Rabbit died at vet and now his wife thinks he is just missing

My rabbit Teddy finally lost his battle with recurrent stasis and passed away at the vets where he was admitted for treatment.
HIs wife Maggie thinks he is just missing and when we returned home twice today was looking for him in his usual hideouts.
We were wondering whether this happened to anyone else. Will she forget him or is it better to ask vet to bring his body home for her to grieve. The latter will be very hard for us as his loss was sudden and we are also very much grieving.

Maggie is 1 and I bonded them from March/April and got him in February. Maggie is also a rather strong resilient type I think.

Thanks.

I am so sorry you have lost a Bunny Some folk show the body to the remaining rabbit and some don't. I never have if a rabbit has been pts at the Vets. Your female rabbit will be wondering where her friend is but as time goes by she will start to "get over it". Some put a soft toy in as this can comfort the rabbit left alone.

So sorry for your loss

Lopsy never looked for Aboleth once we took her away for treatment, but I took her body to him anyway 3.5 days later and he wasn't fussed about it. I think he knew the Friday she was very unwell that she wasn't coming back.

I'd always like to take the body to show the other rabbit, but I think I'm pretty resilient with my rabbit deaths. In your case, I don't think not doing so will be detrimental, given her age and personality.

Thank you so much for your kind replies. We couldn't bring Teddy's body home in the end for many reasons, he died just before vet closed so they kept him overnight in a freezer. Bringing him home would have involved 'thawing' him which neither my partner of I could bear to do. I was very worried as for the first 2 days Maggie was searching for him FRANTICALLY.
Digging in corners rechecking his favourite sleeping spots.
Checking us whenever we came through the front door or from the bedroom if we had him. We caught her digging behind a desk for ages in the study and found one of his missed poops there.
The first night as he had only just died she seemed to just get on with trying to sleep, but the second night when he essentially hadn't appeared in 24 hours was when she got very distressed. We tried to go to bed and she had the rabbit version of a panic. She started digging at our bedroom door then thumping the living room down. When we came out her eyes were very wide and ears on alert. We ended up sleeping in the living room which calmed her a bit but she essentially didn't sleep all night where normally she sleeps from midnight to 5am.
On the third day she has stopped searching for him but slept in his sleeping spot last night.

She is definitely lonely already - she treats us as a warren but since he passed she has stuck to us like glue. When is a good time to get another bunny? (Way too soon for us but I would do it for her.)

I'm sorry you lost Teddy. It does sound like Maggie is missing him. I think as soon as you can , re: getting her a new friend

I'm also sorry that you lost Teddy Rabbits react in different ways to the loss of a partner and it seems that Maggie is finding it hard. I agree that you should start looking for a new friend for her as soon as you are able. Sending hugs as I know this will be hard.

It sounds like Maggie needs a new friend. A neutered Buck is the best choice but you will need to be very careful how you introduce them as females are very territorial and she might not accept a new Rabbit easily, even though she misses her old friend. Keep in touch and we will help you all we can.

Very sorry for your loss. Hugs xxx

We too are facing the hard decision of a new friend for Rodney after losing Primrose on Wednesday.

We took them to the vets together so he did say goodbye but even with that he has checked everywhere for her.

He's sticking with us like glue but is also very skittish and its heartbreaking to pop him in his cage overnight(half a large room) as he just looks a bit lost. But unfortunately he's a wall and anything he can get his teeth on muncher so leaving him out while we sleep is just too risky.

It's awful to be looking for buns so soon but hes already eating less and we are so worried about losing him to grief.

It seems there aren't many girls in rescue down here at the moment and I dread having to wait too long.




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Sorry for your loss, I think we have only just started to come to terms with ours a week later.

Maggie thankfully has gone the other way and has been overeating - I don't mind as it is hay she is overeating. She has stopped searching for him but does sleep in his spots or with a soft toy we got her.
Where are you based ? I have come across many single ladies at some of the rescues I asked.
Maybe I can forward some on to you.
Many centres have pairs atm but I couldn't take in an extra bunny more due to logistical issues with holidays etc.

Thank you and sorry for yours too. We're in Devon.

Rodney bless him seems to perk up a bit every other day we had some zoomies last night but now this morning is very down in the dumps.

Worryingly his litter tray is empty, he seems to only eat and drink with us. I think a night alone is a lot for him and I cant give him a stuffy because of his hatred of soft things. They must be killed and eaten according to him!

I've put an application in with the Blue Cross in Tiverton nearby for a little girl they have but they've had lots of interest in her and she is quite young.

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Oh dear, I am not sure how well rabbits will do with a 4 hour drive to kent/essex/london. I am travelling 1.5 hours for mine in either essex or kent from SE london.
I have found a boy and a girl, am trying the boy first as Maggie is a housebun and likely to be territorial with another girl I imagine.

Try social media - I found some people who work at rehoming centres through facebook ;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/361554994029653 found this where you can post.
The above is a rehoming page for devon.

http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/search.asp?inlocation=bristol&RabAge=&RabSex=f&RabBond=
didn't find any female rabbits in devon on rabbit rehome but I used the website to find local rehoming centres other than RSPCA.

Sometimes - as much as it isn't ideal you can save a rabbit that someone got during lockdown and is now sadly bored of via these facebook pages, but I reckon there are lots of rehoming centres who do not have the resources to keep websites up to date.

I think you might be right about a lack of resources.

There's quite a few posts for little girls.

I feel awful as I really only want a neutered girl as I dont think I can go through losing another so soon if the op didnt go well although our exotic vet is amazing you just never know if they've never been under before.

And I'd feel awful for Rodney too as theres no way we could keep another rabbit hidden from him with our space the way it is.

I'm tempted to ask my sister if she could board one pre op for us but then that feels like pushing all the risks to her as she would get attached as well as she loves all animals.

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I have neutered two girls without issue, one didn't eat well for two days but we just encouraged her with her favourite foods. But bonding has to wait minimum 2weeks post neuter possibly longer. There is also the issue of how long you wait before neutering, will be stressful to move home then get neutered straight away.

Maybe someone on here has experience of bonding an unneutered female with a neutered male and waiting to get her done when she's settled?

Yes that might be a plan.

We had the hormone issue with Rodney, we had him a few weeks post neuter and the very first introduction a few weeks after that Primrose introduced herself with a nip in that area!

We took a break and gave things time to calm down but it took them months to bond. I do wonder if it was due to Rodney's past circumstances as well as the testosterone.

Poor thing was left in a hutch and treated badly before the RSPCA got him. Even now hes scared of the rain and small spaces. He had never lived with a bunny before and it's funny because we always thought he'd be ok as a single as he is very much a human bun rather than a rabbit bun.

I think she gave him his confidence bless her as he's more skittish now. He wants to be near but not too close.

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Found another site with a female listed

https://www.woodsidesanctuary.org.uk/sub_category.php?cat_id=10&sub_id=11

I've spoken to them bit they've said we're too far away which is a pity as they have a bereaved girl.

We're on the Devon Somerset border so many rescues Plymouth way won't consider us. I think they must still be doing physical rehoming checks or possibly theres a divided up area between rescues?

I know we fall between two RSPCA areas and have been allowed to use both of them previously but both dont have anyone suitable at the moment.

I'm pinning my hopes on Bugsy and being the first to apply as its first come on these.

https://www.bluecross.org.uk/pet/bugsy-4130110



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NO females listed or no rabbits listed near you but can always call for enquiries
https://animalsindistress.uk.com/rehoming/pets-for-rehoming/rabbits/
https://www.nawt.org.uk/rehoming/rabbits-guinea-pigs - centre in devon


No website in yeoville
01935 479069 Julies rescue and rehome

That's quite sad, many around us are just accepting photos of our home/setup instead of home visits.
And I am quite far from some places but they've had so many post covid dumped rabbits that they are desperate.

It's funny quite a few I've found are saying they have space and to let them know if anyone is struggling to take care of their buns.

The bigger ones seem to be doing virtual stuff.

Rodney has perked up and done some binkies and settled in for a big munch and poop.

Maybe I'm just reacting so soon as I worry so much about loneliness. My husband keeps telling me he'll be ok for a bit.

He also said we could just buy one if desperate but I really dont think supporting pet shops is the way to go.

We had our first bunnies from gumtree when we were younger and stupider and they both turned out to have undisclosed medical problems that we didn't know about and didnt have a rabbit savvy vet to help us. We've learnt so much since then and are much better rabbit parents but the experience haunts me as I feel I failed them.

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