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Annabelle has been put to sleep :(

_Jennifer

Young Bun
On Friday, my sweet 13 week old Dutch rabbit, Annabelle, had to be put to sleep. Although I had only had her 3/4 weeks, I'd very much grown attached to her and it was completely heart breaking to see her so ill and to have to make that decision.

The vet suspected she was suffering from E-Cuniculi, although the diagnosis was not 100% certain. She had no deep pain sensation in her right hind leg and very little in the fore legs and left hind. Her pupils were not reacting to light and she was not blinking when the vet put his finger near her eye. She had no righting response and did not even show that she wanted to support her own weight, even if she could. Her temperature had gone down to 34C, despite efforts to keep her warm. Even if it was not E-cuniculi, I understand that when an animals neurological reactions are that diminished, there is not a lot of hope, especially for a tiny 13 week old bunny :(

Thursday evening she was absolutely fine, hopping around and getting excited for food and treats. Friday morning was a completely different story.

I have previously posted in the health section of the forum which details my entire experience before Friday. To summarise, the two rabbits were bought from p@h, Bee had been ill, then Annabelle was ill and we started the panacur treatment. They both seemed to be getting much better. Until Friday when I found Annabelle collapsed again, I gave her food and water, which she accepted so I was very optimistic about the situation until I got to the vets.

This is where I reach my problem,
Bee, the currently healthy (fingers crossed) rabbit, is quite a bit larger than Annabelle was, I'd say around twice the size. She has a lot more weight, she's bouncier, her fur is glossier and she's much cheekier.
Annabelle on the other hand, was so very skinny when we got them both, granted she had put a little weight on before she got ill for the first time, but she was still absolutely tiny. I could feel her bones under her skin and her fur was so soft and thin. I made sure to feed her plenty while she was alive and I gave her as much love as she would accept.
(I did make sure that it wasn't Bee eating all of the food)

I would like to know whether her being so small and frail meant that she could have been ill since we brought her home or if it's likely just a coincidence that she was both poorly and underweight and she had just been the runt of the litter or some other explanation. Both of the rabbits came from P@H, which I am aware was not a good choice. But I am pleased, hopefully by making the decisions that I did, Annabelle had a short but happy life.

Obviously as any normal person would, I've been questioning whether I could have done anything differently to help or save her. But I can't think of anything that I could have done so drastically wrong that could have ended like this :( It's a very upsetting time so if anyone has anything that might help, let me know. Even if it is critisism, I would like to make sure I am doing things right for Bee.


Thanks
 
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I am so sorry for your loss :( it sounds like you did everything right. It's hard to tell if she was ill from the start or maybe her being small just meant she had less fight in her :(

Binky free little one xxx
 
I am very sorry for your loss.

Rabbit health.is complicated and as a 1st time rabbit owner it sounds like you did everything you could.

Most important thing now is to make sure Bee is healthy. If it is suspected EC you need to keep her on Panacur for 28 days.
It is crucial that you have a rabbit savy vet who is competent but also listens to you and works with you.

As a general rule, any change in behaviour is usually a bad sign.
Rabbits are prey animals and hence their survival in the wild depends on hiding deseases. Therefore when your rabbit shows signs of being ill, it is a very ill rabbit indeed and requires immediate veterinary care.

Observe your rabbit and soon you will be able to spot even the tiniest change in behaviour which can save the live of your rabbit.
If my rabbit's behaviour has changed even in the slightest way, I know it is ill.

Read much as.possible about rabbit health, cos even vets don't always get it right. A previous vet wanted to pts one of my rabbits due to a misdiagnosis.
It is a steap learning curve :)

Good luck with Bee!
 
I'm just so very sad about you loosing Annabelle. She sounded such a little sweetheart, and I can totally understand how devastated you are now, because I it is all such a shock as well. I'm so glad that you did have her though, because you loved and cared about her so very much, and at least she had the chance to know how much you loved her, even if it was so sadly for such a short time.

I remember your other thread, and I really don't think there was anything else you could have done, or done differently, baby Annabelle was obviously just far too special for this very cruel world :cry:

To be honest, I know in some ways it is impossible to be sure, but the fact that she was so thin and your other one isn't, does kind of imply to me, that it was LIKELY she had some health issues no one was aware off, although to be fair, the fact that she was so thin, P@H should have suspected something could be going on, and maybe at least had some bloods done, just to see if that highlighted anything.

What a terrible time you have had with the worst possible outcome, but hopefully your other bun will be able to bring you some comfort xx
 
Hello,

Thank you everyone for your kind messages :) It's really comforting

Bee seems fine again today although she has become incredibly attached to me. It's very lovely, but now I feel cruel every time I have to leave her. She's been licking my arms and legs and trying to get to my face as well which is very adorable but I think she is very sad and possibly now thinks that I am a rabbit!!

I am thinking of getting another rabbit. Of course I will wait until she has finished the course of panacur before buying the rabbit. And until after she has been spayed before even trying to bond them. I understand that this will be a difficult process but it would be really heartbreaking for me if Bee had to live the entirety of her life alone.
 
Hello,

Thank you everyone for your kind messages :) It's really comforting

Bee seems fine again today although she has become incredibly attached to me. It's very lovely, but now I feel cruel every time I have to leave her. She's been licking my arms and legs and trying to get to my face as well which is very adorable but I think she is very sad and possibly now thinks that I am a rabbit!!

I am thinking of getting another rabbit. Of course I will wait until she has finished the course of panacur before buying the rabbit. And until after she has been spayed before even trying to bond them. I understand that this will be a difficult process but it would be really heartbreaking for me if Bee had to live the entirety of her life alone.

I'm so sorry you lost Annabelle. Binky Free beautiful baby bunny.

It's lovely you know it's best for Bee to have a friend even so soon after losing Annabelle ( I know how hard it is having been through it myself in July). Have you considered getting the friend from a rescue. The new one would be vaccinated, neutered and they can help with the bonding. Sorry if this is too much at this time:love:
 
I'm so sorry you lost Annabelle, but she was very lucky to have been loved in her short life, and you did all you could for her.
 
Thank you again everyone :)

I finally have some good news,

I'm bringing home another rabbit tomorrow, he's from a farm where I have been working for the week and I fell in love with him instantly.
He's a little boy, 10 weeks old, Dutch x Mini lop, so he's very sweet. He's not replacing Annabelle, but eventually, he will be a little friend for Bee.

Of course, they're going to be in separate cages until they've both been neutered, but they'll be in the same room so hopefully that will be a bit of company for her.

I would have needed to get Bee spayed before introducing a new rabbit anyway as she is already a little feisty and hopefully spaying her and letting her grow up a bit will make her chill out. So it seemed logical to get a boy as neutered male-female rabbit friendships work the best, I've heard.

I'm also thinking of starting him on panacur as soon as he's settled just to be safe. I'll also be panacur-ing them both quarterly as I'd much rather be safe than sorry.

Thank you again, everyone has been very helpful and kind x
 
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