I bought a bunny for my son at makeman yesterday, it didn't make it through the night. 1) The paperwork doesn't have a return policy...and I've never had this trouble buying little pets from there. Usually in the states you return to the store with the deceased animal and reciepts, is that the case here if anyone knows? 2) I don't feel it's the right thing to do right now to tell my son the bunny died, I am telling him I'm taking it to the doctor and sterilizing the cage, then I will try and replace it with another rabbit. He is young enough where it should work well. Is there a place anyone would recommend besides makeman or petbox to adopt an indoor rabbit? :( 

Someone is eating rabbit stew tonight! 

If it died in one night, this is a REALLY BAD IDEA OH GOD DON'T DO THIS. I live life on the edge. 

Thanks OTR. I've had rabbits many times before and I was confident this one was well, it was past the recommended weaning age too. There are no signs of sickness besides lethargy earlier this afternoon right before he died...at least none that I was aware of (no sneezing, eyes clear, no runny nose, stools normal, appetite normal, feet normal, no strange smells, etc) I am not going to tell my son his rabbit died if I can find another one in a while, and I don't plan on taking any more animals from the store. I have told him that I am going to take his bunny to the doctor, so he already knows there is something wrong. 

Cut his head off, the rabbit I mean, and dissect his brain with your kid. It will teach him about death and medical stuff at the same time. 

The lethargy, unfortunately, was probably the only sign you got. Good news is, lethargy's usually a serious internal issue with rabbits. It's a death sentence in the wild, after all. Bad news is, that rabbit was probably f*cked long before you got it. So I doubt there's much you could've done. You could tell the kid the doctor had to let the rabbit go, if that's better. Replacing it, though, if he ever figures out there's even the tiniest difference you are in so much f*ckin' trouble. Poor rabbit :(. There is no way I'm going to be able to replace the rabbit with an identical one here on Okinawa, and since rabbits are so fragile, maybe I shouldn't try to take another one in after all. I was planning on telling him the bunny died at the doctor, but I have to talk to my husband about it... I appreciate the advice about makeman, I'm leaving soon and will leave it in the car while I ask so they can decide what to do with the poor thing without embarassment to them. 

I ended up telling my son because I had a little more time and talked it over with the hubby, he was fine considering he's only had the bunny for a day. The rabbit would have been cared for mainly by me. I took the cage and food back to makeman as well and they refunded everything and apologized. I didn't want to keep it because we decided not to replace the bunny, funny the things you want to do to save your kids from heartbreak :). He was good, though, and no bunny for us. 

If the rabbit's big enough, they can inflict some serious damage on a kid younger than young teenage years I had a rabbit in high school. I still have a scar right below my rib cage from him. 

It was actually my fault because I scared him. But I still have my scar, 285 years after I graduated. 

i bet that's a sweet battlewound. where were you during the bachelorette scavenger hunt?! i could have kidded your scar! D: 

You can kidd it anytime. :-D 

i'll kiss it too. :D 

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