Hi, this is my first time posting on here and I apologise if it isn't the right place but I could really do with some advice and support right now. Sorry in advance for the long post but I feel like I need to explain everything.
My partner and I started our bun family last July with two baby Netherland Dwarf siblings, a male and a female who were 8 weeks when we got them. Lunar and Solar became our absolute world immediately and I can genuinely say that I have never loved two tiny fluffs so much.
They were successfully neutered and spayed and spent every single second of the day together just grooming and snuggling. It was about 6 months ago that we noticed Solar's teeth were huge and didn't look right and this was confirmed to be malocclusion, something we know can happen with this particular breed. She has been having regular teeth burring every 4-5 weeks and managed this consciously without being stressed. However, the last three months resulted in her going in everything 3.5 weeks and she was becoming more and more stressed with her most recent one resulting in her being sedated. We sat down and had a conversation with her vet who agreed that this wasn't a long term solution, not only for her but also ourselves as it was going to cost £55 every three weeks. The vet advised that we thought about removing her incisor teeth and assured us that buns can live without these and that we would just need to make a few adjustments to ensure she was able to have her full nutrition.
Unfortunately, she went in with Lunar this Wednesday to have this surgery and we received the call that noone wants. Her little heart just couldn't cope with the anaesthetic and she'd passed away. As you can imagine both of ours are heartbroken and I can't even begin to imagine what Lunar is feeling. I didn't realise that you could physically feel your heart breaking.
We got to say our goodbye to her and have a final cuddle and the vets did some paw prints for us and collected some of her fur into a vial for us to keep. We both feel so incredibly guilty that we put her through this risk but we are accepting that it was the best thing for her and she had the best life whilst she was with us, I genuinely do not know more spoil rabbits than ours. I know that we will come to terms with her going, it's going to take time and we accept that but our concern is now for her brother.
Lunar is home with us and thankfully, although his appetite is reduced, he is eating, drinking and pooping. He was never a bun who liked that much fuss but he has been flopping and letting us snuggle him these last couple of days. It just breaks my heart to see him in his house alone. After reading up about rabbits grieving, my partner has given him a soft toy and he has started to clean this which I hope is a positive sign. They had their own bedroom with their cage in and they would be free to run about the top floor when we were there and we have basically left him free for the past days except at night. Again, I don't know if this is the right thing to do but at night we are moving his cage from his room into our bedroom as we can't stand the idea of him being alone in the dark.
I have been reading a lot the past couple of days and our vet also mentioned that getting a friend might be the best thing for him but I just don't know. On one hand, he's only one and I don't want him to be lonely and he might thrive with a new buddy but then again, I don't want him to feel that we're replacing her or maybe he is happy on his own? We also know in our own hearts that we are not able to consider getting a friend immediately as we need time to come to terms with this loss.
I have lost people and pets close to me before but this is the worst lost I've ever had in my life and Wednesday was genuinely the worst day of my life.
For now, we will continue to give him lots of fuss, treats and free roaming time. We have just bought a baby gate so that he is able to roam freely more often and without having to have us there. I'm back to work on Monday and I work long shifts and it'll mean that he's left for about 8 hours by himself whilst my partner is at work too.
Any advice, support or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading if you made it this far.
My partner and I started our bun family last July with two baby Netherland Dwarf siblings, a male and a female who were 8 weeks when we got them. Lunar and Solar became our absolute world immediately and I can genuinely say that I have never loved two tiny fluffs so much.
They were successfully neutered and spayed and spent every single second of the day together just grooming and snuggling. It was about 6 months ago that we noticed Solar's teeth were huge and didn't look right and this was confirmed to be malocclusion, something we know can happen with this particular breed. She has been having regular teeth burring every 4-5 weeks and managed this consciously without being stressed. However, the last three months resulted in her going in everything 3.5 weeks and she was becoming more and more stressed with her most recent one resulting in her being sedated. We sat down and had a conversation with her vet who agreed that this wasn't a long term solution, not only for her but also ourselves as it was going to cost £55 every three weeks. The vet advised that we thought about removing her incisor teeth and assured us that buns can live without these and that we would just need to make a few adjustments to ensure she was able to have her full nutrition.
Unfortunately, she went in with Lunar this Wednesday to have this surgery and we received the call that noone wants. Her little heart just couldn't cope with the anaesthetic and she'd passed away. As you can imagine both of ours are heartbroken and I can't even begin to imagine what Lunar is feeling. I didn't realise that you could physically feel your heart breaking.
We got to say our goodbye to her and have a final cuddle and the vets did some paw prints for us and collected some of her fur into a vial for us to keep. We both feel so incredibly guilty that we put her through this risk but we are accepting that it was the best thing for her and she had the best life whilst she was with us, I genuinely do not know more spoil rabbits than ours. I know that we will come to terms with her going, it's going to take time and we accept that but our concern is now for her brother.
Lunar is home with us and thankfully, although his appetite is reduced, he is eating, drinking and pooping. He was never a bun who liked that much fuss but he has been flopping and letting us snuggle him these last couple of days. It just breaks my heart to see him in his house alone. After reading up about rabbits grieving, my partner has given him a soft toy and he has started to clean this which I hope is a positive sign. They had their own bedroom with their cage in and they would be free to run about the top floor when we were there and we have basically left him free for the past days except at night. Again, I don't know if this is the right thing to do but at night we are moving his cage from his room into our bedroom as we can't stand the idea of him being alone in the dark.
I have been reading a lot the past couple of days and our vet also mentioned that getting a friend might be the best thing for him but I just don't know. On one hand, he's only one and I don't want him to be lonely and he might thrive with a new buddy but then again, I don't want him to feel that we're replacing her or maybe he is happy on his own? We also know in our own hearts that we are not able to consider getting a friend immediately as we need time to come to terms with this loss.
I have lost people and pets close to me before but this is the worst lost I've ever had in my life and Wednesday was genuinely the worst day of my life.
For now, we will continue to give him lots of fuss, treats and free roaming time. We have just bought a baby gate so that he is able to roam freely more often and without having to have us there. I'm back to work on Monday and I work long shifts and it'll mean that he's left for about 8 hours by himself whilst my partner is at work too.
Any advice, support or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading if you made it this far.
