Advice needed when one rabbit from a pair dies

Hi, one of my two remaining rabbits was put to sleep this morning due to cancer. Although obviously sad, she was around 10 so had had a good life. I need advice on what I should do with my remaining female rabbit who for the last 5 years has always been with at least one other rabbit for companionship. I don't know her history before she came to me and can only guess at her age (5-10?). What should i do with a rabbit that is used to living with other rabbits and not alone? I'm not looking at getting any more, so am interested to hear any good advice on whether she will be ok to live out her remaining time on her own or whether I should look to re-home her with another rabbit? She currently has the run of the whole garden day and evening and a very large cage and pen for the night times, so life is pretty sweet but wondering how rabbits cope mentally suddenly being on there own? All help appreciated. Thanks

.. Sorry to hear of your loss, so very sad.


Personally I wouldnt leave an outdoor bunny alone but can understand your reasons for not wanting another,,,

Indoor bunnies can cope a wee bit better themselves as theres more stimulation from their human carers but outside may be stressful..can you maybe move her indoors? Is that possible?

I am sure others will guide you but i hope your remaining bunny is Okay..

Fee xx

Some rescues will bond your current rabbit with a new partner then take partner back when current rabbit dies.. This might be something worth looking into given your situation as I wouldn't have a lone outdoor bunny...

Hello, sorry to hear of your loss. Good post from Fee above. I've only experienced this once, with my rabbit who lives indoors with me, and I suspect a lot would depend on the character of the rabbit and your bond as well.

For me having quite a close bond with Smudge even though he isn't an automatic people bunny meant that it seemed natural to make sure I was around in the early weeks, and was extra careful about his routine, so he knew what was happening. Like you would be there for a human friend who had lost a dear friend or close family member. He didn't always want to snuggle and seemed down, but like he appreciated my company. I also got some fresh forage and so on to make sure he kept eating and remembered other joys in life. Actually the first night after his brother died we sat together him munching on dandelions and me drinking a glass of wine, it helped me feel better too! If your rabbit is happy with you / people a bit of extra attention in the early days and weeks can't go amiss certainly and some of their favourite foods, anything else they enjoy, and making extra sure things happen for them on time, etc. can't hurt either way.

I do feel like Smudge is a bit lonely sometimes even though he lives inside and sees quite a bit of me. He's much happier than he was in the first week or two, though. I do think he'd struggle if he was outside. A large part of me would love to get him a friend (esp as he's quite young) but it's just not an option at the moment, so I do get the ways we have to compromise sometimes.

Has your remaining rabbit been able to see the one who died? I hear this can be helpful too although I understand it's not always possible.

Good luck!

Hello all, thank you so far for the comments and for taking the time to reply. Just to answer a few points, indoors is definitely not an option and she always been an outside bunny anyway with loads of space. I did let her sit with her friend after she's passed away as i wasn't sure if they understood loss but thought it might help(??) Anyway, I don't know what she took in from this. The one thing she definitely isn't is a 'people person', but maybe she'll look for more attention now? In fact she let herself be picked up just now which is very unusual (normally runs a mile), not sure if this is a good or bad thing! I didn't know about rescue places bonding rabbits and then taking them back, will look into this as i know there's a place fairly near me so will think about asking there - thanks for that suggestion.

tabithakat64, I notice your location is the same as mine - Herts/Beds. Going back to your post, have you heard of rabbitresidence.org.uk close to Royston, Herts? Have you had any dealings with them and are they one of the rescue's that I could potentially 'foster' a rabbit from? I will contact them anyway but thought I'd ask just in case you know them, thanks