Death of Rabbit

Question
We got our first house rabbit at 8 weeks old on Easter 2006.  We took good care of him and let him out frequently, supervised, in one room in the house that we secured bunny proof fairly well.  Over this weekend we let him outside on a leash for an hour or so, and prior to that he was out in the living room accidentally unsupervised for about 45 minutes. 2 days ago we noticed he was sluggish (sunday) and we were worried but i figured we would take him to the vet Monday if he was still sluggish. Unfortunately, when we awoke he was dead. We feel terrible.

When he was out of the cage he chewed on the couch as often as he could (we usually stopped him), and chewed on paper. He also pulled out pieces of the carpet(about 1 inch strands), but it seemed he was digging and pulling not eating them. He had done this since the day we brought him home, we always stopped him  and said NO.

We do have red cedar chips outside in the  garden beds. we didnt see him eat anything.  he chewed on grass and leaves.  We had taken him outside 5 or 6 times before, he had been out in the living room every day since we had him, usually more closely supervised than he was Sunday, but in some cases unsupervised for 10 min or so.

My question is, what may have happened? how can i prevent it from happening again, and if we had taken the bunny to the vet sunday, would he have been able to do anything?

He seemed completely happy health and comfortable prior and we really loved him.  We feel sad and regretful. Thank you

Answer
Did you perhaps take him to the vet Monday to have a necropsy done (an animal autopsy)?  That would be the only way to know for sure what happened to him.

I've certainly known rabbits to each couches and carpet and drywall and not have a problem.  Unless he ate so much carpet or another substance that it filled up his stomach, it probably wasn't that.

He could have had heart problems, or lung problems, or some other problem that you couldn't see.

I don't think you could have prevented it, you certainly were making sure he only did things that were safe for him.  And whether taking him to the vet would have depended on whether the vet knows rabbits.  Most emergency vets don't.

If you plan to get another bunny at some point, make sure you have a vet who knows rabbits, and know what their after hours policy is, and if an emergency vet can contact them if needed for consulting.

Bunnies unfortunately don't show they are sick until they are very, very sick, that's part of being a prey animal.  I am sorry for your loss, but it doesn't sound as if you did anything to cause it.

Kim