What to do now that bunny friend has died?

My much loved mini lop Noah died today after a quick illness. He leaves behind his female friend Poppy, she is two and half and spayed, they lived together since we brought her home a few months old. How will she cope with the loss and will she need a new friend?

Do you still have the body? It can help them greive to spend some time with the body.

She will need a new friend yes, some bunnies need a new friend quickly or they get depressed, others can wait longer. Give yourself time to greive too, maybe you two can spend some extra time together to help you both. Its bound to be lonely for both of you.

Every bunny (and every human) is different, so play it by ear and take things at a pace which feels comfortable.

Unfortunately we don't have the body. While he was ill Poppy became increasingly distant from him, they used to eat, groom and sleep together which all stopped. She seemed to know he wasn't well and left him alone, we hope she understands that he went, she may have seen us holding the body but we worried about distressing her (now we realise that might have been wrong).

We took Noah to the vets 25th July because he had become incontinent and messed his feet and bum, vet found he had lost weight and got a cataract in his eye. Vet started testing him for E Cuniculi. When he got home we bathed him so he didn't smell. He slowly stopped eating throughout last week, we took him to the vets again and he had painkiller and gut motility shots, we syringe fed him babyfood but he just became less and less interested and eventually got so thin and he looked in pain so we had to make sure he didn't suffer on the 2nd.

We're still waiting on the full blood test results for Cuniculi, but she will need treating if he was positive.

She's not a very human friendly rabbit, she tolerates limited touching and takes food from our hand but sometimes she'll growl and lunge at us if we fiddle too much in her cage or around her. We can pick he up though, just so long as we hold her still. She can be quite skittish and jumpy about noises etc. Total contrast to Noah who was so calm and happy to be touched, petted and cleaned around. They were always like this, we think it's because she came from Pets@Home and he was from a quiet local farm, she was also older when we got her and more set in her ways. When they met though there was no fighting, no growls, just sniffs and cuddles, a little humping (from both sides at times) later on until she was spayed though.

How long should we wait before introducing her to another partner? Does it have to be male or could she live with another spayed female? We'd like to go to a rescue and find one a similar age.

Has your other bunny been checked to make sure she is healthy?

If so I would maybe speak to a local rescue about a new friend for her

webble said:

Has your other bunny been checked to make sure she is healthy?

If so I would maybe speak to a local rescue about a new friend for her

Click to expand...

The vet told us if Noah's test come back positive we should treat her, have a supply of Lapizole that sadly Noah barely had. I think we will treat her anyway to be sure.

Otherwise she seems in good health, she is eating ok, polished off her carrot etc. It's been so hot today though and she's a very hairy bunny, so poor thing was very hot and it's hard to tell if she is subdued or not, she'd normally be on a day like this.

I would wait until the incubation period of the illness has passed, and have tests done as well if it doesnt always show symptoms, so you can be sure she wont pass anything on to her new friend. I'd talk to your vet about this, and the risks involved.

She could live with either a spayed female or neutered male, although male + female pairings are usually the most successful. Most rescues can start the bonding process off for you. When you feel that both you and Poppy are ready, I would reccommend taking her to the rescue with you. This way you can find a bunny you click with, then have them meet and see if they get along, and if yes ask the rescue to bond them for you.

And most bunnies are a bit lethargic on hot days, so dont worry. A bunny-safe ice pack or a stone/marble tile with help keep her cool.

His blood test was positive, but way beyond the spore stage. Sadly he would have had EC a long time, but only recently shown symptoms. Nobody had ever told us about the disease before and we feel so bad for him, it's not mentioned in enough books or leaflets that pet shops have.

We are treating Poppy with Lapizole, everything has been bleached and washed very thoroughly. We have taken on another bunny at short notice so he'll be treated as well. Made a thread in the health section about it.