so whyd she die

Question
our adopted, unknown age, rabbit just didn't look right- went to a special bunny vet, they treated a tooth spur (how?) kept her overnight and sent her home with 3 meds pain and two for her GI tract.  Next morning she was dead, noticed no urine or pellets in her litter pan.  the specialist vet has never responded to my question what happened- oh the bun was not depressed, even if old, she so liked life, music, sitting in the sun drenched parlor and nose rubs. so it's important to get an opinion on what went wrong, why'd she die?

Answer
Dear CiCi,

I am very sorry for your loss.

Without a necropsy, there is absolutely no way to know the cause of death.  But I would ask a different vet from the one who did the tooth filing to do it, just to avoid any possible conflict of interest, if you choose this route.

This might give some clues:

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

and possibly:

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

But if your vet is rabbit-savvy, then s/he was probably aware of such possibilities.  Without more information on her precise behavior before her death, I can't offer much more than a guess.  There are dozens of possible reasons she might have died without showing much symptoms, since rabbits are incredibly stoic about pain and illness.

I am very sorry about the loss of your friend.

Dana