Looking for answers after loosing Cher....

*** WARNING THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC PICTURES! ***

*** WARNING THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC PICTURES! ***

*** WARNING THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC PICTURES! ***

This morning I went out to feed and water the rabbits and noticed that one of my favorite French Angoras still had a full bowl of pellets and had not touched her water.  This is very unusual for her!  I opened her cage and was talking to her and she hopped towards the back of the cage.  When she moved I noticed her back legs seemed weak and she was wobbly.  I took her out of her cage and brought her inside the house.  I gave her yogurt, bananas, and pineapple in an attempt to entice her into eating.  She still would not eat anything, so I ran to the veterinarian and picked up some sodium chloride, B vitamins, and dexamethasone in hopes of re-hydrating her.  Sadly, Cher was dead when I came back home.  I took her to the veterinarian for an autopsy because I wanted to know what she died from.  Whatever killed her was so fast!  

When the autopsy was performed everything looked normal, except her liver.  One of the lobes of her liver was hard and tough, unlike the other lobe that was smooth, and there was free blood in the abdomen with clots around the liver and a lesion on the back side.  The only other thing remarkable was the smell.  It was terrible!  The veterinarian diagnosed her as having a liver abscess, but with no reason.

I have been so upset all night.  Cher and Wilma are my world, and I have always joked that in the event of rapture   these two girls would have to be peeled out of my hands!  I love them so much!  I just want to know why?  What causes abscesses internally in rabbits?  I did some research tonight and the only thing I could find was moldy feed and coccidia as possible contributors to liver abscesses.  I know my feed was not moldy, and I am fairly sure she did not have coccidia.  (I am going to take a stool sample in to the vet tomorrow just to be sure....)  Has anyone else out there dealt with this or had this happen before?  Any suggestions or advice would be welcome!