Leaving grieving bunny over the holidays

[BunnyBliss]

Hello,

I am new to the board, but very much need advice.

This morning I found our beautiful big boy dead.  He had not been sick but was a senior so we knew it would happen sometime.  He went quietly in his sleep with his bonded mate of over seven years at his side.  Since this happened over night, she had time with his body to accept his death, and this morning was generally behaving normally, but will be getting lots of extra attention over the coming days.

Here is the problem: we leave in a week to fly to the in-laws for the holidays, and will be gone for a bit over 10 days.  Normally, a friend would pop by every other day or so to check on them and top up the food supply.  Now I’m not sure what to do.  I don’t really want to leave our girl alone for so long so soon after losing her mate, but I’m also concerned that the stress of packing her up and sending her to a friends home for the holidays might be too much for her too.  She is also a senior bunny, though she has a couple more years according to average life expectency, but has also had more medical events (two surgeries plus spaying), and I worry about what too much stress could do to her.  We have a friend that hasa bonded pair and is good with rabbits, who could maybe keep her in a different room, but then there is the “new rabbit smells” that can be upsetting to bunnies.

What should we do? 

[RabbitPam]

First let me say I am so sorry for your loss. It sounds like your pair had a very nice life together in your loving home.
I fully sympathize with your dilemma, and understand the time for deciding what to do next is short. So, I am sending an alert to the other Forum Leaders to ask them for their opinions as well, since many of them have bonded bunnies, while mine is a single bun. Hopefully someone with similar experience will know what will be best for your girl.

[BunnyBliss]

Thank you. My husband believes it would be easier on her to stay in familiar surroundings, even if she is alone. Having the other rabbits around could be troublesome, and our friend works a lot and may not be able to provide that much extra attention. What could we do to make the empty apartment more comforting for her? She would be in her pen (quite large) but it would be pretty quiet most of the time. I don’t want her to get depressed or frustrated.

[Sarita]

Oh, I’m sorry for your loss. I know it’s hard.

If it were my bunny I would go ahead and pack her up and take her to a friends/relatives. I know the initial stress will eventually wear off and I think she would be better off at someone’s home with more interaction. And she can be monitored more closely as well.

[tobyluv]

I’m sorry for the loss of your boy. It does seem like it might be best for her to stay in the home of your friend that has rabbits, but it’s also possible that the unfamiliar surroundings could be stressful to her.

If you do decide to leave her at home, is it possible that someone could come over more often? At least once a day, and not just to check on the food supply, but to spend some time with your bunny. Maybe you could even get more than one friend or neighbor to help, so that your bunny would get at least two visits a day.

[LBJ10]

Familiar surroundings is always the better option. Could your friend come every day to check on her? If not, then it would probably be better for her to stay at your friend’s house for the duration of your trip.

[Roberta]

I’m with Sarita, I think the benefit of constant supervision out weighs the concern for stress. At least immediate action can be taken and she won’t be pining in an empty house with no mate for comfort.

[JackRabbit]

I’m with the more interaction crowd, even if it means unfamiliar surroundings, especially since she just lost her buddy.

[BunnyBliss]

Thank you all so much for your input. Our little girl is doing very well, eatting normally, hopping about and relaxing with her feet kicked out behind her. She seems to be spending a little more time near us then she may have before, but we make sure to visit her wherever she is for petting and love and she seems generally content. Our friend has offered to take her in during our trip, setting her up in a diffrent room from her rabbits to prevent any unplesantness. She lives quite a ways away from us (in Toronto public transit terms) so it will allow her to spend more time with our bun and keep a closer eye on her behaviour. We would be sending along extra toys and things that smell like us so she will know we are still with her. We have been leaving the radio on during the night so she doesn’t feel so alone, and may ask to continue this over the holidays.
We have also started talking about looking for a new friend for her in the new year. We are open to any type of creature, but are leaning towards another rabbit thinking it may be easiest her her to deal with at her age (8 1/2yrs small breed), verses a dog that might be more energetic then she can put up with. We would welcome any input you may have on this next step.

[BunnyBliss]

Oops. Sorry for the repeated posts. Not sure how it happened or how to erase the extras.

[tobyluv]

I’m glad that your friend is able to keep her, and that your rabbit will have a good home and caretaker to look after her while you are gone. It’s nice that your rabbit is doing so well and that you are spending extra time with her. I bet that she would like another bunny friend. It would be good if you could find an older rabbit at a rescue. They probably don’t get adopted as often as the young ones do.

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