American Fuzzy Lop

[DutchBunny03]

@OctoberKitty , your doing great!! Rabbits have great immune systems, but if they are going to get sick, it usually happens within 1-2 weeks within being exposed to a disease. I HATE quarantining, so I see how it is unattractive. I quarantine all new rabbits that I buy, so it can become a pain in the neck. But it's worth it. If your fuzzy lip was going to get sick, he would probably already be sick by now. Keep moniterring him, though, just in case.

 

[OctoberKitty]

I purchased them together from a breeder who had brought them to a show along with about 15 dutch rabbits. There were easily over 100 rabbits at the show. At that point I considered them both in quarantine as it was. They had both already been exposed to who knows what. If one was going to get sick I figured the other would too and it would be easier to take care of them if they were in the same room. If I had had other rabbits I would have arranged for a better quarantine procedure.

 

[DutchBunny03]

Buying at shows has the risk of disease, but, at least at the shows I've been to, sick rabbits aren't allowed on the premises, and are sent home if found to be sick later on. I bought my Dutch at a show, and so far, so good!! The only downside is not being able to look at the conditions the rabbit was previously kept in.

 

[OctoberKitty]

For me it was a matter of distance. The show was 1 hr and 30 minutes from our house which was considerably closer than her house. It was a downside to not see their living conditions, but I really liked the English lop.

 

[DutchBunny03]

Nice. Does it get cold where you are? I couldn't get English lops even if I wanted to because their ears would freeze. The show I bought my rabbits from was a few hours away from my house. I live in almost the middle of nowhere, so rabbit shows are pretty far away.

 

[animalmom]

Rabbits can have panic attacks where they run around bouncing off the walls of their cage. It seems that startling them can cause this frantic racing. I wonder if your rabbit had a panic attack and that started your dogs barking, or the other way around would work too.

Sorry you lost your rabbit but I'm betting on a panic attack. I've seen my rabbits do this on a rare occasion and it is quite impressive. The rabbit could easily break its neck.

Again sorry for your loss... I don't know any way to prevent an attack. I always call out to my rabbits when I approach the rabbitry and even then on a rare occasion I catch one unaware and it freaks out.

 

[OctoberKitty]

@DutchBunny03 Yeah, it gets pretty cold. We get into the light negatives each year which is why I had them in the kitchen.

Thankfully, despite living in the middle of nowhere, Ohio is so small almost everything is only 2 hours away from us.

@animalmom Thanks

My dogs only bark when they hear the food bag. It's odd, but I'm not complaining. Most likely Basil's hyper dash back and forth freaked the English out. He's a Bernese mix, just shy of a year old, around 50lbs and runs like a greyhound. He's gentle with all of the other animals, but I could see why a rabbit might be afraid of him. My other rabbits have always been raised in households with dogs so I didn't think about it until a day later. I'll be more careful in the future.

 

[DutchBunny03]

Rabbits can take temperatures of below -20 F. Mine stay outside all year, and no problems yet. The most annoying thing is having to go outside to feed them, and all the frozen water dishes. I've heard of rabbits killing themselves in panic attacks. Mine have never hurt themselves doing it, but have come close. Like @animalmom said, saying something before entering the room can help prevent them.

 

[OctoberKitty]

I had just been in the kitchen refilling water and food bowls for the various animals, including him. In the three weeks I had him he was never once skittish in any way and he would greet me when I walked in. The Fuzzy was the one I was worried about losing to a panic attack because he'd throw himself into a fit over every little thing.

 

[Genipher]

We just went through a similar thing. We bought a Netherland Dwarf doe and had her for 3-4 weeks. She gave birth (the previous owners had kept her with her brother) but the babies died. A week later, she died.
Throughout it all, she looked and acted like she was healthy. The night she died we had a thunderstorm (the rabbits are kept outside, under our walled-in carport). I thought she may have died from fear...
At any rate, I, too disinfected everything...just in case.