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rabbit grief

L

lottielouise

Wise Old Thumper
Im not sure Charlie is coping to well with losing Princess. He is just sat at the back door as if waiting for her to come home. He is still eating and drinking well, and has coped, but he seems listless, cant settle, lost.

I am confused as to what is the next step. Do I get him a new friend straight away? or leave it a few months. Charlie was really happy with Princess,for the short time she was with us, always grooming her and fussing over her, I wonder if that is what he is missing.
 
poor Charlie. He does sound like he's grieving. I have no advice but hopefully someone will be along soon.:(
 
Did he see her body? If not, then he maybe be waiting for her to come back because he doesn't understand where she has gone, or what has happened to her.

When they see the body of their friend they can get their own acceptance and understand what is happening, and whilst it is horrid to watch, it can be beneficial to them.

You can only go by his behaviour as to what to do in terms of getting him a new friend. Some buns need it ASAP and do really well with a new friend, some need time to grieve, some are fine by themselves. What do you think would be the best option for him?

Another possibility is that he is picking up on the sadness you feel and this is changing his behaviour too.
 
She is having a post mortem. I have to go and pick her body up but I really can't face it by myself. Have text OH mum, but she is not up yet.

I do think that he is picking up my vibes, just like OH mums cat did, and he came and sat on my lap, which he doesn't normally do.

I think it is going to be sooner rather than later. He really does seem lost.
 
just got post mortem, it was her spay that caused it, she was completely infected her guts were all closed and stuck together. Gemma(vet) said that even if she had had surgery they would have euthanised her on the table, there was nothing that could have been done.

She also said that it doesn't happen that often and it is the first one in four years that she has seen

It makes me feel better that I did do the right thing in ending her suffering.

Bringing her home tomorrow for Charlie to see, then we will bury her in the garden.
 
I'm so sorry for that. It sounds like she had some last wonderful weeks with you, and that will have been priceless for her. It's just such a shame you got her in such an awful condition and didn't have longer with her.

Charlie might need a couple of hours with her to fully accept what has happened and to realise that is his girl because she will smell very different.
 
thanks for that I wasn't too sure of how long to give him with her. Should I neutarlise everything? As the place will smell of the both of them, or will his smell dominate and her fade away
 
Hers will fade away. It would probably be easier for him to adjust naturally as opposed to be forced to adjust, if that makes sense.
 
Another thing which you can do is add some rescue remedy to his drinking water. A few drops would be fine. It is amazing in helping with the shock of something like this and just help him deal with it.
 
lottielouise said:
would I have to supervise him with her body? What should I expect
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I have lost two rabbits and shown their partners the body, it is very sad. The two remaining rabbits were not really interested at all and never went near. I have heard that the total opposite can happen too so it is difficult to predict what will happen.

I found that when Homer lost Baby, although he was not interested when we showed her to him, over the next couple of weeks he went into a bit of depression and was sitting in his wee and got urine scald. His fur also went very dull. We took him to the vet to get checked out but there was no other reason for his behaviour/dull fur.

We then got Katy and although we had problems bonding initially he perked up with having bunny company (had to wait a week for homecheck from RSPCA before we could get her home).

Just keep a close eye on his health and make sure he is eating/pooping until you get get him a new partner.
 
lottielouise said:
would I have to supervise him with her body? What should I expect
Click to expand...

I watched my Sweep with Sunshine's body after he had been euthanised. He kept going to him, trying to move him, like nudging him, and then kept coming to me and looking at me, and then going back to Sunshine and doing the whole thing over (they had been together for 8 and a half years). Sweep eventually went away and started to eat, at which point I took out Sunshin'e body because at that time Sweep seemed to have realised that Sunshine was gone, and made his peace with it.

I saw some photos of this process that a lady on another forum put up. It was heartbreaking yet beautiful at the same time. One bun had died, and the other bun sat and snuggled with him, then went and got a massive leaf of something and dragged it over to him (she was a tiny bun, so it took a lot of effort) and it put in front of him, as to encourage him to eat it. That bun took a fair while with the body because she didn't believe he was gone and tried various things to wake him up, but in time she did realise and poddled off and carried on as normal.

Rabbits are pretty accepting as long as they understand.

You don't need to sit there and watch him with her if that's too hard, just go and check every so often to see what he is doing. He might scrabble her, he might try and throw her around, ignore her, groom her, lie with her, anything at all, but he is just trying to understand what has happened.

x
 
Sky-O said:
I watched my Sweep with Sunshine's body after he had been euthanised. He kept going to him, trying to move him, like nudging him, and then kept coming to me and looking at me, and then going back to Sunshine and doing the whole thing over (they had been together for 8 and a half years). Sweep eventually went away and started to eat, at which point I took out Sunshin'e body because at that time Sweep seemed to have realised that Sunshine was gone, and made his peace with it.

I saw some photos of this process that a lady on another forum put up. It was heartbreaking yet beautiful at the same time. One bun had died, and the other bun sat and snuggled with him, then went and got a massive leaf of something and dragged it over to him (she was a tiny bun, so it took a lot of effort) and it put in front of him, as to encourage him to eat it. That bun took a fair while with the body because she didn't believe he was gone and tried various things to wake him up, but in time she did realise and poddled off and carried on as normal.

x
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:( Gosh, thats really brought tears to my eyes.

Thinking of you and Charlie xxx
 
Sky-O said:
I watched my Sweep with Sunshine's body after he had been euthanised. He kept going to him, trying to move him, like nudging him, and then kept coming to me and looking at me, and then going back to Sunshine and doing the whole thing over (they had been together for 8 and a half years). Sweep eventually went away and started to eat, at which point I took out Sunshin'e body because at that time Sweep seemed to have realised that Sunshine was gone, and made his peace with it.

I saw some photos of this process that a lady on another forum put up. It was heartbreaking yet beautiful at the same time. One bun had died, and the other bun sat and snuggled with him, then went and got a massive leaf of something and dragged it over to him (she was a tiny bun, so it took a lot of effort) and it put in front of him, as to encourage him to eat it. That bun took a fair while with the body because she didn't believe he was gone and tried various things to wake him up, but in time she did realise and poddled off and carried on as normal.

Rabbits are pretty accepting as long as they understand.

You don't need to sit there and watch him with her if that's too hard, just go and check every so often to see what he is doing. He might scrabble her, he might try and throw her around, ignore her, groom her, lie with her, anything at all, but he is just trying to understand what has happened.

x
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Gosh thats made me cry :oops: :(

I feel so sorry for you hun, its going to be really hard for both you and Charlie, he wont have a clue whats happened :cry: (((Hugs to you))) I dont think id be able to face it if it was me :? xXx
 
Ive never showed a body to any of mine, Miffy was depressed when Claude died,so i left it nearly 2 weeks then i got Vinnie
 
I'm not sure that I would take a rabbit that's been through a PM to lie with its partner. I shouldn't think it will smelll familiar to the bunny and could well freak him out. However, I may be completely wrong about this and am interested to see what others think. Thinking of you.
 
I don't think at this stage I would put the body in.

There's no reason rabbit wise to delay in getting a new partner, just as soon as you feel comfortable. On several occasions I've introduced a new rabbit within days of the death of a partner. It just helps them focus on something difference.

You may find a cuddle toys helps in the interim as it provides something to sit next to/groom.

Tam
 
Hilda (capel) has raised a valid point so it's probably not a good idea to show him the body now. However, please don't beat yourself up about not doing this before as a result.

Buns are complex little munchkins and often (always?) act in ways that confound us. e.g. I never expected bereaved Totti to get on with the remaining pair but he does and the trio are utterly besotted. I think he definitely found comfort in his new friends and they helped him over his grief.
 
Sky-O said:
I watched my Sweep with Sunshine's body after he had been euthanised. He kept going to him, trying to move him, like nudging him, and then kept coming to me and looking at me, and then going back to Sunshine and doing the whole thing over (they had been together for 8 and a half years). Sweep eventually went away and started to eat, at which point I took out Sunshin'e body because at that time Sweep seemed to have realised that Sunshine was gone, and made his peace with it.

I saw some photos of this process that a lady on another forum put up. It was heartbreaking yet beautiful at the same time. One bun had died, and the other bun sat and snuggled with him, then went and got a massive leaf of something and dragged it over to him (she was a tiny bun, so it took a lot of effort) and it put in front of him, as to encourage him to eat it. That bun took a fair while with the body because she didn't believe he was gone and tried various things to wake him up, but in time she did realise and poddled off and carried on as normal.

Rabbits are pretty accepting as long as they understand.

You don't need to sit there and watch him with her if that's too hard, just go and check every so often to see what he is doing. He might scrabble her, he might try and throw her around, ignore her, groom her, lie with her, anything at all, but he is just trying to understand what has happened.

x
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I just cannot believe how upset I am while writing, after reading this.I can barely see the keyboard!
I just lost both my bunnies in the last 2 weeks and I showed Domino the body of Muffin (pts because of mxyomatosis,Domino was pts 3days later)Just as closure so he then knew where she was!!!!
My family & friends think I'm daft that I always show the body, to the other rabbit,I do think it helps the greiving process for the rabbit thats left!!
It is so hard to know what to do for the bunny that is left,but you know your rabbit so do what YOU think is best whether that is to get another rabbit in a few days ,weeks or months!!!
 
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