Regarding Amy

its been 3 days since we lost her. i cant get her out of my head and i dont really want to.

the morning we lost her was when we were taking her to the boardings as we were on our way to holiday.

so instead of waving all 4 buns a teary bye bye, we were saying a final bye bye to amy.

Wasnt a happy day.

Thing is, i think we made the wrong decision.

vet said she had an empty tummy. i asked what treatment they could so and they said put her on a drip and warm her up. if there was to be any change it would take an hour or so.

i was so wound up with how my daughter was taking it, how the two boys and hubby were feeling at home, what the problem was and whether it would stop us boarding the other three, how we were ever going to leave on time, whether she was getting worse because the vet wasnt open and we had to wait half an hour before she was seen. if she survived how long her recovery would be, and so on.

I couldnt think straight.

I let my 8yo daughter make the decision.

I think it was wrong to put that on her.

I think we should have fought for her and stuffed the holiday.


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We have pet insurance, so that could have contributed to the costs, so money wasnt an issue as such.

but i keep thinking what the vet said - her tummy was empty. how could it have been empty? did I starve her to death? there was plenty of food. she was always tiny - a mini rex. but how could I have missed it?

we have another rabbit, peter, who hadnt been putting on weight. so i have been ensuring he was putting on weight, and he is doing really well. was i spending too much time on him and neglecting the others?

i feel very guilty that it could have happened and that i wasnt savvy enough to spot her suffering.

Hubby reminded me that she had escaped from the pen (into the bunny-proofed garden) two days before, and that maybe she had had a scare, causing her to stop eating.

would she go downhill so quickly?

My head is spinning.

i feel so sad for Whisky Whiskers, her hutch-mate. Seeing Amy being so still, then taken away, then herself being taken to a strange place and left there.

A question for another thread, how to support her.

Any words of wisdom?


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No words of wisdom I'm afraid, but sending massive hugs xxxx

I think when a loved pet dies it's really natural to blame ourselves and question what we did. From reading your previous thread, it sounds as if your rabbit was really unwell, and whilst none of us can answer your "what ifs" you did what you could.

It is true that rabbits can go downhill really fast. Other things being wrong can stop them eating and as they need to be eating most of the time that can become serious very fast. You know that now, in relation to your other rabbits.

It doesn't sound as if you starved her at all so please don't think that. They hide illness very well sometimes, being prey animals, and you got her to a vet.

A hug for you, a hug for your daughter and nose rubs for Whisky Whiskers.

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time at the moment I agree with RabbitBears, when we lose a beloved pet a very common reaction is to blame ourselves. Sadly I understand exactly how you're feeling at the moment. Shortly after Scrappy died I went through an awful period of blaming myself and became extremely upset. I was in a similar position to you in that because I never knew what caused her illness I was convinced it must have been something I'd done. I scrutinised everything I did in the days before she became ill and during the illness itself, beating myself up because I felt I should have known something was wrong a lot earlier.

I promise you that feeling does pass and you will reconcile yourself with the fact that you did the best you could in very difficult circumstances. It's all too easy to look back with the benefit of hindsight and wonder if we should have done things differently, but you should always keep in mind that the decision you made for Amy was made out of compassion because you didn't want to risk putting her through unnecessary suffering. I think as bunny owners we have to live with the fact that once they become ill they can go downhill very quickly and because they're programmed to hide their illnesses sometimes any intervention can sadly come too late. So if something had caused her to stop eating (whether an illness or a scare) it may well not have been immediately obvious something was wrong. Please keep in mind that you did all you could for her: you made sure she had plenty of food available and took her to the vet as soon as you realised something was wrong.

Take care of yourself and hugs to you and your family xx

Hugs!!! Sorry you are feeling like this. Its normal. we would all blame ourselves at the loos of a pet. I still regret the decision to put our 20 yr old cat to sleep ... but it was the best decision for her due to how old/ill she was. We all wonder "what if

Take care and please do not blame yourself .. you did what you could

I am so sorry for your loss.
Only good bunny parents second guess themselves like you are doing.
Bunnies can go downhill quickly. They are also experts as hiding their illness because in the wild they are prey animals and don't want to show weakness.
You may never know what happened to make her so ill and with bunnies that is something I still struggle to accept.
Sending Whisky Whiskers some vibes.
An empty tummy is not the same as starvation. Perhaps you can talk to the vet to clarify that comment.