just...nasty!!

[Jessykah]

Have you ever seen this before? This junior rabbit was perfectly fine one day, then dead the next. Only thing wrong that I could see is his ear was shrivelled up and rubbery and grey. Could its littermates have bit it? Wouldn‘t it look different if it were infected? How could it have killed it? Could it have died from the stress? This is very strange to me.

 

[MaggieJ]

Sorry you lost your rabbit, Jessykah.

I've never seen anything like that but it is hard to see how it could have killed the rabbit overnight -- except possibly from stress. Did you open it up to see if you could find anything amiss internally? My feeling is that there was likely something else wrong as well.

That ear is really strange. I hope someone else can shed some light on it.

 

[Fireclaws bunnbutts]

I was going to suggest fly strike, but the edge of the ear isn't torn and ragged, plus I don't know what kind of monster, mutant fly would kill a rabbit xD.

But seriously, to me, that looks like some kind of burn? Maybe chemical burn? The ear looks "melted", I was thinking. Are your rabbits easy for the public to find if someone was mucking around on your property? Maybe some A-hole kid practice it's psychopathic tendencies?

 

[Jessykah]

I decided not to open the rabbit up because I simply didn't have the time, and it would make disposing of it harder when time-pressed.....I don't think anyone would have harmed the rabbit. It was in the farthest cage with 3 other rabbits. I think someone would find it easier to harm a different rabbit, or why not all 4 in that cage then? I don't think anyone around here would have done that. My neighbour is my landlord. The house on the other side of me is vacant, and the one across from me is an elderly couple. You cannot see the animals from the road. I have no suspicions about people....Someone suggested it could have been a spider bite? I didn't think I had bad spiders here.

 

[Miss M]

That's bizarre.

I'm thinking like Maggie that the answer may have been inside. Maybe unrelated to the ear. I understand not being able to open up the rabbit, though... that's happened to me before, when I really would have liked to know what the cause was. I had a doe just drop dead for no apparent reason a couple of years ago.

 

[Preitler]

Hm, never seen something like that, but it looks like necrosis which could have caused a sepsis.

Maybe a small infected wound, imho wouldn't need much if there's some issue with the immune system.

 

[MaggieJ]

It was probably a "one-off" death. It would be nice to know why, but as long as it doesn't happen again I would not worry too much. But thanks for posting about it, Jessykah. It may help someone else down the line. If we all hold one piece of a puzzle but take the time to put them together, we end up with a picture.

 

[Zinnia]

What an eerie discovery. I am so sorry you lost him.

How old was he? Was he really just fine the day before (this ear is new upon finding him dead)? Sorry for asking, but... oh my, I can see why you must be alarmed. I am imagining some kind of leaky chemical that dripped on his ear... and he tried to clean it off, ingested it and died.... That's where my imagination goes, anyway. :shock: Any chance something could have dripped into his cage onto him?

Well... Looking at one of the photos, it looks like there might have been a blunt blow to his ear... red/bruising just below the dead part. That could explain the upper part "dying off", but you'd think it would take a while for that to happen... and to kill him. Oh, I hate sad mysteries. But, it's true that it could have been a one-time thing that you may never experience again...

 

[Jessykah]

http://www.ehow.com/list_6156285_poison ... tario.html
I can't remember his age right now. Born this Spring. Yes he was just fine the day before, as I was posing them for 'for sale' posts. No way there are any chemicals close by, or even outside. The rabbits are in hutches outside.
I just put down the shade flap in front of the rabbit hutch, and a huge brown spider fell from it. I smashed it into the ground right away, so I didn't get a good look at it....I hope it is the only one!! Mystery PERHAPS solved....but now I am more nervous! It's spider-baby-making-time around here. What if there are more?

 

[katiebear]

My first thought was spider..brown recluse or black widow..poor bun..The only thing I hate more than snakes are spiders. .

 

[TF3]

there are brown recluse in southern ontario I'm sorry for your loss!

 

[Zinnia]

What an awful way to lose one. I'm so sorry! I think we may have some here, but so few...