when your special bunny goes to heaven....

Hi,
I'm sure many of you have had this experience...how do you cope? I mean really?

My beloved rabbit Henry died a few months ago. He was only 3.5 years old but had a liver torsion. He became ill on wednesday evening and I assumed it was his teeth, again, so took him to the vets the next morning. I had noticed he was pale so vets did a blood test - he was severley anaemic and his liver enzymes were through the roof (I'm a vet nurse so i knew his bloods were seriously bad). We did as much as we could at my vets but i had to take him to a specialist. I drove him over to Bristol University (I live in Berkshire) and they tried to operate but he died shortly after they anaesthetised him.

He was my first rabbit. When i got him i knew very little about rabbits (they don't teach you much about them at nurse college) but boy did he teach me a lot!! He actually inspired me to learn everything i now know about rabbits and that i pass on to the people i see at work. I quickly learnt what amazing animals they are and how entertaining they are. i soon bought him a friend and i have recently got a new friend for her (she was very sad without henry).

Thing is, i think about henry a lot. By a lot i mean almost every day. I miss him and i feel that no rabbit will ever replace him and i know that he was the special rabbit that you sometimes find once in a while, However, i adore my new bunny (and the one henry left behind) but they are just not henry and i find myself comparing the new rabbit to him - which i hate myself for. How can i put henry behind me and concentrate on the new bunny? He is so adorable and i love him-he's very funny to watch. i don't want to keep comparing him

All bunnies are different ..they all have their own personalities ... comparing them isnt bad ...

your new bun wont ever replace the one you have lost but you will love him just as much...but in a different way...because he is a different bunny ..

i know ...ive been there myself

pooks said:

I'm sure many of you have had this experience...how do you cope? I mean really?

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I dont, I just try as best I can and do all I can for the Rabbits whom are still with me.
But I know there will always be a Jack sized gapping hole in my life that noBun will ever fill

I recently lost my boy, Im sure that im going to miss him every day for the rest of my life.....im so sad that he has left and i would give anything for him back, but thats just not possible.
Im now getting new bunnies, and they will never replace Kermit. I do think that it would be such a shame if i never gave any other buns the chance of a home just because im upset that Kermit isnt here.
Kermit will always be my angel, no-bun will ever replace him, but i am looking forwards to some bunny snuggles with my new buns.

Each bunny we loose leaves a bunny-sized hole in our hearts, but each bunny we give a home to makes our hearts grow even bigger. The pain never goes away but in time the happiness of their memories will become stronger than the sadness of their hole.

There is no point in living a life of sorrow because a special bunny friend has left us, they would not want us to be sad that they've gone, only happiness that we met. The only way to cope is remembering the happy times and remembering what each individual bun has taught us :wave:

i dont know yet, but im not overly worried ..

but i also dont know what its like to have ONE special bun.. i love Pearl and Alvin (only two ive ever had) with all of my heart for different reasons in their personalities , but i also know should one of them die i will equally love another bunny with this intesity for its own personality.

i dont think im souless by being able to move on so readily but i think ive experienced enough losses of loved ones (human and animal) to know i can move on and love another just as deeply without any attached guilt..

i generally put a picture of the one ive lost in a photo frame and keep them in my heart that way (well ive done it with my dad and my cat so far)

donnamt said:

i dont know yet, but im not overly worried ..

but i also dont know what its like to have ONE special bun.. i love Pearl and Alvin (only two ive ever had) with all of my heart for different reasons in their personalities , but i also know should one of them die i will equally love another bunny with this intesity for its own personality.

i dont think im souless by being able to move on so readily but i think ive experienced enough losses of loved ones (human and animal) to know i can move on and love another just as deeply without any attached guilt..

i generally put a picture of the one ive lost in a photo frame and keep them in my heart that way (well ive done it with my dad and my cat so far)

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And Biscuit :lol:

I'll never get over losing my 4 babies, but I'm finding losing Biscuit & Bobby the hardest

The old phrase about time being a great healer is the best I can come up with, it is true.

I lost Scrappy (avatar picture) on 17 April last year and was completely broken. I barely ate anything for three weeks, lost a stone in weight, I couldn't sleep upstairs because she was no longer there. I had no interest in anything. The first thing that brought me out of it a bit was when Artie has what was probably bloat and he really needed me (about 3 weeks after losing her). I eventually fell asleep on the floor with him, it was the first thing I'd strongly focused on since losing Scrappy. Artie actually asks for a cuddle sometimes when poorly, which I've not met in a bunny before. I woke up the next morning grateful that Artie had survived and had found the strength for one reason or another every day since. My bond with Artie his probably as strong as my bond with Scrappy was, I had thought she was my one special rabbit but it turned out I had another incredibly special bunny for the whole 3 years she was with me.

If I only had one bunny and when they went I hadn't another to focus on it would be much harder.

It's definitely a case of love each one for who they are, some will love you back more than others but each one is special

BunnyBekkie said:

And Biscuit :lol:

I'll never get over losing my 4 babies, but I'm finding losing Biscuit & Bobby the hardest

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yeah if id have had biscuit i think she would have deffo been my special bun

Its only been a week since Mopsy passed away so its still very raw for me.

She was a very special bun and I loved her deeply. No bun could ever replace her.

A few days ago I got a new bun to bond with Mopsy's husbun Peter because I just couldnt bear seeing him alone. It made the loss of Mopsy even harder to deal with. I bonded them this weekend and seeing Peter so happy and loved up again has really helped. Posy is so sweet and I know that I will love her just as much.

I miss Mopsy so much and cry every day. I would give anything to have her back but thats just not going to happen. I am trying to remember the happy times we had before she got sick. Seeing 4 happy buns in the garden today has helped because its been a while since I had 4 happy ones.

I know I will always have a Mopsy shaped hole in my heart but I still have plenty of love and dedication left for my other buns.

Its a relief to know that other people suffer the loss of a bunny the way i do. Most people think your a bit weird talking about a bunny the way we all do on here - they don't understand the loss and think the usual 'its only a rabbit, get another one'. Thing is, our hearts don't work that way. It helps me to think that i did as much for henry as i possibly could have done - he went to the best place possible at Bristol and the Vet was amazing, truly caring, which means a lot to an owner. It also helps to think that henry taught me what i know about bunnies which helps to ensure i look after my remaining/new bunnies in the best way possible. I have never suffered such a loss (no humans) so it was particularly hard to cope at first. I have learnt ways to help cope but i too would do anything to have my wonderful henry back with me. I know a reiki healer (i'm not really into that stuff but am learning the ways in which it works), she tells me Henry is with me all the time - that is comforting. I think when you are desperate (as in i know i will never have henry again), you hold on to anything, as its all you have - it helps me to think he is around me.

Bobbin was my first bunny - my "baby". She shared my life for just under 6 years, then got pneumonia, was pronounced fit following many many anxious hours and then promptly died of a heart attack while she was running round the floor having fun. I was devastated. That was nearly 10 years ago and not a day goes by that I don't think of her with huge affection and sadness - oh what I would give to cuddle her again!

But time moves on.I considered giving up keeping buns because of the heartache, but every little bab I have rehomed since has had loads of love and a good life with me. I have had and lost several lovely souls since Bobbin, all very different in their own ways. I'm currently Mum to lots of bunnies (more than 20!) and I love them all to bits. When one gets a visit from the angel bunny and goes to Rainbow Bridge, I get sad, but it never hurts so much as losing Bobbin.

I work on the philosophy that when I rehome a bun, another one gets a good home and that chance of a better life further along the rescue chain.

Hang on in there and don't expect all bunnies to be the same - they are all different and all wonderful in their own little ways.

Time will heal - but you'll never forget or stop loving your first one!

Debbie

Hi,

I can empathise with you. I recently lost my Frosty to anaesthetic. He was about the same age as your bunny.
I have had a plaque made up for him and we are also making a scrap book with his pictures and such in.
We have a new boy bunny but its not a replacement as Frosty was my first man-bunny and was such a little character, nothing will replace him.
Like others have said I just focus on the buns I do have now and we shared together in the grief, and they grieved to.


It's hard but things get better.


Frosty is my background on my PC so every morning when I turn on my PC i say hello to him and then goodnight when I switch it off at night. Some people could say thats silly, but I don't care.

Having lost my special man at the start of this month, I totally empathise with you. He was ten years old and we'd had him since he was six weeks. Sadly we put him to sleep, although he hadn't deteriorated mentally an awful lot, he was living on pain-killing injections and we just felt enough was enough. He'd fought for over a month and we didn't want him to have to anymore.
If you'd of seen me after he was put to sleep, you would probably think I had witnessed a tragic accident or something. I was close to hyperventilating, I had tears streaming.... and I nearly started a fight with someone .
I miss him so terribly, seeing pictures of him I just want to scoop him up in my arms and give him a hug again. I knew him from being 8 years old, so I grew up with him- he was familiar and pathetic as it sounds- he was my best friend.

Time is the greatest healer (as annoying as that sounds). That was the one thought I held onto when I was sobbing my heart out, that in a month I would still miss him but it might not hurt as much. Which is so true, not a day goes by I don't think about him but it gets easier to remember the fun and happy memories he gave.
Plus, although it sounds silly and is probably just my hopeful mind... I don't think he's totally left me. I like to think he's still keeping half an eye.

We also got a bunny 'Jasper', to help occupy our minds. What helps is that he's an awful lot like Scampi- but different enough not to be compared

I lost 3 bunnies last year and I have lost 3 this year one on Saturday 25th
July.
You never forget them and there is always that extra special bunny that you will still cry over mine was a rescue bunny called 'Keegan' and it is because of my endless love for him that I now give back the love he gave me by giving a forever home to rescue bunnies.

pooks said:

Hi,
My beloved rabbit Henry died a few months ago. He was only 3.5 years old but had a liver torsion. He became ill on wednesday evening and I assumed it was his teeth, again, so took him to the vets the next morning. I had noticed he was pale so vets did a blood test - he was severley anaemic and his liver enzymes were through the roof (I'm a vet nurse so i knew his bloods were seriously bad). We did as much as we could at my vets but i had to take him to a specialist. I drove him over to Bristol University (I live in Berkshire) and they tried to operate but he died shortly after they anaesthetised him.

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That's almost step by step what happened to my Apollo. He was only 2.5 years old and died during the op too (just before he came round though...).

I have lost a few bunnies through the years and find it hard every time! I just lost my beautiful River last night and am totally in shock!

It is I think slightly easier if you have other animals left as that takes your mind off things a little. But it is hard to see the empty cage. It often takes me days until I clean that empty space out.

All my bunnies get individually cremated so I get their ashes back in a wooden casket. That in itself doesn't give me much comfort (though it's nice to have them back home), but the thought that they will be burried on our own property in the future (which right now is not possible as the garden isn't big enough and we won't be staying here permanently) gives some comfort.

I love each bunny equally for their own character and ways. Some bunnies are a little special due to how they came about, e.g. my first bunny, my first rescue bunny, my oldest bunny, my funniest bunny etc. , but my love is the same for all of them! They are all special in their own way.

I do find it easier these days to focus fairly quickly on the good times and their individual character and quirks, which makes me smile! I do find though that strangely each death affects me differently. Sometimes I just cry, other times I feel quite calm, other times I am really angry (which is what I am now as River choked to death and I couldn't save him)... It is never predictable how I feel and I used to worry about it, but now I just take it as it comes! I accept whatever feelings I have and however I cope. Each one of them takes a small piece of my heart with them - until it'll all come together again one day when it's my time too!

Unfortunately death is part of life, and by adopting an animal, I accept that part of the deal too eventhough it is the hardest thing! I see "owning" an animal simply as borrowing it from nature - and it then has to be returned to it one day... sometimes sooner and sometimes later!

Vera