Grieving rabbit

As some of you may have known, I briefly mentioned that I though Tulip had some dental issues. The vet that I saw (not Glenn) wanted to routinely treat her for coccidia and we booked another appointment to go back and see Glenn.

When we did, he used a camera in Tulips mouth and very clearly showed me some tiny spurs on her teeth. One of them was growing sideways into her tongue - it was only little but sufficient to cause her tongue to bleed a wee bit.

Anyway, to cut a long story short Tulip went in to have her teeth done on Thursday. It all went horribly wrong and we've lost her. She was only 2 years old

Glenn was devastated, as are we. To make matters worse, Todd immediately stops eating when he loses his partner - he's lost 3 wifey buns now and he stops eating straight away.

Last time we had to get him another bun straight away and we've done the same this time. I know some people won't agree with us and it doesn't take away the pain for us of losing Tulip, but for Todd it's the only thing that helps him.

He just doesn't seem to cope on his own. Does anyone else have a bun that deals with grief so terribly ?

Doghouse135 said:

As some of you may have known, I briefly mentioned that I though Tulip had some dental issues. The vet that I saw (not Glenn) wanted to routinely treat her for coccidia and we booked another appointment to go back and see Glenn.

When we did, he used a camera in Tulips mouth and very clearly showed me some tiny spurs on her teeth. One of them was growing sideways into her tongue - it was only little but sufficient to cause her tongue to bleed a wee bit.

Anyway, to cut a long story short Tulip went in to have her teeth done on Thursday. It all went horribly wrong and we've lost her. She was only 2 years old

Glenn was devastated, as are we. To make matters worse, Todd immediately stops eating when he loses his partner - he's lost 3 wifey buns now and he stops eating straight away.

Last time we had to get him another bun straight away and we've done the same this time. I know some people won't agree with us and it doesn't take away the pain for us of losing Tulip, but for Todd it's the only thing that helps him.

He just doesn't seem to cope on his own. Does anyone else have a bun that deals with grief so terribly ?

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I am so sorry for your loss What a dreadful shock

Some Rabbits do need a friend straight away, some need time to accept what has happened to their departed friend. There is no 'right' thing to do, we just have to go along with what the bereaved Rabbit 'tells' us they need.

It was a terrible shock - poor Glenn fought SO hard for her but it was just too much. I have to say I have THE best vet ever and feel so blessed that he's right on my doorstep -more or less. Unfortunately, all his skill and knowledge couldn't save poor Tulip but I know from speaking to the staff at the vets that they spent a huge amount of time and energy in trying to save her. For that, I will always be grateful.

I've had several rabbits over the years but none have reacted so badly when they've lost a mate as Todd does. He seems to immediately go into utter despair. It's SO painful to see. I started syringe feeding him but he wouldn't even swallow - the critical care just sat in his mouth

Within minutes of putting his new little lady in with him, he was eating - rabbits are complicated but fascinating creatures.

They are currently in a small (5ft) cage in my lounge so I can supervise them as Trouble (as she has been named) is so tiny compared to him and I want to make sure everything goes smoothly. There are so many worries when doing something like this - such as she hasn't been quarantined but his need to be near another bun overrules all the 'normal' things I would like to do. It's as though he needs a bunny hug. Just having her has made such a difference to him. He was only without rabbit company for 36 hours but he deteriorated so quickly in that time - it's shocking. I also need to try and feed them seperately as she is on a different pellet based diet to him and I don't want to upset either of their tummies.

We're using the time they're both indoors to try and give their hutch and run a complete overhaul - not sure she'll be able to use the ramp for a few weeks :? We needed to spruce it up a little bit anyway and weatherproof it again for Winter

I'm so sorry you lost tulip, it must have been awful for you as well as Todd, but I'm so glad you have found a new wifey-bun for Todd. How did you manage to find Trouble so quickly? Have you got any pics?

I'm so sorry you lost Tulip Something similar happened to Pipkin last week and now Ruby is on her own.

She has coped better than I expected her to. She's been eating fine and poos are normal but she just looks so lonely. She's never really been that fussed about humans although she likes the odd head rub. She would only really engage with us by following Pipkin. They used to both follow us if we walked past the run or hop over if I went to say hello but she hasn't done that since Pipkin died. I feel like she's detached a little bit

I already have a friend lined up for her from the RSPCA, I'm just waiting for them to have a free slot to bond them for us. I started looking for a new rabbit as soon as I felt up to it because I knew the home check and bonding process could take a while. I don't think anyone can judge for it. You have to do what's right for the rabbit that's left. If Ruby had died first I think Pipkin would have been ok without a friend for a little while.

Ailstar said:

I'm so sorry you lost tulip, it must have been awful for you as well as Todd, but I'm so glad you have found a new wifey-bun for Todd. How did you manage to find Trouble so quickly? Have you got any pics?

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We found Trouble so quickly because we bought her from someone locally that had an 'accidental mating' - Yeah right :roll:. It's not ideal and certainly not the way I like to do things but I wasn't in a position to be able to wait for a homecheck and then try and bond with an older bunny. Todd was deteriorating rapidly and I had a choice between him being admitted for fluid therapy and treatment for stasis etc or ignoring my feelings of guilt. I'm afraid (although I'm not in a way) I thought Todd would be better and less stressed at home - I couldn't risk him not pulling through as well as Tulip.

I had to do the same thing when I lost Tilly as Todd went exactly the same way - there's a thread on here about it somewhere. Tulip came from P@H in much the same circumstances as Trouble has arrived here.

I will post some pics in a short while - they're not good I'm afraid as I don't want to bother them too much. But they're SO in love already It's seems weird that Todd moves on so quickly but I'm still missing my other little fuzzbutt

Loosy said:

I'm so sorry you lost Tulip Something similar happened to Pipkin last week and now Ruby is on her own.

She has coped better than I expected her to. She's been eating fine and poos are normal but she just looks so lonely. She's never really been that fussed about humans although she likes the odd head rub. She would only really engage with us by following Pipkin. They used to both follow us if we walked past the run or hop over if I went to say hello but she hasn't done that since Pipkin died. I feel like she's detached a little bit

I already have a friend lined up for her from the RSPCA, I'm just waiting for them to have a free slot to bond them for us. I started looking for a new rabbit as soon as I felt up to it because I knew the home check and bonding process could take a while. I don't think anyone can judge for it. You have to do what's right for the rabbit that's left. If Ruby had died first I think Pipkin would have been ok without a friend for a little while.

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I'm so sorry you've experienced the same. I'm glad to hear your little one is eating though. If Todd was eating I would have left him in with us for a few weeks until we could have rescued him a bunny the same age as him and it wouldn't have been so much of a problem. He seems to get progressively worse each time he loses a partner. He originally was with Trixie but we found her dead very suddenly one day. He wasn't TOO bad that time and we had the opportunity and time to bond him with a rescue bunny from Essex - Tilly. When Tilly died he just seemed to crash and was so sad and stopped eating very quickly.
This time he more or less stopped eating straight away - he wasn't poo'ing at all :shock: and refused absolutely everything I tried to give him. Before Tulip went into the vets I was topping her up with critical care in a bowl to make sure she didn't lose any weight due to her teeth issues. Todd would race over and try and put his head into the bowl too. When Tulip passed I tried to tempt him with a bowl of critical care and even when I syringed it into his mouth, he wouldn't even swallow - the food just sat in his mouth

Not sure I can go through it again - we've been SO unlucky with his wifey buns

Doghouse135 said:

We found Trouble so quickly because we bought her from someone locally that had an 'accidental mating' - Yeah right :roll:. It's not ideal and certainly not the way I like to do things but I wasn't in a position to be able to wait for a homecheck and then try and bond with an older bunny. Todd was deteriorating rapidly and I had a choice between him being admitted for fluid therapy and treatment for stasis etc or ignoring my feelings of guilt. I'm afraid (although I'm not in a way) I thought Todd would be better and less stressed at home - I couldn't risk him not pulling through as well as Tulip.

I had to do the same thing when I lost Tilly as Todd went exactly the same way - there's a thread on here about it somewhere. Tulip came from P@H in much the same circumstances as Trouble has arrived here.

I will post some pics in a short while - they're not good I'm afraid as I don't want to bother them too much. But they're SO in love already It's seems weird that Todd moves on so quickly but I'm still missing my other little fuzzbutt

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Aww, I wouldn't worry about how you got Trouble, at the end of the day you are giving her a loving home and husbun and that's what matters. I never considered getting rescue rabbits until I joined this forum and by then I already had my two. And I wouldn't have it any other way because I love them to bits, I would definitely consider rescue buns in the future though. Like I said though, I think it is more important that you give any animal the love and care it needs rather than where you got them from. I'm so pleased they are getting on so well and that Todd has improved so quickly, he sounds like a dream to bond, no work required at all!