Could my vet of been wrong ,im thinking my rabbit may not have needed to be pts?

hi again all ,,
my head is working overtime, going round 24/7 about my rabbit that was put to sleep monday , i havent been right since with greif,,,
i know my bunny had teeth problems but i think my vet was wrong and i cant settle,,

as you know the vet took his front teeth out 2 years ago , and every 6 months i went to get his back teeth filed , but last week he had a lump come on side of face, he was put on antibiotics , i took him in monday to have his teeth filed, the vet phoned me to say he is concerned about the lump it looks like a tumour , and that bunny has only got 3 teeth , and is loosing a little weight , maybe through starving himself (( yet he was eating at home and drinking and cleaning himself ok))
he said his prognosis didnt look good and his pooop was only small.... He told me it wasnt an abcess as it was a hard lump.....
I asked if i should have him put to sleep and vet said , well he wont last very long if i kept him alive maybe two weeks , as it takes a starving rabbit two weeks to starve???

So i had my rabbit put to sleep , im so depressed over this , my first animal to be pts.

When i spoke to the nurse at the vet i asked her how many teeth did my rabbit have 2 years ago ,,, she said last year he had 3 teeth in back ,,, so i said , well how come he wasnt starving then ??????????????????????????
I also said how can the vet know if it is a tumour without doing investigations ?????????????????????

So im in bits here again , im thinking i put my rabbit to sleep for nothing , and its making me very ill , as i loved him so much please please if there are any vets on here or similar that knows please help my ,,,,, i feel i killed my bunny ::((((

It can be so painful when you have an animal you love put to sleep.

Sadly, you can't change what has happened so it's finding a way for you to make peace with it.

Maybe you need to go, possibly with someone, and talk to your vet, ask any questions you need to (maybe write them down beforehand) and see if he can answer satisfactorily.

Also, I think it's important to have a different perspective.

Right now, YOU are suffering. You are feeling a lot of pain because you loved him so much.

However, HE is NOT suffering.

Also, it's important to think of the saying 'it's better to be put to sleep a day too early, than a day too late'. At least he hasn't and didn't suffer and that's the important thing.

I'm not trying to minimise your suffering, but sometimes we can find solace knowing that those we loved didn't suffer.

I can't really add anything to what Sky-O said, but please don't think you killed him You just helped him on his way to Rainbow Bridge. I'm so sorry Sending hugs xx

Sky-O said:

It can be so painful when you have an animal you love put to sleep.

Sadly, you can't change what has happened so it's finding a way for you to make peace with it.

Maybe you need to go, possibly with someone, and talk to your vet, ask any questions you need to (maybe write them down beforehand) and see if he can answer satisfactorily.

Also, I think it's important to have a different perspective.

Right now, YOU are suffering. You are feeling a lot of pain because you loved him so much.

However, HE is NOT suffering.

Also, it's important to think of the saying 'it's better to be put to sleep a day too early, than a day too late'. At least he hasn't and didn't suffer and that's the important thing.

I'm not trying to minimise your suffering, but sometimes we can find solace knowing that those we loved didn't suffer.

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Very wise words...

But also it sounds like you have a lot of feelings to process. You've lost a friend who was part of your life for years, and one who was dependent on you: it's perfectly natural to be sad and so many people experience guilt over the death of a pet: what could they have done to prevent it?

It's impossible to be certain in a situation like this, but certainty is often what we feel we need and want so we can put something behind us.
When you feel ready to, it can help to explore what your feelings would be about different possibilities...

How would you feel if you were 100% certain he had a tumour?
The vet has probably seen lots of them and knows their characteristics.
Or, the possibility you may need to approach more carefully, and only go into when you feel ready, how would you feel if you found out it wasn't? (That's the thing that scares you...It's a matter of letting your feelings out and coming to terms with them.)
And if so, what would you learn from all this for the future about taking more time to think over advice from vets and to question them, about what you would like to do for any other animals?
But what if someone else had owned him and treated him badly, not attended to his tooth problems so he suffered in pain and / or had him put to sleep 2 years ago? The majority of people who own rabbits take very little care of them, according to research; the people on here are still in a minority, sadly. It really comes through here how much you cared about him, and you made an effort for him when too many people would have given up, and he had a good life.

One thing you can be certain of now is that he is not suffering in pain.

Have you considered calling the Blue Cross pet bereavement helpline to talk things through more?
http://www.bluecross.org.uk/2083/pet-bereavement-support-service.html
Some insurance companies have a similar service too, I think

Take care, and remember he is at peace now.

sandysan said:

I asked if i should have him put to sleep and vet said , well he wont last very long if i kept him alive maybe two weeks , as it takes a starving rabbit two weeks to starve???

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I can still remember the first animal I had put to sleep and it was about 30 years ago.

It is a responsibility to have the "power" of life or death over something we love. It's so difficult to be sure we're doing the right thing. However, you've trusted your vet over several years to do the right thing for your pet and if the vet was concerned about the tumour then you can likely trust him now. An experienced vet will know a tumour when s/he sees one - and the vet may have been able to see that the lump didn't respond to antibiotics and might even have developed during the week. They can grow very quickly.

Sky is so right about better to put a pet to sleep a day too soon (or, to be honest, a week or two too soon) rather than a day too late. I have got it wrong a couple of times for animals we've had and left things - out of love - until it's obvious that the animal is distressed. It is kind to be a bit too early - and whenever we make the decision it will be too early for us.

Making the decision to put someone we love to sleep will always be agonising and upsetting but it's probably the most important and kindest decision we ever make for that animal. Just be relieved and thankful that you didn't cause your bun any distress or pain. And your pain will get less and you'll value your memories and the pleasure you both got from the friendship.

i had my rabbit cremated , so i will be going back to the vet this week to collect him .. i shall write my qeaustions down to ask the vet and hopefully that might ease my mind , i am having the ashes back so i can scatter them with belle in the photo here ,, who i lost last year from a heart attack ( i have another 3 rabbits but i wont be having no more after the 3 i have ,,,, its so so sad to love something and loose it ( i might do bunny sitting when people go on holidays )

It is sad to lose someone you love so much, but that's the bane of having those in your life you life, but there is that saying 'it's better to have loved and lost than to not have loved'. Hopefully, in time, as you go through the grieving process you might feel differently, but if not, that's ok.

Remember, that this is VERY early days for you, so be patient and be kind to yourself.

Good luck for when you talk to your vet.

Thinking of you

Nearly 4 weeks ago I went through a double bereavement in having both partners of a bonded pair put to sleep together. One, though with long-standing health problems and totally blind, was still relatively well. His mate had tooth root overgrowth and a huge abscess. It would have been cruel to try to keep her going with all the invasive treatment she would have needed, and he would have been totally devastated without her. Even though I think it is definitely definitely better to do it too soon than too late, I still feel in anguish about it. You describe the feeling so well and I wept reading your thread. I hope you can come to some peace about it and I know it is agonising. Best wishes, Shebunkin