Dead rabbit, not playing

[owlsfriend]

Sadly last night, I came home to a very still angora buck. I'd put ice in front of the big fan in the morning. It had all melted by the time i did my evening check. He hadn't been gone long as he was still quite flexible and his eyes were still bright. I had an irrational idea that he was not really dead, or could somehow revive if I took him into the AC...his ears were cool to the touch and of course, taking him inside accomplished nothing.

His coat was thick and needed to be shorn about a week ago. I hadn't realized how heavy it had gotten. I'd gone to a show earlier in the day and come home as the rabbits I took were blowing coat and overheating at the show. I plucked all three and returned them to the shed....where the ice was still doing a fair job of cooling things off at 2 pm.

He had plenty of water...he hadn't been drinking...and his food bowl was shoved against the waterer tube. I have about 5 rabbits to shave down today, although it's much cooler and I'm cleaning cages first. Don't know what else might help. I'd never even had an Angora react to the heat before. (My Americans are a short haired breed and not nearly as heat tolerant....) It was only in the low 90's but high humidity. Maybe it was something else? No symptoms of any kind.

 

[Susie570]

Sorry you lost a rabbit Hard to know whether it was heat induced or something else.
Just a thought though, people usually place something with ice in it INSIDE the rabbit cages, so they can lean against it and cool themselves off more easily. 90s is pretty hot for a rabbit. I'm concerned about that level of heat here. :/

 

[Nyctra]

Poor guy. D:
Was there signs of drool around his mouth? Rabbits with heat stroke tend to drool. Are you sure there's no fly strike that could have stressed him to death? Are you quarantining after shows? It sounds kind of like you're not, so maybe he caught something.
I'm in my first year of angora, and I'm sure you know more about it than I do, but my Wolf also wasn't too eager about drinking when he had wool block.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Sorry to hear you lost him. I have seen tons of posts on FB of rabbits dying in the heat recently.

It has been in the 90s here, but so far all of my buns are doing fine.

Maybe it was something else? No symptoms of any kind.

If he had drool matted in the fur of his chin he died from heat distress. If that sign was not there, it was something else.

The fact that he had not been drinking makes me think it was something else. Do check the water valve to see if it was clogged.

Surprisingly, rabbits can actually go for quite some time without water but they get very skinny because if they don't drink, they wont eat.

 

[Zinnia]

So sorry for your loss.

An angora needing to be shorn and not drinking water sounds like wool block could have been a possibility.

I just cut most of mine down the other day. I was seeing far too many "pearl necklaces" forming in the last few weeks. I didn't want to take any chances. They are eating and drinking, so I wasn't too worried, but...

Fresh greens also help with wool block... if that's what your buck had.

 

[jessie15273]

Definitely could have been wool block, or the heat. I just sheared my angora, and im glad i did, its was horrendously hot today. Sorry for the loss!