What happened to our dwarf bunny rabbit?

Question
2 months ago I purchased a dwarf bunny at a local pet store for my daughters b-day. At that time they said it was approx. 4-6 weeks at that time. This afternoon, my husband called me into the room where the bunny lived. Its a playroom, and the bunny had a cage that we left open because it had become potty trained to the cage. And it would come and go from the cage and run around the room, and sometimes in the house most evenings. It was starting to let us hold it and became very friendly with my 2 yr old as well. When my husband called he said that the rabbit kids of like had a seizure. shook in its cage and kicked the bowl of his food and then kind of just layed there on its side and sqealed a little bit. I went in and picked it up and it was like alert..but a little limp, mostly his back legs. Then I went to put him back in the cage and it perked up and acted ok but still was shaking a little bit. I had to leave for about 45 minutes to go and get my son from school and by the time I got back to call the vet he had died. My husband said he kicked out his legs and like had another seizure and then stopped breathing. What happened to our Copper? I have read about house plants, and it had gotten a hold of one of my "wandering jews" house plant, and not sure how much it really got. I have also read about not using cedar bedding...can you tell me why? We had just purchased cedar bedding the night before and my daughter used it when shew cleaned her cage yesterday. My daughter is so upset and we would like to replace our family rabbit, but I want to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Thank you for your advice.  Rachel

Answer
Hi Rachel,

I am sorry to hear about Copper, first off.

The only way to know for sure is to take him to your vet and have a necropsy (animal autopsy) done to find out the cause of death.  It could have been any number of things, such as heart attacks, embolisms, strokes, an infection that damaged vital nerves/the brain, or he injured himself and cut a vital nerve moving around.  You won't know for sure until you get a necropsy done.

And I should mention that rabbits aren't generally the best pets for young kids, as they break easily and can't handle falls or being handled roughly, or generally like crying and yelling and screaming and such (they get stressed out easily, much more so than dogs and cats.)  You may want to consider a heartier animal that can handle tow younger children and a noisier, faster-paced environment better than a rabbit.  The reason I mention this is that lately I have had to write several people that the cause of death of their young rabbits were probably from mis-handling from their little kids.  They just are a more delicate animal, their skeletons are more fragile compared to dogs and cats, they have a much more sensitive digestive system and food requirements, and they mask when they are injured so by the time you see a problem, they are often in much more serious condition.

If you still do wantto think about another rabbit, I'd suggest an older, more mature rabbit, and perhaps a bigger rabbit.  There are a lot of great rabbits that get surrendered at shelters that are looking for forever homes too.  And when you adopt from there, you are saving two lives - the one you adopt, and the the one that can fill the others' space.

I looked up the Wandering Jew plant and for rabbits it was listed as a safer plant, but of course, there is always a chance a particular rabbit may have a problem with a plant that is considered 'safe' - they can be allergic to certain things most rabbits are okay with.

Your bedding question: cedar & pine are very bad for rabbits and other animals. Aromatic hydrocarbons (phenols) from cedar and pine bedding materials can induce biosynthesis and hepatic microsomal enzymes, which are known to cause liver disease.  They also can cause kidney problems and respiratory problems in rabbits.  Rabbits would have long-term exposure to them and they would not be able to handle it.

Do not use corn cob litter - if rabbits eat it, it can get lodged in their stomach and create a serious blockage.

The best litter to use is recycled paper pellets such as Yesterdays News (which I recommend) or wood stove fuel pellets (compressed sawdust pellets).  They generally don't eat this and is easy to scoop out the used bedding, clean the soiled pan area, then add in a little new stuff and you're good.

Feel free to write back anytime.  Lee