I'm looking for some advice or feedback, please.
I lost a sweet wonderful doe last night. She was about 8 months old, in great body/coat condition with no signs of any illness. The only changes have been the weather (cold and wind) and moving her neighbor to a new cage because she was pulling fur out on him (he was a young buck) and he was moved the end of November.
She went off her pellets about 3 days prior but was eating hay still. I knew this wasn't good, and I tried a lot of different things to offer supportive care. She didn't seem sick in any way and she was friendly bright and still drinking and eating hay at this point. I did an exam and found nothing obvious, the only thing I did feel was some possible slight lumps in her belly but they didn't seem to cause any pain and then I started to worry that the JR buck next door might have been an early bloomer and maybe these were babies in her? I added a nest box and hoped for the best.
Yesterday she tipped her water dish out over and over, I filled it she tipped it instantly, she never tips her dish.
When I checked on her last night she was laying in an awkward position and in obvious distress and grinding her teeth. I took her out of the cage and she was breathing hard and she had peed all over herself. I set her down and she couldn't walk, or more she didn't want to and when she tried she stumbled and fell. Her eyes looked dull and she had them nearly closed. She then let out a short scream, unlike any sound I've heard a rabbit make. It wasn't a typical rabbit scream. It sounded like the fake cougar scream you hear on old movies, and it was just once and short until she took another couple of wobbly steps, and did it again. She was obviously in horrible pain so I ended that.
I had to know what had happened so I opened her up after and I've never seen a rabbit colon/intestine so full in my life, yet oddly it wasn't red and angry looking. It was just stretched to the max and packed hard with feed and poop and higher up had actually ruptured from being stretched so thin. There was no foul smell, no liquid outside the intestines just mushy mashed-up pellets and hay. I couldn't find anything obstructing her, it was like she just stopped being able to poop.
I was concerned about GI Stasis/ileus when she stopped eating pellets for so long but I have no idea what would have caused it. My biggest concern at the moment is if there's any disease that might cause this that I need to be aware of for my other rabbits, and why did this happen? Did she get stressed? Did she overeat the pellets? She was eating hay and doing so well, other than pulling fur out of her neighbor bunny she didn't act any different. Did I miss something? Is there anything I can do to prevent this in future rabbits. I sat and cried for her because she was one of the nicest rabbits I've ever owned. Sweet, easy going, loved being held and never kicked anyone her whole life even when she was afraid. She didn't deserve this, and should have had a long life. I'm really torn up about losing her this way.
The only thing that ever seemed off was that I had noticed that this particular rabbit has always had off poops. When she was younger I often found large soft poops that didn't go through the wire floor like when a rabbit eats too many greens and from time to time she had darker poops stuck to the underside of the cage wire where no other rabbits had this issue. Maybe something was wrong before or she's always overeaten?
Any input or advice is appreciated.
I lost a sweet wonderful doe last night. She was about 8 months old, in great body/coat condition with no signs of any illness. The only changes have been the weather (cold and wind) and moving her neighbor to a new cage because she was pulling fur out on him (he was a young buck) and he was moved the end of November.
She went off her pellets about 3 days prior but was eating hay still. I knew this wasn't good, and I tried a lot of different things to offer supportive care. She didn't seem sick in any way and she was friendly bright and still drinking and eating hay at this point. I did an exam and found nothing obvious, the only thing I did feel was some possible slight lumps in her belly but they didn't seem to cause any pain and then I started to worry that the JR buck next door might have been an early bloomer and maybe these were babies in her? I added a nest box and hoped for the best.
Yesterday she tipped her water dish out over and over, I filled it she tipped it instantly, she never tips her dish.
When I checked on her last night she was laying in an awkward position and in obvious distress and grinding her teeth. I took her out of the cage and she was breathing hard and she had peed all over herself. I set her down and she couldn't walk, or more she didn't want to and when she tried she stumbled and fell. Her eyes looked dull and she had them nearly closed. She then let out a short scream, unlike any sound I've heard a rabbit make. It wasn't a typical rabbit scream. It sounded like the fake cougar scream you hear on old movies, and it was just once and short until she took another couple of wobbly steps, and did it again. She was obviously in horrible pain so I ended that.
I had to know what had happened so I opened her up after and I've never seen a rabbit colon/intestine so full in my life, yet oddly it wasn't red and angry looking. It was just stretched to the max and packed hard with feed and poop and higher up had actually ruptured from being stretched so thin. There was no foul smell, no liquid outside the intestines just mushy mashed-up pellets and hay. I couldn't find anything obstructing her, it was like she just stopped being able to poop.
I was concerned about GI Stasis/ileus when she stopped eating pellets for so long but I have no idea what would have caused it. My biggest concern at the moment is if there's any disease that might cause this that I need to be aware of for my other rabbits, and why did this happen? Did she get stressed? Did she overeat the pellets? She was eating hay and doing so well, other than pulling fur out of her neighbor bunny she didn't act any different. Did I miss something? Is there anything I can do to prevent this in future rabbits. I sat and cried for her because she was one of the nicest rabbits I've ever owned. Sweet, easy going, loved being held and never kicked anyone her whole life even when she was afraid. She didn't deserve this, and should have had a long life. I'm really torn up about losing her this way.
The only thing that ever seemed off was that I had noticed that this particular rabbit has always had off poops. When she was younger I often found large soft poops that didn't go through the wire floor like when a rabbit eats too many greens and from time to time she had darker poops stuck to the underside of the cage wire where no other rabbits had this issue. Maybe something was wrong before or she's always overeaten?
Any input or advice is appreciated.
I am truly sorry for the loss of a lovely tempered doe. But I commend you for your decision and looking for a cause. Your suspicion of bowel problems sounds like something valid. Depending on material condition, the mechanisms that control actual digestion may have been compromised.
