After 13 and half years, Sparky a black rex netherland dwarf crossed the rainbow bridge last night.
He had spent a lot of this week being quite sleepy, flopping out on his side and whilst I thought we may lose him soon it is still very sad.
About 8/9 months ago we thought we were going to have to PTS as he didn't really seem able to support himself on his left leg. Our rabbit savvy vet examined him and was happy that he was in otherwise good condition - he was keeping himself clean, eating, drinking and moving around a little. It was confirmed that he did have arthritis in his left leg and right hip and so he was prescribed 0.5ml of loxicom and 0.14ml of Tramadol twice a day. The medication made a world of difference and he was able to support himself a lot more and move around more. Though he did have cater-acts in both eyes and he pretty much was completely blind in one eye.
Sadly last night he really didn't seem able to support himself on either of his back legs and was not at all interested in his food - we tried his favourite treats but still nothing. Looking at him he did look tired.
We rushed to the emergency vet; all the staff were surprised at his age, but unfortunately die to COVID we weren't allowed to go in with him. The vet called us whilst we were in the car park and explained that there were slow gut sounds, his temperature was low, his glucose levels were low and he was showing signs of dehydration. Some of these were obviously early signs of stasis and although the vet said he didn't seem to be in too much pain, the fact he could not support himself and how arthritis is a degenerative condition there was little that can be done to stop it.
The vet did give us the option of having him admitted and having him on an IV/ drip, syringe feeding etc but did state that Sparky had very small veins it had been difficult to take the blood sample initially.
Given his age and how bad the arthritis seemed to be and that there was nothing we can do to stop that and taking into consideration his quality of life we made the decision to PTS. We didn't want to put him through the stress of being interfered with and having lots of things stuck into him.
The vet did say we could be with him, provided they could get a line in to administer the necessary drugs, but if they couldn't then they would bring him out so we could have some time to say goodbye to him.
Unfortunately the vet couldn't get a line in to his veins so Sparky was brought out to us in the car. We spent a good 10-15 minutes with him, cuddling, snuggling him, giving him lots of nose rubs and talking to him.
He overcame so much and so many times we thought we were going to lose him - he had some bouts of stasis in the early years, congentivitis at one point. The worst was when he developed head tilt - he tested negative for EC but we treated for that and an ear infection. It was absolutely horrendous - he spent a good 2-3 months laying on his side, having a feeding tube and constant medications but he made a 90% recovery - his left leg was just a bit weak. The ear infection did re-occur a few years later but it was not as bad as the first one and we caught it a lot earlier and within a few days of antibiotics he was fine.
He had an eye infection this time last year and again it was successfully treated with antibiotics.
It is so strange as for years his enclosure has been in the bedroom and we would always hear him moving around, munching on hay and drinking during the night and now there's nothing.
I know he had a long life and we tried to give him everything, especially in his later years but he was our first rabbit and we had hoped he would go peacefully in his sleep.
It doesn't help that in May last year we lost one of other buns, Snowy and in January this year we lost Harley bun. On top of that we have had several family bereavements and I am just not sure how much more I can take and why we keep losing.
He had spent a lot of this week being quite sleepy, flopping out on his side and whilst I thought we may lose him soon it is still very sad.
About 8/9 months ago we thought we were going to have to PTS as he didn't really seem able to support himself on his left leg. Our rabbit savvy vet examined him and was happy that he was in otherwise good condition - he was keeping himself clean, eating, drinking and moving around a little. It was confirmed that he did have arthritis in his left leg and right hip and so he was prescribed 0.5ml of loxicom and 0.14ml of Tramadol twice a day. The medication made a world of difference and he was able to support himself a lot more and move around more. Though he did have cater-acts in both eyes and he pretty much was completely blind in one eye.
Sadly last night he really didn't seem able to support himself on either of his back legs and was not at all interested in his food - we tried his favourite treats but still nothing. Looking at him he did look tired.
We rushed to the emergency vet; all the staff were surprised at his age, but unfortunately die to COVID we weren't allowed to go in with him. The vet called us whilst we were in the car park and explained that there were slow gut sounds, his temperature was low, his glucose levels were low and he was showing signs of dehydration. Some of these were obviously early signs of stasis and although the vet said he didn't seem to be in too much pain, the fact he could not support himself and how arthritis is a degenerative condition there was little that can be done to stop it.
The vet did give us the option of having him admitted and having him on an IV/ drip, syringe feeding etc but did state that Sparky had very small veins it had been difficult to take the blood sample initially.
Given his age and how bad the arthritis seemed to be and that there was nothing we can do to stop that and taking into consideration his quality of life we made the decision to PTS. We didn't want to put him through the stress of being interfered with and having lots of things stuck into him.
The vet did say we could be with him, provided they could get a line in to administer the necessary drugs, but if they couldn't then they would bring him out so we could have some time to say goodbye to him.
Unfortunately the vet couldn't get a line in to his veins so Sparky was brought out to us in the car. We spent a good 10-15 minutes with him, cuddling, snuggling him, giving him lots of nose rubs and talking to him.
He overcame so much and so many times we thought we were going to lose him - he had some bouts of stasis in the early years, congentivitis at one point. The worst was when he developed head tilt - he tested negative for EC but we treated for that and an ear infection. It was absolutely horrendous - he spent a good 2-3 months laying on his side, having a feeding tube and constant medications but he made a 90% recovery - his left leg was just a bit weak. The ear infection did re-occur a few years later but it was not as bad as the first one and we caught it a lot earlier and within a few days of antibiotics he was fine.
He had an eye infection this time last year and again it was successfully treated with antibiotics.
It is so strange as for years his enclosure has been in the bedroom and we would always hear him moving around, munching on hay and drinking during the night and now there's nothing.
I know he had a long life and we tried to give him everything, especially in his later years but he was our first rabbit and we had hoped he would go peacefully in his sleep.
It doesn't help that in May last year we lost one of other buns, Snowy and in January this year we lost Harley bun. On top of that we have had several family bereavements and I am just not sure how much more I can take and why we keep losing.
he lived a good long life 
