doe died suddenly and....

[Jessykah]

this morning I found a doe laying in the nestbox dead. I have never had this happen before. I think she is around 2 years old. I didn't notice anything peculiar about her yesterday.
Her four kits were born Easter weekend. I have another doe who has 2 kits that were born the same day. So I know it was risky, but I fostered the kits to her. She didn't react at all, just laid there and let them jump all over her. I hope she will feed them and not attack them when they bug her for food. Hopefully they don't transmit anything to her or her other two kits. I will sanitize the dead doe's cage later, and examine her feces in the tray. She was bred again, so maybe she had complications with that? Has anyone else had an experience like this? What did you do and how did it work out?

 

[MaggieJ]

I've had two sudden rabbit deaths here in the six years I've been raising them, but neither were pregnant or nursing does. Hope the kits manage the transiiton okay. They should be nearly ready for weaning anyway, so if the other doe won't feed them, you should be able to hand-raise them quite easily.

 

[Shara]

I had a sick doe, i found her all skinny and covered in diareah from one night. i was certain she was dead so i took her kits and gave them to my other doe. First doe did recover, all the kits eventually died, no idea why. but the second doe (spooky) did very well with accepting four more.

 

[Jessykah]

my sister said that in was breathing weird and heavy the day before. Huh interesting. No clue.

It appears that the foster doe killed one of her own babies, and ate the ears off of one of the fostered ones and scalped it... So I killed it, then weaned the remaining kits. I hope they are on pellets good enough. I have run out of kitchen oats. Will have to pick some up.

 

[MaggieJ]

Make sure they get plenty of grass hay too, Jessykah. It can prevent a lot of digestive problems.

 

[ottersatin]

I found a doe laying in the nestbox dead. I have never had this happen before. I think she is around 2 years old. I didn't notice anything peculiar about her yesterday. [Jessykah]

I would suspect a Heart Attack.
I have had this happen once many years ago when I found a
Satin Buck hanging half in and half out of a nestbox that he had for
a sleep area. No signs of any illness and had appeared to be as healthy
as a Horse. Another Breeder told me that Heart Attack just seems to
come out of no where. I don't believe there is anything you can do
to prevent Rabbit Heart Attack accept to have them STOP Smoking and Drinking
and eat a properly balanced meal. No more Twinkies and Chocolate Cake! :mbounce:
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[SatinsRule]

I lost what was my only red satin doe at the time, Lizzy, to a sudden heart attack in February. Not a sign of anything other than a healthy rabbit, but one afternoon I came home and she was hyperventilating and really struggling to even breathe. I tried to calm her down, and she literally died in my arms within an hour.

I'm very attached to my reds for whatever reason, and losing her and Super Sid were two of the most gut-wrenching rabbit losses I've ever had to go thru. Tatro will be like that for me one day, as well.

 

[Jessykah]

 

[Pickles]

So sorry you lost your doe. Many, many years back I lost my NZ buck to a heart attack. He was about 3 years old and it was thundering really loud outside... scared him to death, literally. Very sad.

 

[fuzzy9]

So sorry for your loss.