• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Sad first anniversary: My beautiful Alma is very, very unwell. RIP sweetheart

Thank you everyone for your kind words, yet again.

I got to spend about forty minutes with my beautiful girl but it was obvious she was very unwell. She seemed to spasm every now and then but was quite flat but tense otherwise. I put her and Gilbert back in the carrier so they could go back to the ward and after washing his feet Gilbert lay with his head across her back. The vet came in to discuss further blood results which showed she was fighting an infection as opposed to it being an event such as a torsion. During the discussion she became restless and letting out little cries which escalated to screams. It was decided that she needed 'help' as she was dying. Whilst help was being arranged she passed away. It mirrore Esme's final moments. It was very hard but I am glad I got to say goodbye to her. She was very special. I can't get my head around why fate had to take her from me and Gilbert and why she had to have such a horrible end and short life. I seriously can't put myself through much more, no more rabbits for a very long time.
 
I'm so so very sorry :'( sending a million hugs xxx

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk
 
I am so sorry for the loss of your sweet girl. It can be so hard to witness the final moments of a beloved bunny's life, especially when they go through a phase where they cry and gasp; yet sometimes it cannot be avoided when we are trying to give the bunny every opportunity to improve.
Please give Gilbert some gentle head rubs from me and my bunnies, and I hope he will console you as you deal with your loss.
 
Thanks so much everyone for your kind words.

The postmortem has shown that whatever this is is isolated to the liver, there were some descriptions of the liver that went a bit over my head but there are similarities and differences between her case and Benji. Although it isn't typical of VHD it still isn't being ruled out. There are different presentations of it and this *may* fit with one of the less common presentations. I'll be wracked with guilt if it is as I have been foraging recently, I brought a load of amazing looking dandelions back from the hospital grounds in the last 10/14 days or so knowing full well that there's a big population of rabbits at the hospital... however they seemed to be thriving so I thought the risks were minimal....

I still can't get my head round that I've lost her. She was such a wonderful rabbit - why her? Why so young?!!
 
I am so sorry for the loss of your sweet girl. It can be so hard to witness the final moments of a beloved bunny's life, especially when they go through a phase where they cry and gasp; yet sometimes it cannot be avoided when we are trying to give the bunny every opportunity to improve.
Please give Gilbert some gentle head rubs from me and my bunnies, and I hope he will console you as you deal with your loss.

Thank you. He was a very friendly, almost clingy bunny when single. After being bonded to Alma he accepted but was somewhat ambivalent to fusses though she enjoyed them. I felt I was intruding a bit! He always groomed her after I'd been stroking her as if to rid her of the human smell!! He went straight back to his single behaviour last night and craved my attention.
 
Thanks so much everyone for your kind words.

The postmortem has shown that whatever this is is isolated to the liver, there were some descriptions of the liver that went a bit over my head but there are similarities and differences between her case and Benji. Although it isn't typical of VHD it still isn't being ruled out. There are different presentations of it and this *may* fit with one of the less common presentations. I'll be wracked with guilt if it is as I have been foraging recently, I brought a load of amazing looking dandelions back from the hospital grounds in the last 10/14 days or so knowing full well that there's a big population of rabbits at the hospital... however they seemed to be thriving so I thought the risks were minimal....

I still can't get my head round that I've lost her. She was such a wonderful rabbit - why her? Why so young?!!

don't blame yourself, she had the best life possible.
 
Thanks so much everyone for your kind words.

The postmortem has shown that whatever this is is isolated to the liver, there were some descriptions of the liver that went a bit over my head but there are similarities and differences between her case and Benji. Although it isn't typical of VHD it still isn't being ruled out. There are different presentations of it and this *may* fit with one of the less common presentations. I'll be wracked with guilt if it is as I have been foraging recently, I brought a load of amazing looking dandelions back from the hospital grounds in the last 10/14 days or so knowing full well that there's a big population of rabbits at the hospital... however they seemed to be thriving so I thought the risks were minimal....

I still can't get my head round that I've lost her. She was such a wonderful rabbit - why her? Why so young?!!
Please do not blame yourself or the forage. You do not even know if it was contaminated, and based on what you said about the large population of rabbits around the hospital it is unlikely that was the cause of your bunny's illness.
Besides, even if your greens came from the grocery store, there is no guarantee that they were not around animals or a water source that was free of contaminants prior to their harvest. I had a co-worker who almost lost his daughter due to organ failure from contaminated spinach, and there have been many news reports of similar incidents with produce.
May you find comfort in knowing Alma was fortunate to have been so loved by you and Gilbert.
 
Back
Top