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Post Mortems * WARNING VERY EMOTIVE SUBJECT *

Would You Have a PM Done If You Lost Your BunnyAbsolutely

  • Absolutely not- (please give reasons if you can)

    Votes: 14 14.1%
  • Only if it was an unexpected death, not in a previously chrnically sick Rabbit

    Votes: 48 48.5%
  • Only if my Vet Suggested it

    Votes: 21 21.2%
  • Yes, I want my Vet to gain knowledge that may help other and it would help me 'understand' too

    Votes: 16 16.2%

  • Total voters
    99

Jack's-Jane

Wise Old Thumper
I keep waiting for a 'good' time to start this thread but I dont think there is one really. I am just wondering what makes some people feel unable to have a PM Examination done in the case of a 'sudden death' of a Bun.
I know it is a very personal matter and I am most definately not judging anyone but I am interested to hear what it is about having a PM that some recently bereaved carers find impossible to contemplate.

For me I feel that if my Vet can learn from what happened to my Bun it might enable other Buns to be helped in the future. I also feel it helps me understand what has happened. This was particularly true with the Girlie Boblets. All three died suddenly within a 72 hour period. We were devastated but also concerned that a disease outbreak may be happening. Very serious in a multiple Rabbit environment. But PMs, including tissue sampling, revealed all 3 died from a congenital gut disorder :cry:

I really hope that I am not going to cause anyone great distress by starting this thread. I just want to try to understand why some people oppose PM examinations.

Janex
 
I think it's something about the treatment of the body of the pet once it has gone. It all becomes very clinical I guess. :?

I would definitely have a PM done in a case of sudden death to try to find answers, but I can understand people feeling funny about it.
 
Honestly??? Because I'm always afraid it will confirm my fears that I did something wrong.
 
I would never have a pm done as the thought would upset me too much, its bad enough a pile of dead animals all go in the incinerator together for me.but if i had lots of rabbits going through a rescue and they started to die for seemingly no reason i think i would have to for the safety of the buns.
 
I think it's something about the treatment of the body of the pet once it has gone. It all becomes very clinical I guess. :?

I would definitely have a PM done in a case of sudden death to try to find answers, but I can understand people feeling funny about it.

I suppose for me I feel that once the Bun has passed away their body is no longer 'them' if you know what I mean :?
Also, having a good relationship with ones Vet means that you should be able to trust them to treat your Bunny's body with respect.

Janex
 
The sudden death of a pet can be very emotional. Sometimes so much they feel they cant go through with a PM and that they should be left to Rest In Peace...

For myself, if my bunnies, guniea pigs or my cat or dog were to die of a sudden death i would have to have a PM done to put my mind at rest, if they were not ill.

I guess sometimes people may be scared of the results, incase it is something they did or something which could of been easily sorted...hummm..

My ex neighbour put her two dogs in kennels whilst on holiday, to come back to find out one of them had passed away, he was so young and healthy....yet she didnt have one done....

I guess it totally depends on the person..

We have sadly just lost 2of our chipmunks, Millie first about a month ago, then sadly Max today...:cry: We wont be having a PM done, however he did die suddendly...i only saw him climbing about yesterday..sadly not many vets round here have knowledge on chipmunks....

xx
 
Only if my vet suggested it would I. Like if they thought it was something that could affect my remaining bunnies I would do it for their safety. I wouldn't just do it for the sake of it.
 
The reason we didn't get a PM done on Joey was mainly because we wanted to bury him in my mother in laws garden and we planted a cherry tree for him.

Also I still feel I could of done more for him, so would be scared of the results confirming it was my fault :cry:

I knew something was wrong with Joey's heart, but if Bugsy or Alfie suddenly died with no cause I may think different.
 
I think another reason I have PMs done is because I need to know if I missed something or did something wrong. If I had not had them done on the Girlie Boblets I'd be thinking they died as they were weaned too early ( 4 weeks as their Mum Bobbie had Pneumonia and also gave birth to a second litter :cry: )

Janex
 
For me the character, soul, or personality (whatever we want to call it) of the pet has gone when they have died & all that is left is a body. I don't therefore have any strong feeling against PMs because I believe it doesn't invade the pet or my memory of the pet. However, I would only want one done if I felt there was something I should have done differently to help save my pet so I could learn in the future.
 
When doing a pm can i vet 'know' if the only reason for death was shock?

Hope that's not a stupid question :?
 
I think for me it would depend on the circumstances of death, I would probably go with what the vet suggested e.g. if they thought my other bunny was at risk.

Even though Pippa's death was sudden, I knew Dillon wasn't at risk as the vet was able to diagnose Pippa's problems via her bloods so I didn't see the point in paying for PM.
 
I am very much of the "it's only the pyjamas that's left" reasoning. Once one of my bunnies is gone I am happy for the vet to use the body for research purposes if they so desire - the same way I carry a donor card really. If my death or the death of one of bunnies can help me or someone else learn / live then I am all for it.
 
Oh, as there is now a poll I voted...Only if my vet suggested it. I have always asked if they thought a PM was required and thus far it has always been a 'not unless it's for your own information'.
 
I have had pm's done on some of my rabbits but not all. Sometimes I just can't face having them done if the bunny has been through a lot already and you have a good idea what was wrong.

They are definately a good idea after a sudden death as later when the shock has worn off, there are always so many questions that you can never answer unless a pm is done. I lost a rex at 18 months about 5 years ago very suddenly but was unable to get a pm as it was christmas eve. I still think about it alot and wonder what happened :(
 
Like a 'heart attack' do you mean ?

Janex

hmmm, yeh maybe? I was just thinking of when my bun Smokey died, he died at the hands of the vet while recovering from flystrike. He just screamed and then went into shock and died shortly afterwards. Sorry i'm rambling, just thinking out loud really.
 
I remember reading a book about Medical Examiners where it said Cardiac Arrest was not accpetable as a cause of death of an death cerificate :?

I guessed it meant there was always an underlying reason, because everyone arrests when they die dont they?
 
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