Clover Died Y

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jgoodman

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Im new to the forum, and posting on a sad note.
One of our three littermate bunnies, Clover, died in the early morning hours.
And I still dont know why...which is why Im posting I suppose.

The rabbits are kept in a very large airy three-room hutch in our backyard, and are allowed on the lawn every day for many hours in a fencedenclosure. The hutch is in a shady area but doesnt get a lot ofairflow, which is why we let them out during the day. I always figuredit was a pretty good life for a rabbit, and they seemed happy. We havehad them for almost two years with no problems, they are all about fouryears old (we think).

Last night I noticed Clover was sitting alone by herself next to thefence. When I approached her, instead of getting up and running as shenormally would, she just sat there. I picked her up and noticed she wasvery cold, lethargic, and barely moving at all. She had semed fine theday before, but due to my job I hadnt been paying enough attention tothem to know for sure, something I now feel a lot of guilt over.Anyway, we took her to the emergency vet at 1:00am, and he said she wasjust dehydrated. They gave her a shot and some subcutaneous fluids andtold us to give her only hay for a week. So i took her home and put herback in the hutch.
This morning at 7:30am when I went out to check on her she was dead,and rigor mortis had set in, so figure she had been dead at least a fewhours. My wife and I were very upset and buried here with a smallservice in the back yard, and planted a Japanese maple over her.

Now, Im wondering what happened?
I have a lot of guilt because I think there were things I could havedone to prevent this. So please read on knowing that *I know* mycaretaking could have been better.

The vet obviously was wrong, but I dont blame him really.
Today I saw this site:
http://www.mybunny.org/info/gi_stasis.htm
and am now wondering if she could have died of GI stasis?
We gave them regular food and water. Diet was timothy hay pellets andfresh veggies, and thier bedding was alfalfa hay. I did notice theywould push each other out of the way to get to the water bottlesometimes, and Clover was always the sweet meek one. But I saw herdrink often and never though she could get dehyrated. How wrong I was.I also read that alfalfa hay is bad for adult bunnies so Ive nowswitched to timothy hay. I never closely watched her pooping patterns,as there was always plenty of poop and I figured all three were healthyand popping regularly.
Again, perhaps it was too little too late for poor Clover.

Anyway, Im determined not to let the same thing happen to Blackberryand Hyzenthlay, her littermates. So Im asking, does anyone have anyinsight into this? I will happily provide more info If I can, andaccept any suggestions besides the obvious one, to look after our othertwo rabbits with greater care and attention. Im feeling pretty badabout it all and want to do the right things without overreacting. Imtaking them both to the vet tomorrow for a checkup, something I shouldhave done months ago.

Thanks very much,
Jgoodman in LA


PS: Clover was the one on the left in the picture...<<sniff>>

newrobanner.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum....I'm also new the other dayand have learned more from this bunch in such a short period....and I'mhoping you will also find some answers and peace.

I'm very sorry about your loss....very sad and confusing. I can nottalk to you as a Bunny expert, but I can comment as a nurse. It soundsto me that you did everything right and reacted appropriately. I don'tthink you neglected your bunnies...they had each other. You took yourbunny to the Vet at 1am...I don't know if I'd do that! The only waythey can truely diagnosis dehydration is through bloodwork...the signsto look for are decreased urine output, dry tongue. poor tissue turgor,no tears, lethargic and listless......pretty hard to tell in a bunny.As for Gastric stasis...you would see vomitting or change in bowelshabits....but should do abdominal xrays to know for sure.The vettreated the lethargy with a ????shot and some fluids,but it didn't helpand in fact something else was going on......the only way to positivelyknow would have been to do an autopsy.

I am very sorry.....Kelly
 
We all tend to second guess ourselves whenever welose one of our beloved buns. We flail ourselves with,"could've, would've, should've," and sometimes, in spite of all that,it was just the bun's time to go.

All I can offer is my deepest and heartfelt condolences and hope youare familiar with the concept of the Rainbow Bridge.If you are not, please read about it by linkinghttp://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/rainbow.html

It may offer you some consolation.

Buck
 
Well, I know nothing about bunnies, but I justwanted to say I'm sorry about your loss. I already fear the day when mybun will leave me, and she's only 6 months old. You get attached themthey are your family. I hope you can find out what happened to the poorlittle guy.

I know God takes our animals,

But it's notto makes us sad,

It's because he needs them way up high

To make some people glad.

When our pets get old here,

They go to a better place,

You see, people in heaven need pets too

To put a smile on their face.

In heaven all the cats and dogs,

hamsters, and bunnies too,

they feel no pain, just hapiness

in the good jobs that they do

So don't feel sad your pet is gone,

It will always be in your heart,

And when you get heaven,

You will never be apart.


 
Thank you all so much, I guess we are beating ourselves up about this, but we haven't lost a pet in a long time and it hurts.

The poems and links are a great source of strength, and thankyou to Kelly for her words of support and wisdom.

We are dealing OK and taking comfort in our remaining bunnies's happiness and health.

On that note, how often do people take thier rabbits to the vet for acheckup? As I mentioned I have an appointment tomorrow to do so, but Ialso have read that going to the vet can be very traumatic for rabbits.Im very concerned that what happened to CLover doesnt happen to theothers, but at the same time Im anxious about removing them from thierfamiliar surroundings...what to do? Will they survive a trip to the vetOK? Is it worth it?
 
So sorry for your loss. We lost one of myson's mini-rex bucks recently. All ours are show rabbits andlive in wire cages with drop pans. This guy was 8 months oldand was fine the night before. In the morning he was on hisside and dies about 3 hours later. No sign of pain ordiscomfort, he just went very quietly. I think it may havebeen a blockage of some sort, or something relative to him alone asnone of the rest of the herd got sick. We do all we can, andyou did all the right things, but it does happen. As far asvet visits, you did not mention where you are located. Therereally is no reason to have your buns go to a vet for checkups here inthe US. All it does is line the pockets of thevets. If there is a problem, yes, but checkups for rabbitsare not needed. We have 34 not counting our new litters andnone of them have ever seen a vet. Except for the one welost, have never had any deaths or sickness either. The onlytime our cats see a vet is to be fixed unless they are sick.rabbbies shots are done at local clinics. Dogs do go everyyear for their other shots and heartworm tests. Since bunsneed no shots, unless they are ill or injured they don;t go.All they need is water, good pellets, timothy hay and a clean livingarea to live long and healthy, happy lives. You have done agood job and did the best you could. Another bun was neededin heaven and crossed over the "rainbow bridge".Donna
 
I am so sorry for your loss : (

Just as in humans, it's difficult to speculate a cause of death in anapparently healthy creature unless there is benefit of anecropsy/autopsy.

I can see from the photo that your rabbits are vigorous, healthy andabsolutely beautiful. They look like they have certainlyenjoyed a good life.

Pam
 
Hello JGoodman,

I also would like to add my sincere condolences for your loss.

As stated earlier, we all tend to beat up on ourselves when we lose ananimal. I think sometimes we feel more responsible than humanloss because we're everything to our animals. Youdon't need the added pain, especially since you just lost a familymember. Rather than pick on yourself, treat yourselves as youwould your own best friend.In the instances I'veseen, it's the most loving parents of the bunnies that go through themost intensefeelings of guilt. It soundsas if Clover and his companions have The Best of The Best.Take comfort in his being able to run around freely, his lovelylifestyle and home.

No matter how you cut it, death makes us reevaluate our priorities, ourdecisions, and can rock our sense of safety and rationale. Itwas very wise of you to havea burial for Clover because ithelps us heal and as with humans, it's the last thing we can do forthem and help us begin the process of grieving.

Your other two beauties might be a little stressed at this time knowingthat thieir little buddy is gone. Take comfort in them andspend a bit more time with them if you're able. Even if it'sto take 5 extra quiet minutes to say good night to them; it might helpyou be less harsh on yourself. Your tears are tears ofhealing and someday you'll take comfort in the memories of Cloverrather than feel pain over them.

-Carolyn


 
Thank you all very much for your condolences and words of sympathy and support.
We are doing better now. I took the other two rabbits to the vet andshe said they were 100% healthy. I was a bit concerned about how theywould do at the vets but they seemed Ok. The vet did a blood test and abig checkup and the verdict was A-OK.
I did notice their eyes were bugged out more than usual and the vetsaid that was normal because they were stressed a bit. Then she saidoccasionally when the animal is extremely stressed and the ligamentsare weakened, the entire eye can pop out of the socket! yuck!
Anyway, we think of Clover everyday but weve come to accept there wasnta lot we could have done. The vet said all rabbits are still deep downwild animals, and as such they will often hide thier sickness until itstoo late. Clover may have been sick for a while and we just didnt know,but either way the guilt is a little bit lessened. We are now focusedon remembering her fondly, and meditating for her spirit at theJapanese maple tree we planted over her grave.

Thank you all, this is a great source of support.

 
I am so sorry for your loss! I know how it is tolose a pet, we lost our kitty and our dog a year apart, we just got ournew bunny and are crossing our fingers for her health! Ihopeyour memories of your sweet Clover carry you through andthat you heal from your loss soon.
 
I just sat here and stared at the beautiful pictureof your beloved Clover...I hope everyones words here help youduring this time...even though words can not replace your loss~

when you feel a faint brush across yourcheek whence you sleep it isreally a bunny kiss from heaven


 
I saw the picture, and Clover looks like abeautiful rabbit, andI feel very sad for your loss. I hopethat my words will help you in your time of grief. Thankyou.
 
welcome!!
My name is Lauren.
I no you've probably heard this loads but whatever you do dont blameyourself! My rabbit died and i did nothing but blame myself but thatsthe worst thing you can do! People that dont have rabbitsdontunderstand that losing a rabbit can be just like losing ahuman and it will take you ages to get over it. I hope youve stoppedblaming yourself for it andwill soon be able to move on.
lots of wuv
loz n ebs n fudge
xoxoxoxox:)
 

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