rabbit deaths

Question
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Followup To
Question -
We have had rabbits several years. They had been doing fine, but on Christmas eve, 7 died in one night.....no symptoms prior to death.

Today another rabbit died. It seems they are fine, eating, drinking, running about.....then they started loosing fur and dropped half their body weight in less than a week, then died.

Could this be viral........cancer.......or what?
I feed them commercial rabbit pellets, carrots, apples, oranges and spinach....fresh water daily, timothy hay.

A few more(although active and eating) are still loosing fur and getting thinner. Before more die, is there anything I can do?

Thank you
Answer -
I don't suppose you had a necropsy done, or could have that done if another goes?  Put the body in the refrigerator and then try to get it to a vet within 24-48 hours.  Since you have more than 1, I think it would be worth the money to find out what is happening to see if it is treatable.

They could have a virus, a parasite, worms, bacteria, it's really hard to tell without a necropsy.

I don't think it's the diet, that sounds very healthy, so it must be something either one of them brought in if you have gotten them from an outside source, or something in the environment that they picked up.

Kim

Thank you Kim

Could it be related to kennel cough that dogs carry because I started doing foster care in November and two dogs did have kennel cough.
The rabbits actually were bred from three we owned, accidentally, but at least I could say they were not from an outside source. Also, when the three rabbits gave birth last June......one whole litter of 7 died in two days, then the second litter lost 6 out of 7 in a week.

What is a necropsy.......something like an autopsy? Who would do that, I cannot even find a vet that treats rabbits.

Answer
That's a possibility.  I found some info at this site, http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/bordatella.htm, that talks about it in guinea pigs, and rabbits and guinea pigs are similar biologically.

A necropsy is an animal autopsy, basically.  Any vet should be able to do one, but, if it is bordatella, I don't think the signs would be obvious except to a rabbit-experienced veterinarian.

You might consider not breeding any more, as rabbits who live through this appear to be carriers.  And certainly don't let your rabbits mix with other rabbits.

Kim