Was i wrong...

To fight with Autumn right until the end?

Just i believe i did the right thing but i have just been jumped on by a member on another forum who claims she should have been "destroyed"

It was over the subject of quarantine when i was explaining to a member why she should do it before bonding when this member said

"thats coming from someone who had a rabbit with myxi that could have wiped out her own and every rescue rabbit in her care
now personally i think that is the worst risk you could ever put your rabbits through that was not worth a risk"

And who says

"you decided to let your poor rabbit suffer a long painful death at the risk of your own and any in the rescue part of things"


I only recieved my darling back this afternoon and this is the last thing i needed.

That was such an awful thing for them to say...they must be very bitter.

Of course you were right to give her a chance, and it really looked as though she was going to make it, just as Viola Rose did. Should she have been 'destroyed' too?

Kris you did what you thought was right, no-one else knows for sure what they would do with your particular animal in that situation and its none of their business. What an awful thing to say when you are grieving for her :? ignore them x

I think when the animal is yours, you know how long to fight for.

My bun Tipsy faught very hard against abcsesses for 6 months, yet when she first had one, all the vets we went to said to have her PTS. Finally we found one that would fight with us.

She had a few ops, medicane every day plus having her wounds cleaned out twice a day too. It must have been hard for her but her behaviour told us that she was still fighting.

After the abscesses were gone, she had a year illess free.

It was totally worth it.

The trouble with Autumn is that you didnt know the myxi had gone to her brain.

At least you had her on pain meds etc.

You knew her best, you would have known if she was telling you she wanted to give up.

Its sad that she went so sadly after her accident. Im sure if she hadnt had that accident she probably would have let you know the fight was over not long after.

I am sorry for your loss.

Dont let anyone tell you that you were wrong to hope she could overcome her illness.

You aught to congratulate your determination to give the girl a chance. Shame it was too much for her.

xx

Ignore hurtful ignorant comments like that. your love made you fight to the bitter end. You should be commended.

No you flipping weren't wrong!!

You took the appropriate precautions to do the best for both the rescue bunnies and your own bunnies and gave Autumn the best care she could possibly get. I, personally, as do most people on this forum, really admire all you did for Autumn.

I'm quite shocked at how some bunny owners come out with these things ... there was last week (in the same place) a lot of condemnation for someone being too attached to a doe with uterine cancer - I was quite shocked by some people's lack of compassion there also. It's a completely different mindset here (thank god).

No, you werent wrong, you did what was right for you and Autumn.

We know our own bunnies better than any random fool on a forum!

Try not to let the nasty comments of one individual get to you. Look at all the support that you had whilst you were treating Autumn and that will show that you made the right decision.

TeflonsShadow said:

I think when the animal is yours, you know how long to fight for.

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I agree with this totally.

You knew her best and decided, rightly I think, to give her every chance of fighting the illness.

Some people can be so heartless with their criticism.

You were never wrong to give her a chance.

another forum :shock::shock: now you see you should just stay here missy



to be honest its ONE comment out of many, yes there are people out there who would just go no PTS straight away, its was an individual decision, that person does not know you or your rabbit,

dont take it to heart hun sticks and stones you did what you thought was right, to be fair she survived beyond the average time of 14 days who is to know what would of happened in the future,

i think you would be asking us lots of "what if "questions and saying how even more guilty, if you had NOT tried,

You asked the question so i'll be honest, but please believe that this is not a personal attack or insult, and i dont think you were "wrong" for your choices.

I am notan advocate of the "fighting to the end" mentality. Certainly there are cases of many illnesses when protracted periods of intense and often uncomfortable treatment and recovery occur and result in resolution of the illness and a reasonable quality of life and lifespan afterwards. Anyone who says that they can tell definitively which case is which is a liar (that includes vets). But with experience and objectivity it is possible to determine the likelihood of this occuring - its only a probability and there are always animals (and human patients) that surprise us and defy the odds.

I read the whole of Autumn's myxi thread and looked at the pictures. i never examined her, saw her in person or saw her medical records or details of treatment. From what i did see and read, it seemed to me that although she had periods of recovery and improvement,the myxi was incredibly severe and affecting a number of tissues and systems. She received far beyond the normal course of therapy and nursing, but i think it was unlikely that she would have recovered.

At what point during the course of her illness that this could be determined or decided i can't say. its not a definitive thing. But i prefer to go with the idea that if an animal is very unlikely to improve or recover it is best to end their suffering quickly and humanely earlier in the course of the disease, than fight to the bitter end on the off-chance that they might make it, only for the ending to be the same. But as i said, no-one except you and your vet can say what the chances were.

I think you are knowledgeable and incredibly compassionate, and sought excellent veterinary advice at all stages. There is a possibility that your judgement was clouded by how attached you were to Autumn, by your long-held desire to own a Belgian hare and your understandable desire not to be defeated by such a hideous disease. But if this is the case then its a natural and normal response and you cannot be condemned for it.

Sorry i cant conclude either way, as i said, i just cant. these are my thoughts on the subject.

My greatest sympathy goes to you as you grieve. I know she was incredibly precious to you and i hope your memories of her will be of some comfort at this time xxxx

Her breed had nothing to do with it

I would have fought for any of my vaccinated girls.

Yes i always wanted a hare, but if you check my back threads, you will see it took me a while to bond with her, breed doesn't come into it when you love them.

You always seem to get upset on other forums, why do you bother using them? Not being sarcastic, although it might sound that way, if I were you I'd leave them to be nasty to each other :roll:

As long as she wasnt in pain or in obvious extreme discomfort I would have carried on with treatment and done exactly as you did, you know and she knew you were making the right choices at the time and taking it day by day - we could tell that from your daily posts!!

Chin up - dont look back - no regrets!! You did your very best and all you need right now are the beautiful memories you have of Autumn x

VikkiVet said:

But i prefer to go with the idea that if an animal is very unlikely to improve or recover it is best to end their suffering quickly and humanely earlier in the course of the disease, than fight to the bitter end on the off-chance that they might make it, only for the ending to be the same. But as i said, no-one except you and your vet can say what the chances were.

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But how can you be sure if they will improve or recover? I think that although Autumn's nodules *looked* horrific, she was generally eating, pooing, and... (I forget, memory's awful, but Kris said something that made me think she can't be in pain) flopping(?) I think Kris and her vet must have had some hope that she would improve or recover, and as you yourself said, that should be the parameter by which we judge when to PTS.

timb0h said:

You always seem to get upset on other forums, why do you bother using them? Not being sarcastic, although it might sound that way, if I were you I'd leave them to be nasty to each other :roll:

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I was on there trying to educate mis informed owners.

I was posting re: quarantine and why they should be when i was jumped upon for something unrelated to the thread's animals....

I totally agree with the people who say that she is your rabbit. You love her and you know what's best. Everyone knows in their hearts when it's the right time to let an animal go. You knew she wanted to fight.

What is the one thing that animals do best in the wild? They survive. They go against all odds to fight and to live. They will fight until the very end to preserve what is precious to them. Their life.

Rabbits with myxomatosis can fight the disease and make it out the other side. We know this as there are many success stories on this forum. You had to fight for her because she wanted to fight. And if you didn't you would never have known if she could make it through the other side. Wouldn't that be worse than knowing you did all you could?

You did the right thing. No matter what anyone says they don't know your pet like you do. Everyone who loves their animals like we love ours knows when they want to give up and when they want to fight. We listen to our pets and we do what they want over what outsiders say is best.

How can you say you didn't do the right thing? Thinks of all the posts you made and pictures you posted of Autumn wolfing down her veggies and her herbs. She was fighting so you fought along side her. How can that be wrong?

I believe I would have done exactly the same for any of my buns as you did for Autumn. Even thoug the outcome was not what we hoped, her battle against this disease is an inspiration to others facing the same fight.

I am not against euthanasia at all, indeed I have helped many animals across the bridge, but I believe that whilst an animal is still fighting to live, has a reasonable quality of life, and a chance to recover I would try to give them that chance. You could not have foretold the outcome .

Yes, Autumn did look pretty poorly at times, but at other times she looked surprisingly well. Viola Rose also looked pretty poorly at times xx

timb0h said:

You always seem to get upset on other forums, why do you bother using them? Not being sarcastic, although it might sound that way, if I were you I'd leave them to be nasty to each other :roll:

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Because if it gets another rabbit owner to understand their 'real' needs rather than what others think they need, then its another happy bunny, if it gets another bunny being neutered rather than rehomed for 'bad behaviour', or if Kris or any other rescue can rehome another rabbit to another quality home then it is worth it.