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CoCo was recovering very well from Friday’s neuter. He had his 2nd hip hop out of the cage free time last night….of course he went right for some cat booty. We removed the cats from the scene of the crime. He did some running around, through the bar sniffing interaction w/ Leo and did his usually crazy antics. B/c he’s still limited w/ free play time and on cage rest, he wasn’t out for long.
Today when I came home he appeared extremely lathargic. He was having difficulties keeping his head lifted and often left it leaning up on the lip of his litterbox or food bowl. I called the hospital and anxiously awaiting the 1 hr until it was time to leave. At the vet she noted that he was having difficulty breathing and had some crusted discharge from both his eyes and nose. He still was not able to keep his head lifted. She did some chest xrays to see if it was pneumonia. She was concerned that maybe he had an underlying infection that presented itself post-surgery due to the stress of surgery.
After his xrays I held him waiting for the results. He straightened & outstretched his neck & flopped over in my arms. He started to do open mouth breathing. The vet rushed him back and they began cpr. They got his heart started again, but he would/could not breathe on his own. I asked them to stop breathing for him and held him until her passed. His body was already rigid and his eyes were none responsive. He went within seconds. I had that little man for less 2weeks. This next Saturday would have been the 2nd Saturday since his adoption/rescue from Petco. I’m just stunned that such a seemingly healthy guy went from good to ragdoll less than 24 hrs. I know that is the way of rabbits…being prey animals…but it’s still shocking!
The vet did a necropse & just called w/ the results. His intestine had prolapsed into itself. Basically, a portion of his intestine went inside another piece of intestine. She said it is extremely rare and she only found 1 other case identified in a rabbit. She described it best as an overactive intestine w/ adding just like he was in real life “over-active.
“ She said that it would have likely presented as diarrhea, which it did not. So just a freak occurance that couldn’t have been prevented and couldn’t have been treated anyway.My comfort is that this little guy died w/ a home and people that loved him. He had the opportunity to live life as a house rabbit, eating lots of yummy veggies, humping pussy cats! I loved him and am very happy that we got to share a life together. I noticed that the position that his body stiffened up into looked like a bunny hopping through a field. It made me happy to see him “running off to the rainbow bridge.” I regret that we didn’t even have enough time to take pictures of him.
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Thank you so much for all your kind words & thoughts. I only spent 1/2 day @ work today…I just couldn’t keep focused. I decided that I needed to take the afternoon to watch “Finding Nemo” & cuddle up w/ all my other pets. DH reminded me that Dori’s motto in Nemo is “Just keep swimming.” and that’s what I need to do. Oddly enough when my first cat died, I took great comfort in watching “Lion King”….I guess the whole circle of life thing…..
When CoCo died, Circle of Life came on the radio…that just brought me to overwhelming tears. I guess I just need this afternoon to cry & feel comforted by my other pets. My biggest sadness is that he had such a bold personality that I felt he was going to be an excellent addition to our family. Unfortunately he was not a standard Petco adoption. He had been abandoned there by previous owners, so no rescue ever took custody of CoCo. I wonder if I can get Petco to contact the original abandoners for a picture? Actually, I don’t think that I want them to know anything about him or his life after they abandoned him……….I’m just so sad and think I just need a day to relax, etc…..DH reminded me that I needed not to dwell on it…after all we only had him for less than 2 weeks. I think he’s suggesting that I’m overreacting. I know he means well, but when you get some fuzzy fur in your heart, it doesn’t take long to fall hard.
Thank you again to the whole BB community. After I left the vet last night, I felt like I needed to go on BB and get some support. Thank you all again, it’s just comforting to hear all your thoughts. (Binky Free CoCo Puff)
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