Dead rabbit, contagious bunny poo?

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Artificer

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One of our NZ kits died the other day, but I thought it had been injured. Someone cleaned out the cage using the feed scoop. I was in a hurry and didn't wash/sterilize the feed scoop. Now the breeding doe in another cage is dead. What would cause a doe with older kits to die within a couple of days? No obvious signs of distress, but I wasn't doing a close examination every day, so I could have missed something. A kit or two in each of the two cages seem lethargic.

I'd love to isolate the rabbits, but I don't have any cages, and I don't have any room. Is there anything I can give the rabbits to help? I could build some more cages this weekend, but thats 2 days away.

Michael
 
Poisoning from bad feed or something is generally the only thing that kills that quickly particularly with no symptoms.
 
Are the two cages side by side? And none of the rabbits in other cages seem affected? If so, it may have nothing to do with the food scoop.. although using it for cage cleaning is definitely a bad idea. :nono:

Akane's suggestion of bad feed may be correct. Did you open a new bag or change feed just before this happened? Does the feed look and smell okay? No sign of mould, dampness, clumping etc.? In any case, if you have grass hay, I think you should give them some. It sometimes helps move things on through and it certainly will not harm them.

Update us tomorrow and we will try to help you figure this out.
 
Artificer,
are you sure the Rabbit didn't have a heart attack?
Any blue color to the lips? A Heart attack can
come on quite suddenly.
Ottersatin. :eek:ldtimer:
 
I had some kind of contagious diahrrea last summer.it killed the rabbits in only one day.then it was gone as fast as it appeared.
 
The NZ cage with the first fatality is no where near the other cage. There is one NZ kit that is lethargic. You touch it, and it doesn't jump away like the other do. The mother was hovering over it last night.

In the second cage, there's another kit thats laying there. Looks like its resting (stretched out), but once again, handle it and it doesn't squirm properly. When I try to hold it, it gets a bit feisty, and scrambles. Clear eyes, ears half up...

Don't get me started on the feed scoop. Its cleaned/bleached now.

The doe that died was laying there for a while. I was at work, and hadn't seen it since the morning. It weighed about 7lbs. Seems light, but it was coming off of a litter. Don't know the how much the weight will change. The belly fur was wet, but no clue if that was the other rabbits, the water dish, or what.

Its always a new bag of feed. We're going through a bag every two days. Could be the hay, but that looks good as well.

The first kit didn't have a heart attack. I noticed the lethargy, and what looked like problems hopping. Front legs didn't move right for some reason. Next day it was worse. Next morning it was gone with its teeth locked around the cage wire. Didn't notice anything about the doe. Lips don't look blue, but its out of rigor, so don't know how long the color would last.

Thanks for the responses.

Michael
 
I think I would cull the two youngsters affected by this and hope it hasn't spread to the others. Sorry you're going through this. :(<br /><br />__________ Fri May 20, 2011 8:01 pm __________<br /><br />Hey, Michael... Just wondering how the bunnies are doing. Update us when you can. :clover:
 
Well, nobunny else has died. The lethargic kit in the doe's cage seems to be doing fine. Can't tell which one it is, and I can't see the ear tattoo. NZ kit likewise seems to be doing fine. Ann's other prime breeding doe seemed lethargic as well, but it may have just been the heat. Hopped around last night.

Ann's almost home from her incredibly stressful trip around the US, and guess what she'll find when she gets here? I didn't want to add to her stress, so I haven't told her yet. I have to go to work so I will not be here when she arrives this morning. Not a good situation. At least she hasn't lost any more rabbits.

Michael
 
akane":2obri6ua said:
Poisoning from bad feed or something is generally the only thing that kills that quickly particularly with no symptoms.
Click to expand...

^^^^What he said!^^^^

I lost my best Red Satin buck to this very thing earlier this year. He literally went from being in the very best condition of his life to being deader than a doorknocker in less than a week. Molded feed was the culprit.
 
Update:
I'm fairly certain the doe died from either heart attack or low feed consumption. She was still in with her litter, and while they had a lot of food and usually had leftovers there the next day, she would always attack the new food. She was apparently older than I'd thought, too. (the pedigree didn't have a DOB). When I looked over some pedigrees of other Americans, her ID number pops up back a couple of years.

Everyone else is fine. happy, hopping, bopping, and really fat. Micheal pretty much free fed everyone. :rotfl:

now...about the feed scoop. I have 3 of them. 1 is for feed, the other 2 end up being used to scoop out litter boxes and reaching into corners that I can't get to with my shovel. I must have put the actual FEED scoop in a place Mike didn't see...he doesnt' normally do bunny chores.

Now that I'm back, I need to evaluate all the rabbits and figure out how to sell 50% of them. WAY too many critters here....WAY too many....

I was sad to lose Bessie, but it was possibly my own fault for leaving her in with her kits. Poor Micheal :( He was so stressed by my journey(there were some moments that I had mini-meltdowns), and then to find a dead rabbit...sigh. But it happens. I'd no more yell at him or be inconsolable about losing a rabbit, than I would fret over a broken kitchen glass or plate. Critters die. Crockery breaks. They can all be replaced.
 
Glad to have the Mystery of the Misused Grain Scoop solved. I couldn't imagine either you or Michael being careless about that kind of thing.

It's too bad about Bessie, but an occasional loss it to be expected. All in all it sounds like Michael did a great job of taking care of the bunnies while you were away.
 
MaggieJ":vsfzoi74 said:
Glad to have the Mystery of the Misused Grain Scoop solved. I couldn't imagine either you or Michael being careless about that kind of thing.

It's too bad about Bessie, but an occasional loss it to be expected. All in all it sounds like Michael did a great job of taking care of the bunnies while you were away.
Click to expand...
Yup. It's a major chore these days. Takes me a couple of hours a day each morning and night. He managed it along with a 10 hour day at work AND handled me calling him whining about problems on the trip. Don't know why he sticks around, actually.
 
Thanks for the update, it sounds like all is well. Michael sounds like an amazing man, and very much a super hero!
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