Harry & Jo 16th July 2015

Jack's-Jane said:

Harry was taken in by ARC as part of a large Rescue from a Backyard Breeding situation that had gotten very out of control. Harry had a lot of GI tract problems which resulted in him getting into this state







ARC asked me if I could Foster Harry whilst C tried to get him well. After many weeks of treatment and numerous diagnostics Harry did finally recover and he became a very bright and bouncy young buck. He went off to another Foster home as C had asked me to care for another very sick Rabbit. Harry was neutered and all went well. But whilst in his Foster home he unfortunately had an accident and sustained a compound fracture to his left femur. C was not able to save his leg, she had to amputate it. I actually watched the surgery, it was fascinating and scary in equal measures



Harry made an incredibly rapid recovery and being a tripod Bunny never slowed him down at all





Given all Harry had been through I decided that I would adopt him myself and he lived with us for about 7 years. He was bonded to a few other Rabbits over the years. But it was meeting Jo just a few months ago that meant he met his soul mate. They formed an very strong bond in a very short space of time.

Harry developed spine and hip problems at the end of last year. Obviously with just one back leg this proved to be a challenge for him. But he was kept comfortable on medication. But eventually no medication was sufficient to control his pain and I had to let him go.

I first saw Jo when she was about 3 weeks old. She was with her 4 siblings in a perspex 'cage' in P@H.



Their mother was a P@H Rabbit who gave birth in the store. Tragically she died when her kits were about 3 weeks old. I was horrified to see such tiny babies being kept on display in the middle of a busy Pet Shop. After much 'negotiation' with the Store Manager it was finally agreed that I could take all of the Kits as it was obvious that one was already very poorly with diarrhoea. That was Jo. I took her straight over to C and for several days we fought to save Jo's life. Many times we thought we would lose her





I did separate her from her litter mates and by some miracle none of them contracted enteritis. Gradually Jo gained strength and started to recover





Eventually I was able to re-introduce her to her siblings



The next two photos taken whilst/after they had all had their bowl of Goats Milk which they tended to nose dive into, hence the state of them











Two of Jo's siblings, Liam and Niamh, went to live with a person who used to post on RU.I kept the other three, Enya, Patrick and Jo. Enya was (and still is) a bit of a bully and she started to pick on Jo. So I had to separate Jo from Enya and Patrick and I bonded her with a Rex called Hal. When we lost Hal Jo went on to bond with Rodney. Sadly Rodney passed away a few months ago. By this stage Jo had developed severe arthritis in her hips and spine and she also developed otitis. As Harry was not bonded at this stage and they both had mobility issues I decided to slowly introduce them over several weeks. This worked very well and they became a devoted couple, never far from each others side





Over the last week Harry deteriorated rapidly and Jo began to go off her hind legs. She also had another ear infection. Me and C talked at length about what would be the kindest thing to do for them and we both agreed that PTS was the only humane option. Harry and Jo passed away side by side at 1120hrs this morning. They both passed peacefully, C made sure of that

Farewell for now Harry and Jo, thank you for sharing your lives with me. I will never forget you and I will always love you xx

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Jack's-Jane said:

Thank you all so much for your posts and PMs, I am pretty much at the limit of my 'coping' abilities now, as you can probably imagine

This is my final photo of Harry and Jo, it was taken about an hour before they passed away yesterday morning

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