my baby rabbit died :(

Question
i bought two 7 week old female dwarf lops on monday.
by tuesday one of them was lethargic and not eating or drinking, i bought her indoors and kept her warm as she felt quite cold, she seemed to perk up a bit in the afternoon, but still wouldnt eat or drink, i was cuddling her tuesday evening  and she tried to hide in the crook of my arm, i put her back in her box and she just laid on her side and died. i hadnt changed her food but my daughter had fed them both a small amount of grass without me knowing, did this cause her to die, we are all so upset as she really was a darling little thing, even though we had only had her for 24 hours. the other rabbit is fine

Answer
Hi Chloe

I am so sorry for the loss of your baby rabbit.  There is really no way to tell what caused her death without necropsy (autopsy).  Unless she had sudden and severe diarrhea from the grass I don't really believe that was it.  It is more likely that she was already sick when you got her.  Young rabbits are so susceptible to illnesses and if you bought her from a petstore or an irresponsible breeder then your really have no idea what horrible diseases she could have had.

She was showing signs of severe illness by Tuesday.  Lethargy, lack of eating and drinking are true emergencies.  There is just no way she caught this from anything that you did.  

It really is in the best interest of your other bunny to have her examined by a veterinarian for a wellness check-up.  Everytime someone gets a new rabbit we strongly encourage them to take them to a rabbit savvy vet as soon as possible.  This way if something is wrong when you get them hopefully it can be fixed, and at the very least you will know that it was absolutely not your fault.

I know how hard it is to lose an animal and I really wish I could be more help.  Even though you only had her 24 hours I am sure she was very special to you.  I am also sure that she appreciated the kind and loving care you gave to her.  I have a web-site that I go to when I feel sad about the loss of a pet.  It always brings me great comfort and peace.  I would like to share it with you and your daughter and I hope that you can find some peace also.

http://www.hgrabbitry.com/rainbowbridge.htm

Again I am truly sorry for your loss.

Pam