystery unless a necropsy is done to reveal the cryptic problem.  Other than that, all we can do is guess.

I am so sorry about this terrible loss.  I hope you can take some small comfort in knowing that she did not suffer a long, debilitating illness, as many rabbits do.  And though her life was much too short, it was filled with the love of two special people who cared for her to her very last breath.  Most rabbits never know a loving touch, but Luna had you.  When the hurt starts to heal, I hope you will be thankful for that.  I know Luna is.

Take care,
Dana