[SILEIGH]

my daughters' bunny got out friday night- home sat evening... no apparent injuries and was acting normal....sunday morning gunky eye so i researched the past threads for info ..cleaned and used kids pinkeye medicine...also made him drink some water with antibiotics in it....
sunday evening he's dead...he might have gotten into some cabbage leaves ment for the compost pile and i've read that cabbage can make rabbits gassy so could the cabagge have killed him??
or the eye that was yucky for 12 hours have done it??
which is more likley the culprit??
he was a 1 year old mutt about 4 pounds
my rabbits are used to greens to a point ... they get leftovers from the kitchen but i'm careful to only give small amounts and only things that i've read about and are deemed o.k. by someone with more experiance then me
this is the first rabbit to die for unknown reasons for me so i'm interested to hear what you alll think about this
thanks

 

[MaggieJ]

Any diarrhea? Noticeably distended abdomen? Tooth grinding (can indicate pain but not necessarily)?

I think it would have to be a raging infection to kill a rabbit so quickly... unless there were other hidden problems. I honestly don't have an answer for you but if there is anything at all you noticed, post it so the more experienced members will have something more to work with. Some rabbits will pig out on greens given the chance... but in a yard I would think it would have found something tastier - dandelions, plantain, clover...

 

[Bernadette]

What kind of environment do you live in? Is it possible that on the rabbit's adventure it got into someone's yard that had been sprayed with chemicals?

Giving antibiotics to rabbits can be tricky - was the dosage correct, and was the antibiotic approved for rabbits? Maybe the antibiotic had a bad reaction with the pink eye medication?

Rabbits. They're so easy to care for when things are going right. And then some 'little' thing goes wrong, and you end up with dead rabbits.

:shrug:

 

[SILEIGH]

maggiej-- no to all three ?s
bernadette-- rural area no chemicals ;as far as meds go i use bob bennetts guide to rabbits as my bible for rabbit care and the rabbit barely had any to drink i had to hold the bottle to his mouth and he was not interested...
it was just so quick ...but rabbits do every thing else quick I guess they die quick to
the thing is he just looked hurt not deathly sick...
and of course it had to be the day before the first day of school for my DD dang it!!!
i fixed his cage ...thats the big guilt in this for me ...

 

[turtlehead]

Snake bite?
Heat stroke?
:shrug:

 

[SILEIGH]

as in poisonis snakes?? not around here...we were more worried about cats and dogs and heat i don't think so we searched for him all day he was well hidden in some shady spot some where...
at this point i'm thinking it was the eye infection..just have a hard time with how fast it was... thanks every one for the ideas
its a learning experiance anyway ..

 

[Bernadette]

Well, darn. You've got me stumped.

It's very possible that whatever happened was going on anyway, and the escape and adventure was just a coincidence.

 

[jil101ca]

I can't see it being the eye infection alone. Maybe stress? Running loose, he could have gotten scared maybe causing his stomach to shut down. Unless the eye infection was secondary to something bigger that the rabbit was hiding. They are very good at hiding symptoms, sneaky as they can be

 

[MaggieJ]

One other possibility occurs to me. The rabbit may have eaten a plant that was downright poisonous, either wild or ornamental. I'm not sure just how far north you are, Sileigh, but on my property here in Southern Ontario there are lots to choose from: aconite (monkshood), bindweed, any of the nightshades, lily of the valley to name just a few... And it is also the time of year for all the poisonous Aminita mushrooms. A lot of poisonous plants result in damage to internal organs -- which may not show up until later. As I say, just a possibility.

 

[SILEIGH]

you guys maybe on to something with the plants...hadn't really concidered it much although DD did mention it...pretty good for a 7yr old!
i'll have to check to plant I.D. forum and look around..
you are all so helpful thanks

 

[MaggieJ]

Not sure where in Northern Ontario you are, Sileigh, but you (and Jil and Bernadette) might find this site of interest:

http://www.ontariowildflower.com/



ETA: Oops! :doh: Bernadette just pointed out to me that you are in Northern Ohio, not Northern Ontario. Would you believe my glasses need changing and I enlarged the page to a more comfortable size... and all I could see was Northern O....

 

[SILEIGH]

thats to funny :rotfl:
i wish i was in onterio any area of it...
my family gets up there multiple times a year to fish
for about 35 years now... we love it!

 

[jil101ca]

Thankms for the link, it does seem interesting so I book marked it.

 

[MaggieJ]

Well, I'm glad it was of use to one of you!

Whereabouts in Ontario do you go fishing, Sileigh?

 

[turtlehead]

Okay, my rabbits just went through a bout of what I *think* was pasteurella so I'm probably irrationally focused on it, but...

All rabbits pretty much carry pasteurella but they don't usually get any external signs of it unless they come under stress. Pasteurella can exhibit itself in many ways.

Probably the most common is "snuffles" where they have a runny nose and sneeze, or they can also have goopy eyes.

Pasteurella can also exhibit itself as pneumonia, and in younger rabbits the rabbit can die before you ever even knew it was ill.

So it's possible that your rabbit had pasteurella which caused the goopy eye plus very quick death due to pneumonia.

Or, it could be a poisonous plant.

 

[MaggieJ]

Makes sense to me, Turtlehead.

 

[Bernadette]

I enjoyed the site as well, Maggie.

And I, too, would like to know where Sileigh goes fishing.....

 

[SILEIGH]

thanks for the link ...
we go to bob's lake in maberly ontario about half hour from westport..( i always think mayberry )
the only one in our house to go this year was the 7 yr old DD with my parents for a week
and even though her dad and i did all kinds of stuff with both DD's when someone asks what she did this summer its "CANADA!!!!!
so another generation is in love with fishing and canada!

would pasturella show in the internall organs
i butchered 4 rabbits all litter mates yesterday and one had gray marbleing(?)
in the lungs?
should i start anothe thread?

 

[MaggieJ]

Yes, best to start another thread, Sileigh. That does sound a bit sinister and you'll want to get the attention of anyone who may know. Not everybody follows every thread from beginning to end.

 

[SILEIGH]

ok