Glad the forum is back up!

Yesterday we had a hot day (94) for the first time in awhile and I came home to find two bunnies had died. Since I hadn't turned the fan on I thought they had died from heat stroke. Then today I came home and another bunny that was in the outside "pasture" pen had died. There is nothing visibly wrong with them. The gums are blue, no marks, no signs of illness or being off feed or anything. The only kind of okay thing is that the ones that have died were to be butchered, but I cannot figure out what is wrong with these bunnies. has anyone had this before? Any ideas? Should I just put them on antibiotics? Everything seems completely normal and there isn't a chance of dirty pens or anything like that. I am stumped. ...help?

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), October 25, 2001

Answers

Wow Doreen, bummer!!! I have not a clue. Any new dogs around?? I have heard they will die of a heart attack if very scared.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), October 25, 2001.

No, no new dogs. I don't know what it could be....it looks like it could be heart attack, , but three in two days??? Doesn't seem likely.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), October 26, 2001.

I lost another one. This is so frightening. I'm taking off work and going to disinfect everything. I have not been able to narrow down what it is at all. There are several possibilities. The biggest obstacle is that doing a post mortem is not going to help me much because I have never seen the insides of a healthy bunny...well, not in twenty years!

It seems that it could be either listeriosis, or hematomic cocci, but there are no wrong looking stools.

I'm goiung to put vinegar and garlic oil in the water,feed basil leaves (a bit) take them off of pellets and put them on grass hay, thouroughly sterilize everything, order in some bayflaxin antibiotics, and pray. I'll let y'all know. If I lose any more I will have to take one to A&M for autopsy.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), October 26, 2001.

No clue as to the cause, but yes, I've had it happen before. Sometimes they will look perfectly fine, and go back an hour later and the bunny is dead.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001.

Try asking for a word of wisdom or knowledge. God should have an idea what got em and maybe it's fixable.

-- Stephanie Nosacek (possumliving@go.com), October 26, 2001.

Sure wish I could help Doreen.......sorry this is happening :>{

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001.

Thanks all!

I have seriously cleaned everything, and I have a young doe that is acting off right now. I looked around on the web and found NO sites that tell me what the proper temp of a rabbit ought to be. It isn't in my Merck either, for pete's sake! She has a temp of 104.1 and she is also sharing a cage...unfortunately. There was a site about Viral Hemmorraghic disease that said the temp may go as high as 105 so I am assuming that she is indeed fevered. Now if it's this VHD thing I have no idea how mine would have contracted it unless it is thru the feed. Or those chemtrails, lol!

This is no good at all. If anyone knows what the temp ought to be for a bunny, please let me know. Thank you!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), October 26, 2001.

Doreen:

Normal rabbit body temperature ranges between 101oF - 103oF (38.3oC - 39.4o C)

check it out at:

http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/sickbun.html

I sure hope that helps

-- Stephanie Nosacek (possumliving@go.com), October 27, 2001.

Thanks, Stephanie! I made it all day without losing one....I am doing the garlic oil and vinegar deal, I also am treating them for earmites with mineral oil just in case. I honestly don't see anything indicating mites, but it won't hurt them and then I will know they are clear just in case.

I appreciate all of your responses and commisseration, too!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), October 27, 2001.

Doreen,

I was reading your dilema and I am wondering what you meant when you said that the ones that had passed were lucky because they were to be "butchered?" Are you rescuing rabbits or eatting them? I'm confused. I am a vet in NJ and if you are rescuing them, I will gladly try and help make a diagnosis-theory, but if they are being put to death for other reasons, I refuse to contribute to their demise. They'd be better off to die that way than be slaughtered.

-- Vanessa (Vaness21@excite.com), April 30, 2004.