gemmaloveslugs
Young Bun
Hi,
I had my little bun put to sleep last week and I'm feeling so devastated and also guilty that I made a mistake.
Id had my little bunny Lugs from a baby, from the age of around 4 she began having reoccurring stasis several times a year which i
nursed her through every time ( with medication and care ) this was exhausting for her and emotionally exhausting for me, always
waiting and worrying for the next time, knowing how many buns lose their life to this.
Once she was around 9 she started peeing outside her litter tray so i registered her at All Creatures in Norfolk where after blood tests
was advised she had probable kidney failure, she was given extra fluids etc to help, a while later she began sneezing a lot, had watery
eyes and white nasal discharge, I took her back and the vet we usually saw had left so saw a different vet who said she needed a dental
but as she was quite old there's obviously risk.
I had heard good things about Toll Barn at this point and decided I wanted to see Faye there, she was very kind and I felt reassured
so I went ahead and had blood tests, an X ray etc there where Faye advised she had elongated tooth roots which was causing the
sneezing and discharge and had arthritis, she could find no signs of kidney failure.
Lugs had the dental and although she still had stasis it was much less frequent. A year later she had another dental, I had given birth a
month prior.
during the year she started to show her ago a lot more, stopped coming out of her enclosure and sat all day in her hidey house but
did eat she was 12 1/2 at this point
about a month ago she stopped eating again and I took her for a check up and she needed dental again, she had it and i was told by
a nurse after surgery that she had an abscess and wobbly teeth, I was given antibiotics but she didn't seem to go back to normal, wasn't so
interested in food anymore no matter what i offered. Last Saturday she stamped very loud, I thought my baby's noise had stressed
her out so we left the room so Lugs could have some peace but she had stopped eating and I thought it was stasis again so
I gave her meds and syringe fed again hoping I could get her through but she wasn't perking up at all so I got her a vet appointment
for Wednesday but ended up missing my appointment due to a road closure on the way there and I got completely lost but they
advised someone would see me when they could.
I saw a different vet who said she thought Lugs was experiencing heart failure and looked very unwell so she did an X ray and said
Lugs had a mass on her heart which was either heart disease or a tumour, both were fatal and that her teeth were quite long so
she would need another dental which she said she wouldn't survive, I was absolutely devastated and in utter shock all I could think about was
how i didn't want Lugs to suffer so I agreed to have her put to sleep.
Once I got home i felt so full of guilt that I agreed without a second opinion, that I should have just made a new appointment
with Faye, maybe she would have given a different opinion to the vet i saw, its like i was so in shock i didn't think about that in
that moment I just was overwhelmed with grief and thought an X ray couldn't be wrong, none of which is helped when you have to have a car park consultation and I wasn't
allowed to be with her when she was put to sleep which saddens me so much, after nursing her through so many rough
times I couldn't be with her at the end.
Are these feelings normal? Does everyone who decides to have their pet put to sleep struggle with this guilt? she was such
a huge part of my life, she was 12 1/2 so she had a very long life for a bunny but I feel like i failed her by listening to a vet i had never
seen before even though she seemed a nice vet.
Thank you for reading
Gemma x
I had my little bun put to sleep last week and I'm feeling so devastated and also guilty that I made a mistake.
Id had my little bunny Lugs from a baby, from the age of around 4 she began having reoccurring stasis several times a year which i
nursed her through every time ( with medication and care ) this was exhausting for her and emotionally exhausting for me, always
waiting and worrying for the next time, knowing how many buns lose their life to this.
Once she was around 9 she started peeing outside her litter tray so i registered her at All Creatures in Norfolk where after blood tests
was advised she had probable kidney failure, she was given extra fluids etc to help, a while later she began sneezing a lot, had watery
eyes and white nasal discharge, I took her back and the vet we usually saw had left so saw a different vet who said she needed a dental
but as she was quite old there's obviously risk.
I had heard good things about Toll Barn at this point and decided I wanted to see Faye there, she was very kind and I felt reassured
so I went ahead and had blood tests, an X ray etc there where Faye advised she had elongated tooth roots which was causing the
sneezing and discharge and had arthritis, she could find no signs of kidney failure.
Lugs had the dental and although she still had stasis it was much less frequent. A year later she had another dental, I had given birth a
month prior.
during the year she started to show her ago a lot more, stopped coming out of her enclosure and sat all day in her hidey house but
did eat she was 12 1/2 at this point
about a month ago she stopped eating again and I took her for a check up and she needed dental again, she had it and i was told by
a nurse after surgery that she had an abscess and wobbly teeth, I was given antibiotics but she didn't seem to go back to normal, wasn't so
interested in food anymore no matter what i offered. Last Saturday she stamped very loud, I thought my baby's noise had stressed
her out so we left the room so Lugs could have some peace but she had stopped eating and I thought it was stasis again so
I gave her meds and syringe fed again hoping I could get her through but she wasn't perking up at all so I got her a vet appointment
for Wednesday but ended up missing my appointment due to a road closure on the way there and I got completely lost but they
advised someone would see me when they could.
I saw a different vet who said she thought Lugs was experiencing heart failure and looked very unwell so she did an X ray and said
Lugs had a mass on her heart which was either heart disease or a tumour, both were fatal and that her teeth were quite long so
she would need another dental which she said she wouldn't survive, I was absolutely devastated and in utter shock all I could think about was
how i didn't want Lugs to suffer so I agreed to have her put to sleep.
Once I got home i felt so full of guilt that I agreed without a second opinion, that I should have just made a new appointment
with Faye, maybe she would have given a different opinion to the vet i saw, its like i was so in shock i didn't think about that in
that moment I just was overwhelmed with grief and thought an X ray couldn't be wrong, none of which is helped when you have to have a car park consultation and I wasn't
allowed to be with her when she was put to sleep which saddens me so much, after nursing her through so many rough
times I couldn't be with her at the end.
Are these feelings normal? Does everyone who decides to have their pet put to sleep struggle with this guilt? she was such
a huge part of my life, she was 12 1/2 so she had a very long life for a bunny but I feel like i failed her by listening to a vet i had never
seen before even though she seemed a nice vet.
Thank you for reading
Gemma x