sudden death of a rabbit

Question
Last night my 18 month old dawarf lop rabbit died suddenly, within 2 hours of last seeing him, he had completly changed his behaviour. I went out in the garden to lock him in his hutch for the night and he was backed into a corner of his run, he didn't move for about 20 mins then he got up and ran into his hutch and sat in a corner  and didn't move. I checked him a short while later and he was dead. Please do you know of any reason why he died so suddenly.

Answer
Dear Claire,

I am sorry about the loss of your rabbit.

A sudden death like this with very sudden onset of signs of pain can be caused by any number of things, from an acute bloat due to intestinal blockage, a liver torsion, acute onset of systemic infection, poisoning, shock from being chased by a predator...to name only a few.  Unfortunately, without a post mortem exam, there is absolutely no way to know for sure why he died.  It could have been any of dozens of different things.

When a rabbit acts this ill and shows such unusual behavior, it should be considered an emergency, and the following procedure followed:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

I know this comes too late to help your bunny, but if you should ever have another bunny in your house and heart, be sure to have a good rabbit vet who can be on call in case of just such emergencies. You can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Again, I am very sorry about your loss.

Dana