She didn't make it
She chose her own time though! My first call with the vet this morning was quite positive, she'd been taken off the drip and was seen to be drinking on her own. There was talk of it being very possible to send her home later, and I was due in at 17:15. But just an hour later I got a call and I guessed it wasn't good news: she collapsed and despite instant care from the nurses, she died
I went pretty much straightaway to pick her up (I'm not at work and I'd told the air museum I wouldn't be in today), after I'd rung the OH to let him know. The vet showed me her blood results and they weren't good: her glucose hadn't changed despite being on the drip! Kidney functions were all over the place (high and low), blood count was low as expected for her condition, and her calcium had halved from normal to very low :S The biopsy hadn't gone through yet so the vet offered to stop that, but I said I'd prefer it to go through as it might give answers. I didn't want a post mortem though, there didn't seem much to be learned that would be useful given Lopsy is showing no signs of anything being different.
Last night when I went to see her, she was 'spaced out' like she had been on Friday, but it was encouraging that she'd been eating dandelions enthusiastically
Her quiet, spaced out periods were quite worrying though, as she'd done the same with me on Friday night. But she was at least eating for herself a bit and she wasn't in pain or anything, unlike very early on Friday night when she did some tooth grinding. She wasn't herself though, and kinda 'wasn't there' when I saw her, not even enough to give me a death stare, but I wouldn't describe her as having given up. Here she is in the hospital:
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https://photos.app.goo.gl/J6stuCPrYMfqDmCF7)
I'm... OK. Me and the OH were ready for this eventuality, given the prognosis was poor even without a certain diagnosis. It was sudden, especially after the slight improvement, but certainly not unexpected (I feel it's not uncommon that rabbits improve a bit and then decide to go?). I've left her with Lopsy in the playhouse. The vets were fantastic at making everything really dignified
I've got the details of a local pet crematorium, although the OH suggested we should bury her in the hole she started in the lawn XD I don't think we can get a hole deep enough though, I think there's concrete under our whole garden (after we found what we think were cat remains in a plastic bag 2' down on top of concrete where the pear tree is now :S). I did tell him we couldn't flush her down the loo, because we've both got a kinda daft sense of humour
I'm really grateful for all the help the vets gave her, they were awesome. None of us would have done everything differently and we are confident we did the best we could for her
I think that's the most crucial thing: it's much easier to deal with this sort of loss if you feel you and everyone involved have done everything possible
Thankyou to everyone here as well: the support is always great and to know people are thinking of you at such a stressful time is comforting
It's been a
weekend: with Aboleth being unwell and then power cuts (now hopefully resolved as well) I've not had much sleep and I'm feeling it. Going to have the shower I should have had Sunday soon and see if I can shift this cold, then ring the crematorium. I might start looking around for a new friend for Lopsy, if he and the OH are also ready for it
I know that might sound a bit harsh, but Lopsy's welfare is important too, especially as it's winter.
We'll never forget our smart little girl though
(This photo from 26th October)
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https://photos.app.goo.gl/dmx99xfzEPQg7jQC9)