Companion

Question
Hi,
I recently lost a female mini lop rabbit, and have a male lionhead rabbit let.  They are both about 1.5 years old and live in separate cage. My mini lop rabbit was healthy, active, spayed, and was eating, drinking, pooping, peeing fine.  She suddenly died yesterday morning.  We found her lying on the cage floor with running stool on her butt.  When we looked at the cage, there was not any running stool. All of the poop was round and looked normal.  We suspected that she died of something else, but her intestines were not able to release her poop in her last moments.  We did not do a biopsy on her, but we took her body to an animal clinic for burial yesterday afternoon after putting her in a box.  I know there is no way to find the cause of death without a proper biopsy, but I wanted to see if you can tell me what could have gone wrong?  The other rabbit is fine, but I think he feels lonely without his companion.
We had them both in the same cage for about 7 months before we separated them.  In June of 2006, we took the female rabbit for a spaying operation.  She recovered quickly and was active again after 3 to 4 days.  We did not let her out of the cage until the 8th day so she can recover from the operation and would not break the stitches on her tummy.  I know our male rabbit missed her a lot, because while she was gone, he ate less and felt lonely.  After we put them together, they seemed to be happy, and the male rabbit would follow her around (without just trying to mate with her).  We were very happy for the next 2 months, until she died suddenly yesterday.  We were very upset, but we also are very concerned that the male rabbit will be sad and lonely without her.  We would like to get him a companion soon.  We are planning to get another male rabbit, probably another lionhead.  Do you think this is a good idea?  I read before somewhere that male rabbits may also try to mate each other if they are not neutered.  I am worried that they may fight.  
I would get another female rabbit if the operation does not cost so much.  Also, we cannot afford to neuter both male rabbits if we do get another male.  I know that it is not a health concern if male rabbits are not fixed, except that they may spray urine everywhere.  Thanks for your time and answering my questions.

Answer
Dear Krystal,

You are correct:  without a post mortem exam (a "biopsy" is done on a live individual), there is no way to know why she died.  But the runny stool indicated a serious problem:

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

Please read:

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

Before you get another rabbit, have the male neutered.  Otherwise, there will be bloodshed, no matter what sex you bring home.  I would not recommend you buy another rabbit. Instead, adopt a rescue from your local rabbit rescue group:

www.rabbit.org/chapters

and let your surviving bunny choose his own mate, to minimize the chance of fighting.  A rescued bunny will already be neutered/spayed, so you will not have that worry or expense. Plus, the fosterer will help you bond the bunnies and find out who's best for whom.

I hope this helps, and I am very sorry about the sad loss of your friend.

Dana