Anyone know anything about Rabbits???
James woke up to find his rabbit very lathargic. Just waiting for the vets to open, but has anyone any idea what it could be??????
Do they get cold??????
He put loads of hay in the hutch yesterday and the cold doesnt normally bother him.
Lea

Hope the vets is open soon.  Have you brought bun in from the cold - just incase it's that.....  Might be an idea to move the hutch indoors during the coldest weather (but not anywhere too warm ;))  Wild rabbits go down into deep burrows in the winter, domestic rabbits depend on us to provide them with somewhere sheltered and insulated.

He didn't get wet yesterday did he?

My sister's rabbit died after she had him out in the rain and didn't dry him off very well after - he was elderly and they can get chills more when they are older.

Hope he is OK

Lindsay
X

Any news Lea?

Sounds like shock. Has anything been after him in the night - any damange to the hutch or run? Is he vaccinated? Good luck.

I took him to the vet at 9 am as soon as they opened.
She felt him and his stomach was distended. Which I had noticed this morning. They kept him in for an x-ray thinking it was a tumour but it turned out to be full of food. His stomach was 6 times bigger than what it should be. They could have given him injections to try and clear itr (His intestines were clear of any matter at all, so there was a blockage somewhere) But he had lessx than 50:50 chance of survival. So I told them to do the kindest thing and put him to sleep.
Picked him up at 11.30 and took him to mums. Picked James up at 12.30 and he cuddled him for half hour before we buried him at the bottom of mums garden where he will never be disturbed. Then took James back to school.
I remember when I was young finding my rabbit that had been dead for a while and was hard. I decided it was better to get James when his rabbit was still soft so he could say goodbye properly hence why I picked him up from school. And when I buried him he was going cold so am pleased I made that decision.
RIP Floppy
Lea :(

Bloat and Scours is a common cause of death in pet rabbits.  they are the same except that in Scours the poor buny eventually ahs dir rear, which causes dehydration.

Fr some reason Gas builds up in the stomach, and the digestive process stops.  It most often happens if they eat wet grass, and feeding any appreciable amount of lettuce or food that spoils quickly will do it too.

When I bred Rabbits I never fed Lettuce or Damp greens.  I found one of the best greens (because yu can get them in good condition) was Cauliflower trimmings.  If feeding grass only give dry long grass, never that cut with a mower, as it heats up quickly.

Rabbits make very poor patients and usually by the time they displat signs of ill health they are very ill indeed.

You did the best thing for him.

Thanks Brainless.
He hadnt had any veg or grass as it had been too cold and wet to go on the grass and we never feed him lettuce. He did have a thickening to the base of the stomach which she said could be an underlying condition but he wouldnt have survived the laperotomy to look at it :(
Yesterday he was bouncing around. Today he is dead. Its a shock to everyone.
thanks again.
Lea :(

It could well be an underlying problem or the hayt could have gotten wet or had some mould in it.  sometimes as in Dogs it happens without any obvious cause.

I only pointed out the diet advice for others benefit.

Thats ok, and its good for future reference,
I asked if he wanted another rabbit, as I would look into getting him some rescue rabbits, but he no. Will give him time and see he was devoted to him. And I like rabbits around as well, seems strange llooking out the kitchen window and not seeing the hutch (we moved it before James came home)
Lea