_Jennifer
Young Bun
On Friday, my sweet 13 week old Dutch rabbit, Annabelle, had to be put to sleep. Although I had only had her 3/4 weeks, I'd very much grown attached to her and it was completely heart breaking to see her so ill and to have to make that decision.
The vet suspected she was suffering from E-Cuniculi, although the diagnosis was not 100% certain. She had no deep pain sensation in her right hind leg and very little in the fore legs and left hind. Her pupils were not reacting to light and she was not blinking when the vet put his finger near her eye. She had no righting response and did not even show that she wanted to support her own weight, even if she could. Her temperature had gone down to 34C, despite efforts to keep her warm. Even if it was not E-cuniculi, I understand that when an animals neurological reactions are that diminished, there is not a lot of hope, especially for a tiny 13 week old bunny
Thursday evening she was absolutely fine, hopping around and getting excited for food and treats. Friday morning was a completely different story.
I have previously posted in the health section of the forum which details my entire experience before Friday. To summarise, the two rabbits were bought from p@h, Bee had been ill, then Annabelle was ill and we started the panacur treatment. They both seemed to be getting much better. Until Friday when I found Annabelle collapsed again, I gave her food and water, which she accepted so I was very optimistic about the situation until I got to the vets.
This is where I reach my problem,
Bee, the currently healthy (fingers crossed) rabbit, is quite a bit larger than Annabelle was, I'd say around twice the size. She has a lot more weight, she's bouncier, her fur is glossier and she's much cheekier.
Annabelle on the other hand, was so very skinny when we got them both, granted she had put a little weight on before she got ill for the first time, but she was still absolutely tiny. I could feel her bones under her skin and her fur was so soft and thin. I made sure to feed her plenty while she was alive and I gave her as much love as she would accept.
(I did make sure that it wasn't Bee eating all of the food)
I would like to know whether her being so small and frail meant that she could have been ill since we brought her home or if it's likely just a coincidence that she was both poorly and underweight and she had just been the runt of the litter or some other explanation. Both of the rabbits came from P@H, which I am aware was not a good choice. But I am pleased, hopefully by making the decisions that I did, Annabelle had a short but happy life.
Obviously as any normal person would, I've been questioning whether I could have done anything differently to help or save her. But I can't think of anything that I could have done so drastically wrong that could have ended like this It's a very upsetting time so if anyone has anything that might help, let me know. Even if it is critisism, I would like to make sure I am doing things right for Bee.
Thanks
The vet suspected she was suffering from E-Cuniculi, although the diagnosis was not 100% certain. She had no deep pain sensation in her right hind leg and very little in the fore legs and left hind. Her pupils were not reacting to light and she was not blinking when the vet put his finger near her eye. She had no righting response and did not even show that she wanted to support her own weight, even if she could. Her temperature had gone down to 34C, despite efforts to keep her warm. Even if it was not E-cuniculi, I understand that when an animals neurological reactions are that diminished, there is not a lot of hope, especially for a tiny 13 week old bunny
Thursday evening she was absolutely fine, hopping around and getting excited for food and treats. Friday morning was a completely different story.
I have previously posted in the health section of the forum which details my entire experience before Friday. To summarise, the two rabbits were bought from p@h, Bee had been ill, then Annabelle was ill and we started the panacur treatment. They both seemed to be getting much better. Until Friday when I found Annabelle collapsed again, I gave her food and water, which she accepted so I was very optimistic about the situation until I got to the vets.
This is where I reach my problem,
Bee, the currently healthy (fingers crossed) rabbit, is quite a bit larger than Annabelle was, I'd say around twice the size. She has a lot more weight, she's bouncier, her fur is glossier and she's much cheekier.
Annabelle on the other hand, was so very skinny when we got them both, granted she had put a little weight on before she got ill for the first time, but she was still absolutely tiny. I could feel her bones under her skin and her fur was so soft and thin. I made sure to feed her plenty while she was alive and I gave her as much love as she would accept.
(I did make sure that it wasn't Bee eating all of the food)
I would like to know whether her being so small and frail meant that she could have been ill since we brought her home or if it's likely just a coincidence that she was both poorly and underweight and she had just been the runt of the litter or some other explanation. Both of the rabbits came from P@H, which I am aware was not a good choice. But I am pleased, hopefully by making the decisions that I did, Annabelle had a short but happy life.
Obviously as any normal person would, I've been questioning whether I could have done anything differently to help or save her. But I can't think of anything that I could have done so drastically wrong that could have ended like this It's a very upsetting time so if anyone has anything that might help, let me know. Even if it is critisism, I would like to make sure I am doing things right for Bee.
Thanks
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