Rabbit disappeared-grief for other one?

[emily13hsiao]

It's been about 5 days since one rabbit in my pair disappeared. I don't know what to do to help the remaining one....?

(How isn't that important I guess, but basically I put them outside and went indoors to do work until evening and when I went out there was a hole dug under the pen and one rabbit was gone.) I looked EVERYWHERE in the yard for her and asked around too. I still can't figure out how she could have gotten out.

I'm really more worried about my other one. She seems pretty upset. (She's still eating and all, but all she does is just sit in the corner and doesn't really move unless I put food in her bowl.) But I don't know what I can do since I can't really show her the body of her sister. Any advice?

 

[Azerane]

I think the best thing that you can do is just to spend more time with her, petting her etc and just spending time near her talking to her so that she knows she's not alone.

 

[Aki]

Some rabbits take more time than other to mourn, sometimes a month or two. Some rabbits recover just fine on their own, some of them can't ever be matched with another rabbit afterwards. Other rabbits can't stand to live alone after living as a pair - in that case, there is nothing to do but get another rabbit (a month or so to let the rabbit get used to the fact that his first mate is gone is generally recommended before introducing a new partner, though). It really depends on the rabbit. You are the one who knows your bunny best so observe her carefully to discover what's in her best interest and, in the meanwhile, make sure that she eats her hay. When Aki lost her first husbunny, she was a mess and she began to eat less - I bought her pricey organic hay to make sure she wouldn't get gut stasis, which helped with the food issue, but I ended up giving her a new husbunny which got her back to normal after a few weeks.

 

[emily13hsiao]

Thank you guys. I'll try my best to keep her more company, and definitely monitor her eating. Hopefully she'll be better soon

 

[flemishwhite]

When I have my girls neutered..March 18, I'm going to have them micro-chipped so if they one lost, maybe I can get her back.

About bunnies mourning...... My previous rabbit Bunny. When I would go on a business trip and would not be at home at night, the next day Bunny would stay hidden under the bed. In her bunny brain, I'm sure she thought I had been killed by a predator, and therefore she should hide. She would stay under the bed for at least another day or so...only coming out to eat. This happened several times.

Lovely little animals. When I did come home, she'd hop up to greet me for a pet.

 

[LuckyAmi]

About bunnies mourning...... My previous rabbit Bunny. When I would go on a business trip and would not be at home at night, the next day Bunny would stay hidden under the bed. In her bunny brain, I'm sure she thought I had been killed by a predator, and therefore she should hide. She would stay under the bed for at least another day or so...only coming out to eat. This happened several times.

Lovely little animals. When I did come home, she'd hop up to greet me for a pet.

I had something similar to that happen to me...

January 5 I had to have shoulder surgery and recovered at my parents house. My dog came with me, but Lucky had to stay at home. For about 2 weeks I was stuck at their house before I could really start moving around much without any pain. It killed me not being able to see or be with Lucky. I had reliable friends and family who would go over and stay several hours with Lucky to give him time out to play and to fill up food and water every day. They said Lucky didn't play, he would just go hide under the bed for hours. He didn't eat much, especially his daily mini scoop of pellets that he loves and normally gobbles up right away. They said his pellet bowl and veggie bowl would still have some food in it the next day when they came over. When Ginger and I finally went back home for good, Lucky came running up to greet Ginger and then ran around with her, then he came over and sat next to me in bed. After the happy greeting though, he was clearly still off his game a little bit for about 4 days or so... it took him that extra time to wrap his bunny brain around life was ok again and everything will return to normal pre-surgery time. In those 4 days where he was rattled... I just tried to comfort him the best I could without being too pushy, you know? Like, I was dying to just pick him up and snuggle him to death, but instead, I would just go sit on the floor near him and tell him what a good bun he was and that everything was going to be fine now, I would reach over and let him smell my hand and let him know that I was there for him if he wanted and gradually he started to return to his normal happy self.

I was really surprised at how much he missed Ginger and I, and how long it still upset him even after he saw we were ok and back home.

I hope your bun feels better soon. I'm sure she will appreciate your company with her while she mourns.

 

[flemishwhite]

I had something similar to that happen to me...

January 5 I had to have shoulder surgery and recovered at my parents house. My dog came with me, but Lucky had to stay at home. When Ginger and I finally went back home for good, Lucky came running up to greet Ginger and then ran around with her, then he came over and sat next to me in bed. After the happy greeting though, he was clearly still off his game a little bit for about 4 days or so... it took him that extra time to wrap his bunny brain around life was ok again and everything will return to normal pre-surgery time. In those 4 days where he was rattled... I just tried to comfort him the best I could without being too pushy, you know? Like, I was dying to just pick him up and snuggle him to death, but instead, I would just go sit on the floor near him and tell him what a good bun he was and that everything was going to be fine now, I would reach over and let him smell my hand and let him know that I was there for him if he wanted and gradually he started to return to his normal happy self.

Thanks for sharing this anecdote. You just have to live with bunnies to discover how subtle they can be in their relationship with you. Once you understand how bunnies respond to humans, they you know how affectionate and lovely they can be.