Death of my rabbit

Question
Hi, um i had a miniature Holland lop and we didnt know she was pregnant, but we did have the male and female seperated. She gave birth when we were gone and when we came home she had delivered four babies. Two babies died from the cold and ones insides werent developed and was still born. One baby was still alive and doing good. Two days later me and my gf go for a walk, but before we left the mother bunny ran back and forth like to times kind of odd. But we didnt think anything of it. When we got back from are walk the mother rabbit was running around her cage trying to sqeeze herself in to corners like by her litter box. So we took her out and put her on the floor and she couldn't walk straight, she stumbled around and would walk head first into doors, and wut ever object there was in front of her. So we picked her up and she tried to burry herself inside the couch. So i called a vet and they said it might be lack of calcium. So they told me to give her calcium so i went and got some calcium and she just got worse. She was breathing heavy, heart was pounding, her legs and head were getting weak. Then she just wouldnt move just sat there breathed heavily and slowly now and she was on her back and she wouldnt roll over. So i was tryin my best to get her to take the calcium but then we moved her head flop straight back like she couldnt hold it up and she wimpered a little bit at that point we realize she was dying. Her breath was heavy but slow and her heart rate slowed way down. And we didnt want her to suffer no more or have to fight for a breathe so we ended up killing her at 3:00 am . Her condition went from terrible to the worse possible condition in about less than hour and a half. Can You tell me what you think was wrong with her and why her condition change like that?  And why a Vet would say he doesnt know anything about rabbits?

Answer
Brian--

Without an necropsy/post-mortem exam, there is absolutely no way to know why she died.  It could be any of a hundred things.  The vet who advised you over the phone should have told you to bring in the bunny; diagnosing over the phone is not only unethical, it can lead to wrong and deadly protocols done by owners who are not veterinarians.  I am appalled that any vet would do this, and brush you off so lightly.  

When you saw that your rabbit was suffering so badly, the right thing to do would have been to find an emergency clinic, even if only for humane euthanasia.  I don't even want to ask how you killed her.  No, I *really* don't want to know, because I know the answer will just make me sick to my stomach.  But euthanasia should be done by a professional, not by a person at home in the living room.  This is just unimaginable, that you would do this.

Finally, a vet will say he knows nothing about rabbits because:  he knows nothing about rabbits.  When a rabbit gets sick, you need a specialist--usually an exotics vet who is experienced with the special needs of a rabbit, which are very, very different from those of a dog or cat.

If you have a companion rabbit, you owe it to that rabbit to have a good rabbit vet to call *before* you have an emergency.  You can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If you consider getting another rabbit (and I hope you'll do a bit of educating yourself about their care before you do, by visiting www.rabbit.org and buying a copy of the House Rabbit Handbook), please read:

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

and

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

I hope this helps clear things up for you.

Dana