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:cry:Farewell to Butterscotch, graphic, sad

:cry:
As many of you know we brought our bunny on vacation with us thinking he would be safer and happier than if we left him home alone for a month, which he was. We were on the last day of our trip home and we stopped at my grandmothers for a visit and to let the dogs (labs) out to run and I set his cage out so he could have some fresh air as well, making sure the cage was wired shut good so he would not get away. We went in for a brief lunch and when we came back out the cage was empty. I was distraught and immediatly went looking for him unfortunately I was horrified at what I found. He was dead, just died, felt a couple of last twitches then nothing. Our lab sadie has always been very interested in chasing him so we have been good to keep them separate. They has spent 2 days in the truck together, he in the cage with no incident but apparently Sadie freaked out and killed him. She tore the cage apart and killed him. I am sooooo distraught and have been sobbing for 2 days. The worst was telling our 3 and 1/2 yr old daughter what happened and burrying him this morning. We all sobbed and sobbed. I feel so stupid like if I had just left him in the truck or never got him while we had dogs or something he would still be alive. I am furious at my dog but I know she was just following an inate instict or something. It would be like telling a cat not to kill a mouse or something. She has never been a bad dog, a little psycho now and then but nothing like this. But everything reminds me of him and my son 18 months keeps pointing to his pen wanting to see him. It is awful! How do I get past this, I feel like dying right now. Please I need some support or something.
Thanks
Christine
 
Oh Christine what a terrible tragedy. Yes, your dog was only doing 'what comes naturally'. PLEASE DONT BLAME HIM/HER. I too have had to learn a very hard lesson when it comes to having animals. 7 years ago I ACCIDENTLY tripped, dropping a very heavy object which fell right onto a baby rabbit.I wont describe the result.... I accept that I should have made sure the bunnies were in their cage BEFORE trying to move the piece of furniture. But what happened, as in your case, was an ACCIDENT. There is no point in my saying 'dont blame youself' because, as I did/do, that is how you'll feel. You loved that bun SO MUCH and the pain you are feeling is proof (if proof were needed) of that. The pain may not go away but it will eventually become a dull ache you can live with. Cry with your children as much as you need to. I am not a mum but it is likely your children will learn that it is OK to feel grief and to show it. Even now I get 'waves of recall' come over me about the darling baby bunny I ACCIDENTALLY killed. You too will always remember but it wont be so 'raw' forever. Try to stay strong for your family and your dog isn't 'bad'. My 32 rescue rabbits send you lots of bunny-snuggles. Take care JCO xx
 
I understand that it might of been better if it was someone elses dog because then u wouldn't have to live with it...literally. My family were looking after my neighbours pets while they went away. They had just gotten 11 baby chickens and just stuck them in a temporary inclosure (with no top). The chickens started escaping and the dog killed them. When we came there were 3 left + 1 more a neighbour found 1 week later. The worst thing was that the neighbours had to then live with the dog. They ignored the dog for about 3 days until finally they started getting over it, it was really hard to be happy with the dog knowing what it had done.

Dogs are mostly carnivors in the wild, their instinct is to "hunt" and nothing anybody can do will take that instinct away. So yes as it has been said it wasn't the dogs "fault". She might not even of meant to, if she could she would say sorry.

Try to think of all the good times u and ur bunny had. There is nothing anyone can really say to make what happened go away or for ur bunny to come back. Somethings happen in life which are really unfair. Try not to think WHAT IF I did this instead and IF ONLY.

Maybe u could do something creative to remember all the good times like a collage of photos, a poem, a website dedicated to him...etc.
 
Rabbits are very easily scared and your dog may not actually have attacked the rabbit just tried to play with him and the rabbit had a heart attack through the shock. Just her picking him up without shaking or anything could have been enough to trigger it :cry: !

My rottie puppy is always trying to get the rabbits to play with her and does the half crouch, stump wagging by their run and can't understand why they don't act like a puppy and jump on her for a play-fight. She gets frustrated and trys to jump on them in their run so we have had to be very careful about letting her in the garden when the rabbits are there. Like your dog she just doesn't understand they aren't as strong as dogs and don't want to play.

I killed my Guinea Pig this summer by giving him a tunnel meant for cats. He chewed into the lining of the tunnel and got trapped inside probably suffocated as by the time I found him he was dead! I still blame myself and feel awful but I also accept that sometimes these things just happen.

I am very sorry for your loss.

Caz
 
I'm really sorry this happened to you. As others have said the dog was acting purely on instinct and may not even have attacked the bun, just tried to play and freaked him out. As you know, bunnies scare very easily and it may not have taken much. I know you will blame yourself but all signs were telling you that there were no problems between them, and you could only go on that.

Your children will need to cry with you and feel sad at the death. Don't feel like you have to hide your emotions - your children will probably feel better knowing that you feel sad also. Seeing you upset will tell them that it's ok to cry. Tell them that these things happen and that he's in a better place now. Tell them of the Rainbow Bridge if that's what you believe.

You will get through this. I know it won't feel like that now, but you will. We are here whenever you need us. *hugs* to you and your children.

AMETHYST
 
Thanks

:( Thanks for all the support. I am really hoping he just had a heart attack and it wasn't painful or torturous. We couldn't see any bite marks or anything broken but she licked his entire body, weird. I really would love to get another bunny but would hate to go through this again. Since my dog is only 4 it would be a long time before we could have another bun. My husband was so sad I don't know if he would let me get another one even if I could convince myself that I wouldn't kill another one. So we will give it some time. It just seems so lonely out in my greenhouse area where he lived without him. Thanks again for the support.
 
Re: Thanks

chrissylouwho79 said:
We couldn't see any bite marks or anything broken but she licked his entire body, weird.

It could have been that the dog scared him, then when he collapsed she licked him to try to revive him. It sounds like the dog didn't understand what had happened. I will emphasise again that you DIDN'T KILL YOUR BUNNY. These things happen and it will get better with time.

AMETHYST
 
Poor you and poor bun -I know exactly how bad you must feel, as the same happened to a rabbit of mine 5 years ago. I used to take my bun Pepper with me when I went to stay at my boyfriends house, he had 2 alsations at the time, one of which used to eat wild rabbits if he could catch them, which i didnt know then. I left Pepper running around in the back room one afternoon, with two sets of doors between her and the dogs in the garden. Somehow this dog got in and I came in to find him munching on Peppers head. I managed to get the remains out of the dogs mouth, just the tongue was left of her head- this will haunt me forever, and i still feel guilty. :cry:
I didnt really blame the dog, but couldnt bring myself to stroke it again!
apologise for grammer, havent got the hang of these slovak keyboards yet! - am visitng my nan this week.
 
So would I be crazy to consider another bunny? Obviously I would make well and sure that my dog could not get to the bunny but then I thought I took good precautions before so I would have to live with the thought something could possibly happen again.
 
Christine, I feel so sad for your loss. Please dont feel guilty, this was a terrible tragedy, its awful, but its just the way the circumstances worked out. After every accident, whatever sort, the people involved always have the sense of what if..? But accident investigators usually find that a series of small decisions, none of which was wrong in itself, result in the final incident.

If you, in time, feel ready for another bun, then t hink of all the love and care you can give, and your terrible experience will help you make differnet decisions in the future, so I would say if you feel comfortable then go for it....and try not to feel bad
 
I know excatly how you feel. I left my rabbits to play in the garden in their run and went inside. My puppy lab managed to get into the run and killed 4 of my buns.I was in such shock I couldnt believe my puppy was so cute but yet could do this. None of my buns were bleeding but had just died maybe from shock or being shook of something. I felt and still feel so guilty. At that point I just wanted to give up on keeping animals. But the guilt does lessen as I know I loved them as much I as could and I will never forget them.
 
Oh - I feel so sorry for you - what must you be going through :( I have 2 spaniels and live in dread if something like this happening - although I am carefull, I am still aware of the potential danger of an accident. You must not blame yourself - although it doesnt seem so now, your kids will have learnt a lot from this experience and as was said in a former post, will learn that its ok to cry.

Run free little Butterscotch
Love and thoughts to you allxx
 
oh i feel so sad for you all . please dont feel bad . grieve for your bun but dont feel guilty.

when i was about 12 our dog ate our budgie i was so upset i didnt go near the dog for weeks .

Angie
 
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: Run free in the eternal sunshine Butterscotch - have fun in the lovely lush grass - nothing can ever harm you now - xxxx
 
I wish you and your family the best through this hard time, I thank goodness have never experienced something like this as I have not been a Bunny owner for long so can not imagine what you are going through.

Buster Lolly and I send you are best wishes and hope you are ok

XX
 
Feeling much better as I have two new buns to love. Maybe I am crazy to get more but I increased security severly in my rabbitat so there is no chance for the dogs to get to them. And no more vacations with both animals. I still very much miss butterscotch but love the chance to take care of some new babies.
 
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