Oh my goodness. I don't know why I have missed this thread nor why anyone else hasn't stepped up to the plate and commented.
First of all, I am so sad for anyone who loses a bunny, pet, loved one... regardless of what happened. Unless they murdered in cold blood - there's no reason not to feel for them.
I am so sorry you lost Sunshine, Flashy. You are so hard on yourself sometimes. It's obvious you love the rabbits dearly and that you do all you can to care for them.
Flashy, sometimes we can't do everything. There are parents to who don't have the money to give their children costly treatments to help them live. There are always things that happen that we cannot control.
I take care of my animals and the kids and I feed, water, etc., everyone - everyday. Sadly, this spring we lost my 14 year old kitty, Prissy. Now, I could choose to blame myself because she might not have been as bad had I known immediately about her injury. However, I realize the truth is that she was injured during a blizzard, that she was always "hiding out" and not coming up for dinner immediately..... we know she was around cause she would come up and we would see her at the back door where we fed. She had a little house she stayed in some and we'd see her peek out of it as well and figured she'd come out when she was hungry.
What we didn't know is that over what we believe was at least several days - she suffered with having some of her toes cut off her back feet.
One day, my daughter saw her and said "Mom, Prissy doesn't look so good" and I went to check and she couldn't hardly walk. We scooped her up and zooomed to the vet. We barely made it before they closed and hadn't even phoned.
My gosh, the smell was awful! I thought she was losing control of her stools since she was so old - but no - it was the rotting flesh! We hadn't even seen the toes then! She had pockets of infection and we had to drain them over and over.
Prissy had debrivement surgery, spent time in the hospital and we brought her home to care for her. She lived quite a while and was much better about 5 or 6 weeks later when she got up to play. She was actually running through the house and we think she threw a bloodclot or something and had a stroke. In the end I had to have her put down.
Flashy, Prissy was adored by everyone because she purred even when she was hurting. She was not purring from nervousness either - she would rub her cheeks against us - and the vet and her workers. They called to check on her all the time and when she was there - they carried her around in a blanket and called her their baby.
Prissy chose to be an outside cat 13 years ago. She was so happy! and she was loved but we missed her injuries. If the flesh hadn't gotten so bad and died and there hadn't been so much infection - she might have lived.
I do not blame myself but blame life. Sometimes life isn't fair and it's no one's fault - things just happen. Please remember that. Sometimes we see something even and have to wait to have it checked. Sometimes we just can't afford to do what needs done because other things have happened to cause it.
There are people in the world who have pets who dearly love them but cannot afford to vet them due to things like losing their jobs, or a person being ill, etc. I know there are people who have had to have animals put down for things that could have been fixed but it would have cost too much for them - and some would say "well, they shouldn't have the pet" ...... I say, bull! They give the pet a chance and they love the pet and the pet has a good home but sometimes that's not good enough.
Just because we are all financially able to afford some comforts - not everyone in the world has those things..... there are people who die because they cannot afford FOOD and they die miserably - not in the loving care of their friends, family, or the gentle sleep given by a vet.
Life can suck - and really suck bigtime. That doesn't make any of us a bad person, guilty of not caring, etc.
Learn from what has happened but give Sunshine the dignityand credit for havingsurvived and fought his illness the way he did. A bunny that was not cared for, not loved, not fed, etc., wouldn't have survived as long as he did........ nor would they have fought to do so.....
My prissy was a fighter and I loved her and this is the first time I've told anyone the entire story. I'm sorry it is in Sunshine's thread and that it is so long. Maybe she and Sunshine are friends now.
