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Bunny lost interest in nuggets

We went to bed at midnight, I had to go to bed as I have work in the morning, my wife asked if she should stay up with him but we didn’t have any liquid food or anything that we could sort of “force” him to eat so I told her to come to bed as well.

I woke up at about half 5 and went down to check on him. And he was laid out on the floor of the cage.

I feel so bad, but I don’t know what else we could have done for him. We took him to the vets, they gave him pain meds, they gave him a ranitidine injection, checked his glucose, checked his temperature, checked his heart, checked his gut.

Everything was fine except he was a bit gassy.

He was very lethargic when we bought him home, just laying down not moving, but we put that down to the pain meds he was given making him a bit drowsy, and possibly the stress of having his temperature taken and having some blood taken.

I was expecting to go down stairs and see him sat there with some kale or hay hanging out of his mouth with a look that says “what’s all the fuss about?”

The worst part is how do we yell Spencer? All he will know is that his mum and dad took his best friend away, and didn’t bring him back.

Sorry I’m rambling on a bit


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It’s very easy to blame yourself when things like that happen, but it’s not your fault. You did everything you could for him and took him to the emergency vet even though you could’ve so easily put off going until the morning. Sadly sometimes these things just happen. Thinking of both you and your wife.


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It’s very easy to blame yourself when things like that happen, but it’s not your fault. You did everything you could for him and took him to the emergency vet even though you could’ve so easily put off going until the morning. Sadly sometimes these things just happen. Thinking of both you and your wife.


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Thank you.

My wife is very upset, and I’ve done a bit of crying too.

He was an awesome little dude, and my furry little friend. And I will miss his nudges and seeing his cheeky face peering out at me from the hutch every morning.

This is how we need to remember him, always into mischief.

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We went to bed at midnight, I had to go to bed as I have work in the morning, my wife asked if she should stay up with him but we didn’t have any liquid food or anything that we could sort of “force” him to eat so I told her to come to bed as well.

I woke up at about half 5 and went down to check on him. And he was laid out on the floor of the cage.

I feel so bad, but I don’t know what else we could have done for him. We took him to the vets, they gave him pain meds, they gave him a ranitidine injection, checked his glucose, checked his temperature, checked his heart, checked his gut.

Everything was fine except he was a bit gassy.

He was very lethargic when we bought him home, just laying down not moving, but we put that down to the pain meds he was given making him a bit drowsy, and possibly the stress of having his temperature taken and having some blood taken.

I was expecting to go down stairs and see him sat there with some kale or hay hanging out of his mouth with a look that says “what’s all the fuss about?”

The worst part is how do we yell Spencer? All he will know is that his mum and dad took his best friend away, and didn’t bring him back.

Sorry I’m rambling on a bit


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I am so so so sorry :cry:

usually, as heart wrenching as it is, I allow the bunny to see their friends dead body. let them sniff it, nudge it, let them realise they're gone and not coming back. I really do believe it helps their understanding, they know what death is. when I had Snoopy PTS, I took Luna with me and she was with me as he was injected, he was in my arms as I whispered sweet nothings to him. after, I laid him on the table, and Luna looked at me like "so we're going home now right?" she walked over to Snoopy to nudge him, as if to say "come brother, we're going home" - Snoopy would come home in a few weeks in a box however. she tried to keep his body warm, and she didn't want to leave him. it broke me, it really did. its so hard to lose one of these little idiots, it feels like a stab in the chest and in the stomach all at once.

he had the best care, you took him to the vet, he was very loved. stasis is a killer, and even with veterinary care not all make it. its is utterly heart wrenching.

I am not looking to rub salt in the wound, but I would *really* suggest having a bunny first aid kit. it has saved me many times and even solved their stasis before it became too bad if we caught it early. get some critical care, ellas baby food (the ones that are rabbit safe, as in, ingredients wise), infacol(baby gas drops), syringes (1ml ones, 15ml recovery ones), and a heat pad as often buns in stasis can lose body heat very quickly.

I am not saying this would have saved him, but I am surprised the OOH vet did not tell you to even mash up pellet to force feed and given you a syringe...if he is not eating due to being uncomfortable, his stomach is only going to fill with more gas. a bunny in stasis (once a blockage has been out ruled) needs to be forced fed until they start to eat themselves, or they only get worse.

my Snoop was a stasis prone bun.. I wish there was more I could have done. alas I was a young teen with not much knowledge or idea of what to do. too little, too late. I had to learn fast, from force feeding to passing out due to a lack of sleep as I was up all night with him keeping him fed. it was like having a newborn.. he was dependant on me. eventually for my situation, it was kinder to say goodbye. perhaps Snoopy will greet Frank at the rainbow bridge, having a similar story.

both of you be kind to yourself in this time. as horrible as it sounds, whats happened has happened. we can only assess the situation and look for ways to better it, if we even can.
 
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I am so so so sorry :cry:

usually, as heart wrenching as it is, I allow the bunny to see their friends dead body. let them sniff it, nudge it, let them realise they're gone and not coming back. I really do believe it helps their understanding, they know what death is. when I had Snoopy PTS, I took Luna with me and she was with me as he was injected, he was in my arms as I whispered sweet nothings to him. after, I laid him on the table, and Luna looked at me like "so we're going home now right?" she walked over to Snoopy to nudge him, as if to say "come brother, we're going home" - Snoopy would come home in a few weeks in a box however. she tried to keep his body warm, and she didn't want to leave him. it broke me, it really did. its so hard to lose one of these little idiots, it feels like a stab in the chest and in the stomach all at once.

he had the best care, you took him to the vet, he was very loved. stasis is a killer, and even with veterinary care not all make it. its is utterly heart wrenching.

I am not looking to rub salt in the wound, but I would *really* suggest having a bunny first aid kit. it has saved me many times and even solved their stasis before it became too bad if we caught it early. get some critical care, ellas baby food (the ones that are rabbit safe, as in, ingredients wise), infacol(baby gas drops), syringes (1ml ones, 15ml recovery ones), and a heat pad as often buns in stasis can lose body heat very quickly.

I am not saying this would have saved him, but I am surprised the OOH vet did not tell you to even mash up pellet to force feed and given you a syringe...if he is not eating due to being uncomfortable, his stomach is only going to fill with more gas. a bunny in stasis (once a blockage has been out ruled) needs to be forced fed until they start to eat themselves, or they only get worse.

both of you be kind to yourself in this time. as horrible as it sounds, whats happened has happened. we can only assess the situation and look for ways to better it, if we even can.

Thanks.

He had been eating a little, he’d nibbles some kale before we took him to the vet, and he’d nibbled a bit of carrot in his carry case while waiting to see the vet.

The vet said she didn’t give us any liquid food because he’d been eating something, and didn’t mention anything about forcefeeding him etc.

I feel bad because he shouldn’t have had to go on his own in the dark, he should have had his mum and dad with him, and even though it made total sense I feel bad that he couldn’t even be with his best friend at the end.

All my pets in the past have died in old age so while sad, it was expected to some degree even if they did just go to sleep and not wake up.

But Frank was only about 1 year old, and we were going to be celebrating their 1 year adoption anniversary next week.


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Thank you all. We are going to see if we can bury him in the in laws garden, and plant a heather for him, that can always be Franks plant.

I’ve just wrapped him up in a comfy fleece blanket and popped him in his carry case. Ready for his final adventure later today.

I never thought I would get this upset, but he was my furry compadre, Spencer is avoiding the wife and I but he is eating at least


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What lovely pics! Im so sorry for your loss of Frank.:(

Thanks, he was a little tart sometimes when the camera came out.

We are going to bury him when I get home tonight, and I’ve asked the wife to find a nice heather to mark the spot.

My wife asked me if he was going to die just before we went to bed, and all I could say is “I hope not”

I can’t help feeling like I should have done something more for him, maybe if we’d taken him to the vets an hour earlier, or if I’d called in sick and taken him in in the morning.

I think the worst thing for me is that he was alone, and he should have been with his mum and dad, and his best friend. He should have had the people who loved him there, not being alone and in pain in the dark.

This was the second time in two weeks that one of our rabbits had to go to the emergency vets. It must be something that we have done, or not done.


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Thanks everyone.

I've made some calls to cancel his insurance, and to let the vets know to close his account. There is another account that I will need to close for him as well.

But, while I have found this particularly hard, life must go on, and once we've sent Frank on his final adventure we must do the best for Spencer.

We also need to think about what might have caused this, their diets hadn't really changed, other than a reduction in the amount of nuggets they get each day and making even more hay available than usual, and those were made two weeks ago.

They did have some free play time on Saturday afternoon, so while we don't have flower beds etc it is possible he got his face into something that had a delayed onset, so Spencer will be confined to his hutch and run for the immediate future.

Thank you all for your kind words, it means so much to both of us.
 
I'm so very sorry :'( I lost a rabbit to stasis, she was at the vets when she died, after a week of me feeding her round the clock, so honestly sometimes I think they're just too fragile and weak :( I don't think there's anything you could've done or anything you're doing wrong :( and I'm so sorry you're going through this, please try to be kind to yourselves xx

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