I lost my Bella baby on Tuesday, June 4th 2013. And I don't know what went wrong.
Bella was new to our family of 3 neutered male cats, and 1 neutered male lion head, Leon. I had adopted her about one month ago from our local rabbit shelter. She was previously living with a foster family that had cats, dogs, and fostered another female rabbit. I wanted her to bond with Leon so they could both have a lifelong companion, but we no longer have that chance now. Bella was dominant and confident of herself, but not too aggressive where I would ever be afraid of her. She would grunt and charge a little but never actually bite me, but the rest of the furry friends, she wasn't afraid to put them in their place, and they respected that and never hurt her. Leon and her would have been great together with some more time. They were never overly aggressive with each other, and in a completely neutral area they wouldn't groom each other but they played coy and had cute moments. I had Bella in the bedroom for about a week and then moved her pen to the living room so she could be around the others more to interact. It all seemed to be going VERY well. I would find her and Leon laying near each other with just the pen cage separating them. She would get to come out and play and she loved hopping around. Again, everything seemed perfectly normal and great...
Then on Sunday, June 2nd evening I noticed she hadn't eaten her dry food or her greens. Her ears were back, as though she was being aggressive however she completely let her guard down and showed no signs of trying to be dominant. She would let me put my hand in her house to pet her and pick her up and she would just softly sit with me and let me kiss her and be content and sweet. I assumed maybe she was feeling stressed out from the cats because my youngest whom she seemed to get along with outside of her pen, would often be too curious and persistent to want to sit in her pen with her. He would not hurt her however and she seemed to slowly have been accepting his friendship. I was not concerned for either or their safety around each other. Anyway, come Monday evening when she still hadn't eaten and I noticed she wasn't using her litter box. I held her and fed her water from a syringe which she drank with seeming ease but not an overly large amount. However, I felt better that she had drank something and it seemed to liven her up a bit. Leon was adamant to be around her, not with her, but around. She sat in her house inside her pen and Leon hopped around eating some lettuce and playing coy. It seemed like he wanted her to feel better. She enjoyed his company I could tell.
The next morning, Tuesday, I woke up at 9am to check on her. I picked her up and she made a cry, she was very frail. I held her and kissed her. She sounded very wheezy and had a white discharge from one of her eyes. I wiped it away and assumed she had an eye infection but our vet appointment was scheduled for that day at 1:30pm. I could hear her little heart racing and her wheeze, so after I soothed her for some time I decided to place her in her house in her pen so she could calm down and rest.... I wish I had kept holding her now.
I came back for her at 1pm to take her to the vet and she lay lifeless just outside her litter box.
My baby girl was gone.
I am in complete shock and so heartbroken. I let her down and she should still be here with us. She was doing so well and then we lost it all.... what went wrong????
I need some answers.
Bella was new to our family of 3 neutered male cats, and 1 neutered male lion head, Leon. I had adopted her about one month ago from our local rabbit shelter. She was previously living with a foster family that had cats, dogs, and fostered another female rabbit. I wanted her to bond with Leon so they could both have a lifelong companion, but we no longer have that chance now. Bella was dominant and confident of herself, but not too aggressive where I would ever be afraid of her. She would grunt and charge a little but never actually bite me, but the rest of the furry friends, she wasn't afraid to put them in their place, and they respected that and never hurt her. Leon and her would have been great together with some more time. They were never overly aggressive with each other, and in a completely neutral area they wouldn't groom each other but they played coy and had cute moments. I had Bella in the bedroom for about a week and then moved her pen to the living room so she could be around the others more to interact. It all seemed to be going VERY well. I would find her and Leon laying near each other with just the pen cage separating them. She would get to come out and play and she loved hopping around. Again, everything seemed perfectly normal and great...
Then on Sunday, June 2nd evening I noticed she hadn't eaten her dry food or her greens. Her ears were back, as though she was being aggressive however she completely let her guard down and showed no signs of trying to be dominant. She would let me put my hand in her house to pet her and pick her up and she would just softly sit with me and let me kiss her and be content and sweet. I assumed maybe she was feeling stressed out from the cats because my youngest whom she seemed to get along with outside of her pen, would often be too curious and persistent to want to sit in her pen with her. He would not hurt her however and she seemed to slowly have been accepting his friendship. I was not concerned for either or their safety around each other. Anyway, come Monday evening when she still hadn't eaten and I noticed she wasn't using her litter box. I held her and fed her water from a syringe which she drank with seeming ease but not an overly large amount. However, I felt better that she had drank something and it seemed to liven her up a bit. Leon was adamant to be around her, not with her, but around. She sat in her house inside her pen and Leon hopped around eating some lettuce and playing coy. It seemed like he wanted her to feel better. She enjoyed his company I could tell.
The next morning, Tuesday, I woke up at 9am to check on her. I picked her up and she made a cry, she was very frail. I held her and kissed her. She sounded very wheezy and had a white discharge from one of her eyes. I wiped it away and assumed she had an eye infection but our vet appointment was scheduled for that day at 1:30pm. I could hear her little heart racing and her wheeze, so after I soothed her for some time I decided to place her in her house in her pen so she could calm down and rest.... I wish I had kept holding her now.
I came back for her at 1pm to take her to the vet and she lay lifeless just outside her litter box.
My baby girl was gone.
I am in complete shock and so heartbroken. I let her down and she should still be here with us. She was doing so well and then we lost it all.... what went wrong????
I need some answers.