My sweet baby Bunston passed away unexpectedly Monday morning. He was the nicest, gentlest bunny anyone could ask for. We aren’t sure exactly how old he was, but we adopted him about 6.5 yrs ago, and think he was about 2 when we got him, so estimate he was 8 or 9. I always thought he would live to be at least 10, as he was a smaller mixed breed.
***Disclaimer: I describe witnessing my bunny’s death in detail. I felt like I needed to share this, so if you are sensitive you may not want to read on.
My fiance and I are heartbroken, traumatized, and dealing with a lot of guilt… Here is the story:
As of Saturday, Bunston seemed mostly normal. Maybe not as active, but it was unseasonably hot and he was molting, so I figured he was just a bit sluggish for that reason. Bertha seemed more “lazy” too. He ate his veggies and pellets. Sunday morning he wouldn’t eat his veggies and didn’t seemed interested in pellets, but was eating hay. I suspected some gastric stasis, probably due to him molting. I hand fed him some fresh hay (which he ate) and decided to keep an eye on him. He usually will eat basil, even during past bouts of GI stasis, so the fact that he wouldn’t was very worrisome to me. I would have taken him to the vet, but it was Sunday, and the emergency vet in town doesn’t have a rabbit specialist (my friend worked there… and said every rabbit that had every been brought in to the ER had died….). He was still hopping around a bit. He came out of his condo and went to lounge in one of his usual spots.
Sunday night he still wouldn’t eat. Here is where the guilt starts coming in. It was Valentine’s Day and we had plans to go to a concert. So we left at about 8 pm, and then returned just after 2 am. I immediately knew something was very wrong. Bunston was up on the top level of his condo, and Bertha was aggressively grooming his back/rump. He NEVER lets her do that. He always groomed her, and when she groomed him, he would only let her groom his head. I felt him, and his ears felt cold, and he barely responded to my touch or sound. I feel so bad for leaving him and not doing enough for him sooner. I know how dangerous GI problems are, but he has had minor bouts before and has always pulled through…
I immediately put him on my lap to start warming him up, and I thought he was about to die in my arms. He felt so cold, and was barely responsive. He is not a lap bunny at all, and hated being handled. We felt that we had no veterinary options, so we tried the things we could that I had read could help with gas/GI stasis. Warmed him on my lap, massaged his tummy, even used a electric massager as recommended. I tried to stop if he seemed distressed at all, since I knew he was barely responding to anything, that he might be in extreme pain and not be able to show it. The nearest emergency vet with a rabbit vet is about 2 hours away, and I knew if we tried to make that trip he would die in the car from the stress of it all.
We did this for about an hour or 2…His ears warmed a bit, he seemed a bit more responsive. We moved to the floor, and had him on a towel with a wrapped warm water bottle next to him. At one point while massaging him, he seemed to twitch a little, and then all of the sudden seemed better. He even ate a small about of fennel, so we thought some gas had cleared. He produced a few normal sized poops, so we thought he was improving.
Bunston kept trying to move to this one area of our apartment near the trash bins. It was very strange, as he usually doesn’t rest there. we would gently move him back to our warm area.
By dawn I thought he was out of immediate danger as he seemed more alert and had been pooping a bit, so I lay down for a bit, while my fiance stayed up with him. He noted that his ears felt cooler again, so we added another warm bottle. I know that Bunston hated being held, so I really wanted to minimize his stress. I fell asleep for one hour, and then my fiance woke me up sounding very worried around 8:30 am.
He had been continuing the tummy massages, and then all of the sudden Bunston’s back legs had kicked out and his back started twitching. His heart was racing. I tried to comfort and calm him by petting his head, but then he spasmed. His head arched back and his legs kicked out further. One more spasm and then he was gone. I am traumatized and I still can’t believe how quickly it all happened.
I don’t know what we could have done since we had no good veterinary options, but I still blame myself for not acting sooner to at least comfort him.
Bertha was with him for much of the night, but then in the last few hours she left him and was not near him when he died. She was cuddling with him at one point, but then the cat came by and she felt threatened. She chased off the cat but turned on Bunston briefly, which broke my heart. I sense that she knew he was dying and got frustrated.
After he passed, in our grief we at first removed the body from the room for a few hours, but then read that it is good to leave the body with the other bunny, so we left his body in their condo for about 2 hours. Bertha sniffed it once, then laid near it (not touching it) for about an hour, then hopped up to another level in their condo. So far she actually seems pretty good (eating normally, even did a few binkys this morning).
I keep telling myself that the GI issues was probably because his systems were shutting down (or maybe he was just shutting down, not even in full stasis), and there wouldn’t have been anything we could do, but I just feel so horrible. I miss him so much, and all I can see is him dying in my hands. This was all so sudden and we felt so helpless in those last hours with him. I was hoping the massages eased his pain (and that is why he seemed to be improving), but now I feel like we may have made things worse.
I miss you bunny man.
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The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
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