Supporting Casper

[a reader of books]

I'm sorry if this is not the right sub-forum for this. I wasn't sure if it should be here or behaviour...

As I've just posted in their photo thread, Casper and I had to let Sophie go on Tuesday... Casper's very depressed, which I had expected. They were together for 10 years and he loved her so, so much... He's on gut motility meds and we've increased his Metacam, but he's only eating just enough of his very favourite foods to keep going, and just enough that I don't think I need to syringe feed him. He doesn't want to do anything... He seems so lost without her. I'm with him day and night, have been sleeping in his room with him, but I know I can't replace his beloved Sophie; I know it's not the same as being able to cuddle her and groom her and get groomies in return. His teary eye, which hasn't bothered him in years, is back now that Sophie isn't keeping his eye clean for him. I do my best, but the eye drops are no replacement for Sophie's care.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can help him? I realise he needs time, and that it's still very early days. I also know there's likely lots of threads about helping grieving bunnies, but I'm very sorry that I don't feel up to looking through them right now.

 

[Mervinius]

I'm sorry if this is not the right sub-forum for this. I wasn't sure if it should be here or behaviour...

As I've just posted in their photo thread, Casper and I had to let Sophie go on Tuesday... Casper's very depressed, which I had expected. They were together for 10 years and he loved her so, so much... He's on gut motility meds and we've increased his Metacam, but he's only eating just enough of his very favourite foods to keep going, and just enough that I don't think I need to syringe feed him. He doesn't want to do anything... He seems so lost without her. I'm with him day and night, have been sleeping in his room with him, but I know I can't replace his beloved Sophie; I know it's not the same as being able to cuddle her and groom her and get groomies in return. His teary eye, which hasn't bothered him in years, is back now that Sophie isn't keeping his eye clean for him. I do my best, but the eye drops are no replacement for Sophie's care.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can help him? I realise he needs time, and that it's still very early days. I also know there's likely lots of threads about helping grieving bunnies, but I'm very sorry that I don't feel up to looking through them right now.

I'm sorry that it was time to say goodbye to Sophie, but it sounds like you gave her a nice last day and it was the right time for her. Sending a big hug.
I just wanted to say that Pip was the same when Archie left us, they'd been together nearly 9 years. She spent 2 weeks barely moving from his last spot and would only eat treats and only if I put them near her face. It was awful to watch and I found it made my grief worse.
We just tried to spend as much time as we could with her and made sure she kept eating, but I knew we'd never be rabbity enough for her, which is why we went down the road of getting her a friend.
You could try giving him a cuddly toy to snuggle? I'd just keep giving him company and make sure he's eating. Then when he's brightens up, you could try making him enrichment things to keep him busy. We stuffed forage in logs and filled them with hay, so she had to investigate for food.

 

[joey&boo]

I'm so sorry that Casper is not doing well without his beloved Sophie, that you have this worry on top of your grief.
It may be that all you can do for your poor grieving boy is continue to be in his presence & try to tempt him with his favourite foods. I know Casper often gets excited by a new rug so if there are any you can swap in to his area. Any other things that might make him curious / distracted...maybe read to him from a book with lots of dandelion / plantain "bookmarks". Change up some bits of his set up if possible (though I'd keep some the same in case he needs that familiarity). I'd keep some things smelling of Sophie too

I'd try a toy too. I recently saw some pet cuddly toys with microwavable heat pads inside that looked small bunny sized

I might try just one syringe feed & offer his ultimate fave food after. Just the one because I remember my vet saying they often feel so much better after it stimulates their appetite so might be worth a try. If he says no I'd respect that

I really hope things get better for your boy soon

 

[bunny momma]

Sending lots of vibes for you and Casper. I know he was enjoying his time outside in the balcony before the loss of Sophie, so perhaps encourage more time in the sunshine with you. Maybe you can gently wipe around his eye with dampened sterile cotton wool to simulate Sophie's care if you are up to doing so given your health issues. Though just being around him will be a comfort to you both.

 

[joey&boo]

How is little Casper doing today?

 

[a reader of books]

Thank you so much for your replies, Mervinius, j&b, and bunny momma. I'm sorry it's taken me almost a week to reply. I've not been functioning very well. I really appreciate all the ideas. It's so sad that Pip was doing so awfully after Archie left, too, Mervinius. I know it's really hard to watch them grieve so deeply.

I've gotten him a cuddly toy (a bunny), one that can be warmed up, and he seemed to like it at first, but not anymore. I liked the idea of giving him a new rug, j&b, so I put the one from my bedroom in his room and he did spend a lot of time sitting on it, but then he peed all over it and it had to be washed. It's clean now, though, so I'll put it down again for him. I've been reading to him, too, which I hope he's been enjoying. I haven't been sure if changing some things around in his room would be too much change for him right now, but I think I'll try that today. I wish he'd come out to the balcony with me, bunny momma, as it's full of plants he'd like, but he hasn't wanted to. He's been lying in the sun shining through the window a few times, though. Thankfully his eye has been dry since last week, but I'll try to remember your tip about wiping his face with the cotton wool.

He's still doing the same, sadly. He has some moments where he's a bit brighter, but he's mostly very quiet and still not eating much and still on gut medication. The vet checked him over yesterday when he had his laser therapy and couldn't find anything physical that would explain his not eating well (except a tiny, tiny little point on one of his teeth, but he didn't think that was the issue, and I don't think it is, either, as Casper usually keeps eating until the spurs are quite big).

I discussed getting a new friend for him, and the vet said that his arthritis (in his spine) is definitely something to keep in mind, as putting him with a young bunny who would hump him a lot would not be good for him. I would prefer an older bunny, too, as between my health, my needing to depend so much on my parents for getting them to the vet, and my parents getting older, I can't commit to another 14 years of bunny care. It's very hard to find older bunnies in rescues, though. I found one rescue with two 9-year old girls, but they require your bunny to stay with them for a week while they do the bonding, and I really don't want to leave Casper behind in a strange place right now. I asked the vet if it would be best to get him a new friend now, or if the stress of bonding could make him worse and it would be better to wait, but he said that usually in these situations, the bunny feels better once they're getting bonded, rather than worse, so I hope I can find him a new friend very soon.

 

[a reader of books]

Just a quick question, I'm looking at private individuals looking to rehome elderly bunnies, but there's one who seems promising (10 years old, spayed, had a friend before, not incredibly far away), but she hasn't been vaccinated since 2023. That would mean that even if they'd get her vaccinated now, we'd still have to wait two weeks until bonding, right, until the vaccinations have started being effective? Or am I remembering the amount of time it takes wrong?

 

[Zoobec]

Just a quick question, I'm looking at private individuals looking to rehome elderly bunnies, but there's one who seems promising (10 years old, spayed, had a friend before, not incredibly far away), but she hasn't been vaccinated since 2023. That would mean that even if they'd get her vaccinated now, we'd still have to wait two weeks until bonding, right, until the vaccinations have started being effective? Or am I remembering the amount of time it takes wrong?

It’s a while since I actually had bunnies so I can’t remember how long the vaccines take to become effective, I think it might be worth checking with the vet.

 

[Mervinius]

It’s a while since I actually had bunnies so I can’t remember how long the vaccines take to become effective, I think it might be worth checking with the vet.

Yes I'd check with the vet, but I'd probably wait longer than 2 weeks myself just to be sure and be very strict on quarantining everything including clothes when moving between rooms. I hope it all works out though, that would be good if you could give a home to an older bun. We really struggled to find one for Pip.

 

[a reader of books]

Ah, thank you, Zoobec and Mervinius. I don't know why I didn't think of just sending the vets a quick WhatsApp message to ask them. I was thinking I'd have her current human vaccinate her and only bringing her home to Casper once the vaccines had started working, since I did worry about having to quarantine her. I've ended up inquiring about a different bunny, though, who has been recently vaccinated, so hopefully she'll work out as she seems better for Casper, personality-wise.

It is really difficult finding older buns to adopt, yeah... I'm sorry you struggled finding one for Pip, too, Mervinius. I found a website dedicated to finding new homes for senior buns (how lovely is that? ), maintained by a former bunny rescue, with buns both in rescues throughout the country as well as bunnies still living with their current humans. They start at age 5 and even then there's only 18 girls in the entire country. There's a 9-year old girl on there who sounds perfect for Casper, though, so I've emailed them about her, so fingers crossed.

 

[joey&boo]

All paws crossed here too . That is lovely, a website dedicated to hooking up older buns

 

[Pets mum]

Fingers crossed here for you too Reader, it's lovely to think of getting Casper a friend, good luck.

 

[bunny momma]

Sending lots of vibes you can find a bunny friend for Casper (and you) while providing a home to a bunny girl!

 

[a reader of books]

Thank you so much for the crossed paws, fingers, and vibes

We've had a bit of a change of plans, because the person from the senior bunny website hasn't heard back yet from the bunny's human, so she recommended I contact the rescue with the two 9-year olds and the mandatory sleepover who bond the bunnies themselves, and explain the situation because they might make an exception, so I did and they will thankfully make an exception for Casper as he's so poorly and it wouldn't be good for him right now to be in a strange place without a single familiar face, which I really appreciate, because they said they don't actually ever do that. They suggested a 9-year old loppy girl, who they will let me pick up and bond to Casper at home (I did tell them when I contacted them that I have experience with bonding bunnies), under the provision, of course, that if it doesn't work out I will bring her back.

 

[joey&boo]

What a lovely update. I'm really pleased the rescue made an exception for you & is letting you bond yourself.

Play nice bunnies love, peace & good vibes (& maybe a little music)

 

[a reader of books]

Thank you, j&b I think they might enjoy listening to some music while bonding.

We have an appointment on Wednesday to pick her up. I'm thinking that since she and Casper won't be meeting at the rescue anyway, it would be best to give the girl a few days to recover from the stress of moving and settle in before bonding. Hopefully just being able to smell her will get Casper's spirits up a bit. She's not spayed, as her previous family didn't spay her and the rescue didn't want to take the risk at her age, but she lived in a group with three other bunnies before this (a boy and two other girls), so I'm not expecting it to be an issue with bonding, really.

 

[tulsi]

So very sorry that you and Casper lost Sophie. I loved the pictures and write ups about them.

I hope the new rescue rabbit works out really well for all of you.

 

[joey&boo]

I really hope the presence of this new bun lifts little Caspers spirits & provides a positive distraction. I hope too that new bun settles well. That they are both used to partner/s has to be a good thing. Wednesday is so close

 

[bunny momma]

It sounds like a good plan to let her settle in a designated area before bonding her with Casper. I am looking forward to photos of her!

 

[a reader of books]

Thank you all