When is it right to put my bunny to sleep :(

Hello all - I just wondered whether anyone has any advice on deciding when it's the right time to let my rabbit go...

He's been poorly for quite a while now. (I went into detail about this previously, but basically the vet we were seeing was useless and didn't pick up what was wrong with him). We took him to a new vet a month ago, and after blood tests was diagnosed with kidney failure due to e cuniculi and a middle ear infection. He had two weeks of antibiotics and a month of lapizole. He was a bit unbalanced for about a week but that passed. The other issue was that he had lost a lot of weight and wasn't eating - his teeth were almost completely worn down.

So anyway - a month has passed and we took him back today for a check up. We were quite positive because we've been successfully support feeding him with ground down excel pellets and he has seemed a bit more himself. But the vet wasn't so positive. He's only put 10g of weight on and there is still discharge from one of his ears. His teeth have started to grow back a bit though. She thinks that it's time to let him go as he's not going to get better with the kidney problem and he hasn't put on much weight despite our support feeding. She has said that the decision is ours, but that she feels he has a poor quality of life. They won't give him more antibiotics for the ear infection.

I just can't let him go yet so we've brought him back home for another week to see how he goes. I feel like his quality of life isn't so bad (but I don't know if that's me just not wanting to let him go). When he's at the vet he just sits flat to the table and doesn't move, but he's not like that at home. He does spend a lot of time sitting in his run, but he comes out about every hour to ask for a syringe of food and if you don't give it to him quick enough he'll throw his bowl in the air. Last night he chased me into the kitchen for food humming to himself. Having dozed off on the sofa the other night I awoke to find him with his head in a bag of maltesers (don't worry he didn't eat any!), he also will eat as much basil and parsley as you'll give him - I just feel like this isn't the behaviour of a rabbit that should be put down. Having said that he's definitely not as inquisitive as he used to be - but is that enough to have him put down? How do you know when it's the right time?

This week I'm going to really try and get him to put on some weight. I have been limiting the amount of parsley and basil I've been giving him because I didn't want to upset his tummy, but I think now I'll just give him as much as he'll take. Does anyone know of anything else I could give to try and get him to put some weight on?

Thanks as always for all your advice

I always believe that you just know when it's their time and it doesn't sound as if you think it is. Only you can judge his quality of life, a vet can give a prognosis but they don't see how a bun is in itself and you know your bun and what proportion of the time they seem happy versus indifferent vs miserable.
I think people use oats for weight gain but someone else will probably know better.
Did your vet explain why they wouldn't continue to treat the ear infection? Are they worried about the additional loading on the kidneys from medication? Otherwise I would find it quite wrong that they won't continue to treat if you requested it.
Good luck, it's a tough decision to take.

Hi sorry to hear your bunny isn't feeling well this thread may be able to help you out

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?364007-Porridge-oats

The reason the vet gave for not giving him more antibiotics was that it's not going to cure the ear infection and a side effect of the antibiotics could be an upset tummy which might put him off his food even more and lead to more weight loss.

I will try him on a few porridge oats - I'll introduce them really slowly though as he does have a delicate stomach - he's had stasis twice when a few years back.

I also have a box of recovery powder which I'll mix up for him. He's not all that keen on it - he prefers ground down excel nuggets mixed with water, but perhaps the recovery might help more.

When I look at him right now he doesn't look very happy - he's just curled up in his run not moving - but he has just got back from the vets which he always find traumatic (we had to wait 40 minutes for our appointment today), so perhaps he's just recovering from that. He has had a huge handful of parsley and half a syringe of excel nuggets so that must be a positive sign...

Is he a lone bunny I would bring him indoors if he's not well so I could keep watch over him and keep him warm xx

He is a lone bunny yep - but he lives inside with us - he has a puppy pen in our living room which we put him in when we're not here, but while we're here we fold it back and he has free run of the house, but recently he tends to stay in the living room. He also has a heat lamp in one corner of the pen which he likes to sit under to keep warm. He's been up and had a drink and is now cleaning himself.

minky said:

He is a lone bunny yep - but he lives inside with us - he has a puppy pen in our living room which we put him in when we're not here, but while we're here we fold it back and he has free run of the house, but recently he tends to stay in the living room. He also has a heat lamp in one corner of the pen which he likes to sit under to keep warm. He's been up and had a drink and is now cleaning himself.

Click to expand...

Aww bless him

I am sure you will know when its time to say goodbye, when you know he is suffering and has little quality of life. If he is eating and having interaction with you then at this precise moment in time he has some quality of life. As long as you are aware and it seems as if you are of wanting to keep him alive for yourself then it is doubtful you will make him suffer unecesarily.

I can understand your vets view as he can only get worse but even a week longer is nice for you both.

Hope the feeding up works.

Judge yourself by how well he is. He doesn't sound like he has a poor quality if life. You'll know yourself when the time comes. Xx

I personally would seek a 2nd opinion as it sounds to me as if your vet has given up or can't be bothered but your bun hasn't. Personally I think it is very bad, and unprofessional to refuse to give antibiotics for an infection. When my bun had the same thing, he was on the antibiotics for as long as he needed, I don't remember there being a set time frame and then giving them up. I must admit vets like that make my blood boil with their couldn't care less attitude, and I would strongly recommend making a formal complaint after you have got your bun sorted of course. Any weight gain no matter how small is still an improvement, and my vet was always happy to keep Roger going, and it was only when he started to loose weight and his interest in food became less and less, that the decision was then made, and my vet and myself, both knew the time was right. Just wanted to add that for a long time Roger's weight remained the same, which was depressing for me when I had been putting so much time and effort into syringe feeding him, but as my vet said, he hadn't lost any weight and so it was still doing good. I personally syringe fed 'Supreme Science Recovery' and when I started increasing that, and went on a real determined 'going to get some weight on Roger' before next check up, he gained 3oz over 2 weeks, and you would have thought I'd won the lottery lol. I will always have comfort from knowing that Roger went out as the vet put it 'on a purr'. I was unsure before seeing the vet, because Roger still loved all his cuddles and purred constantly, and he still loved sharing an ice lolly with me in the evenings, and eating nectarine, grated apple and a few other things, but as Simon said and after thinking about it, he was so right in that it isn't right or kind to wait until your bunny has no quality of life at all and has no happiness in anything, that you then should think that that is the right time. When I said to Simon about his purring all the time during his cuddles, that was when Simon said 'and wouldn't it be better for Roger to go out on a purr' and do you know what, he was right, and that's what Roger did, and I am so glad I didn't wait until he had no happiness in his life. Up until that night, Simon said Roger had always coped and had a good quality of life, but for the first time he was actually really worried about Roger, as he was no longer coping and was starting to struggle, and he honestly felt that within a couple of days, he would then be suffering, and to me, that is not the right time, and I'm sure when the time does come, you will not want your bunny to be suffering either, and for him to 'go out' on something similar. To be perfectly honest, after reading your post, I really don't think though that the time to make any such decisions yourself is now. Your bun has way too much going on to take that away from him, and if your current vet is no longer willing to support you (shame on them!!) then I really would urge you to find a vet that is. If you are not sure where to go I would recommend speaking to your local rabbit rescue, which is how I found my fantastic bunny specialist vet, as that was the vet they use. Really do wish you all the best in finding a better vet to support your bun, and I would still make a formal complaint to the Practice Manager about your current one.

You know the time...My little grey furry Cleo was PTS over a year ago.She had severe stasis,we tried all we could,but she didn't pick up and was suffering,time to let her go.We know the time if we are honest,as much as it breaks our hearts.