Quality of Life?

[AJBunnyButt]

Our bun Sage was just diagnosed with sarcoma the other day. There are multiple tumors on her elbow. This has progressed very rapidly with her still coming over to beg for treats, but with a limp, on Friday to today she can hardly move. She has pain meds every 12 hours, but she’s so exhausted. And then, every once in a while, there she is scootching herself to get somewhere she wants to be. She’s eating but having trouble holding herself up, for periods of time. We were advised against amputation, which is often successful, due to her age. She’s 12. We would like to allow her to pass comfortably, without having to suffer more than she wants. I keep going through those 3 A’s and she seems to still be really engaged. My husband is having an even harder time than I am – he wants so badly to help that he just keeps frustrating her, which makes her expend more energy. I’m just not sure when we let her go. Her mom fought like crazy to make it to almost 13, so my inclination is to leave be. But then I see her all laid out and tired and I question myself.

My poor husband is distraught. He keeps trying to read every movement she makes and I’m piety sure he’s adding unnecessary stress. The poor guy. We just lost Sagey’s husbun two weeks ago and we’re both still reeling from that as it was completely out of the blue and he was only 3.

I guess I am more just looking for support rather than anything else right now.

Amy

[Bam]

I’m very sorry you are going through this. Only you can assess her quality of life, of course, you know her better than anyone else can. It’s very hard though, sometimes we can’t see clearly just because we are so close.

Is she getting pain relief from the pain meds? Does she enjoy her food? Does she take pleasure in being pet? Can she get comfortable when she is resting? (I’m not familiar with the 3 As, but I’m guessing it’s a way of assessing quality of life.)

Being very, very tired is a part of having cancer – it’s so to speak “normal” for a cancer sufferer. Pain meds can also have that effect although mostly at the beginning of treatment. But with lots of rest and pain management life can still be worth living for a human. What it’s like for an animal we can of course only ever guess.

12 years is an admirable age for a rabbit. A rabbit doesn’t get to be 12 without really great human “parents”.

[Gordo and Janice]

So sorry. So very sorry. We watched our little girl fade away within about a month’s time. It was hard. There was never a definitive diagnosis with her. I can’t really give any advice. You obviously have a way of assessing her quality of life. Probably similar to what I was told here:

1. Appetite
2. Interest in or being engaged in her environment
3. Still enjoys giving and or receiving affection

She actually passed away at home lying up against my wife with Janice’s arm under and around her. For us it was so hard to tell. There were a couple of moments in the last day or two when I thought we should take her in to have her put to sleep but she kept on desiring our affection. I could never tell if it was out of the desire for genuine affection or more of a desperation of not being well and wanting us to help her. Maybe a combination? No way of knowing. To this day it breaks my heart wondering about everything.

I wish there was a way to support people other than just words. Some truly tangible meaningful way. You will know better than anyone else. I always believe because our decision of when or when not to do something was out of true love for her and for squeezing out every last drop of any quality of life she may have had or wanted with us, that it was the right decision. As you go along and make these decisions moment my moment they will be right for you and her.

My heart goes out to you. These predicaments such as yours always bring back up my situation with Icey. It is still more painful than I would have thought after 9 months. You so love your precious little innocent ones. It’s hard to see them go…to let them go. I too had a harder time with things than my wife. Not sure why. Tons of theories swim in my head. Regardless, know my heart is genuinely with you all.

13 years and 12 years……just amazingly long lives for them. Congratulations in that regard. And so sorry about the little 3 year old. The end whether slow or sudden is never ever easy. You guys are in my thoughts. I wish I could help more.

[dejavoodoo1111]

Hi AJBunnyButt…..This is my first post and I was hoping that replying to yours would also reel in some advice for us as well. Very similar circumstances….Our 12yr (educated guess, as we have had him for 11 yrs , Vet guessed his age around 1-2 yrs when we rescued him) He was abandoned and left in a fenced yard. We have a mantra….if there is an animal that is suddenly “THERE” in need, we will be happy to take on the privilege. Although we did not have Garfunkel as a House Rabbit, my husband built him an enclosed Oasis. He lived there with a few Rescued Gambel’s Quail, a flightless Dove, 2 flightless pigeons we have now had for 12 or 13 yrs & a few in between (maybe a few too many to mention here, but Every Single One always remembered in our hearts)
We live in the Las Vegas Valley. In the heat of the summer, as well as the colder winter, we would bring Garf inside ’til his Oasis was just that – an Oasis. Come July, it was time. We brought him in for a week, he was perfectly fine. We had some really nice weather & he was outside for about 6 days or so. I knew what day it would be time to bring him back in. I went out to tell him I was getting things ready for an indoor visit and just sensed something wasn’t right. I didn’t wait, but brought him in immediately. One of the Gambel babies was attatched to him, so we keep them together inside. Nothing was obvious, he was just “off” The next couple of days he was the same. Eating, etc….just “off” By the 4th day, it was like a horror movie. He started losing his fur in copious amounts, we could practically watch the weight fall off as well, by day 6 his back legas were useless. So I started thinking whatever is going on started in the Oasis. I went out and looked around. I found what I imagine was a nightmare for Garf. We had set up some lights outside his pen to come on at night, as we hoped it would discourage any rats from ‘visiting’. It had been in use for several yrs. The cords were not ‘live’ during the day & outside the pen. But this day, the cord was Inside , LOTS of it was inside. There was some obvious ground disturbance in that area. My conclusion is that somehow (I Know how irresponsible that word ‘somehow’ is, but we were very attentive to everyone’s surroundings……..well at least we Thought we were…..so yeah……SOMEHOW) Of course the Guilt is deserved & intense. …….Somehow, Garf might have gotten tangled in that cord, and ……..struggled for Who Knows how long. I can’t imagine…….He has ALL the Classic symptoms of of a Rabbit that was frightened badly…. for an undetermined amount of time. ugh….this sucks. I apologize to all on this forum for my self indulgence. I never expected this post to go this way. I have only ever posted to forums maybe once or twice before. So now that I have rattled on about everything else, I will get to our amazing Garf.

In July, he continued he downward spiral. I did not take him to my vet, but after a consultation, we started him on Metacam. Really seemed to help his discomfort. During this entire time, Garf never ever lost his appetite. The last 8 weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions. His good days are Good Days, his Bad ones are just that. His age seems like a road block to a full recovery, but his attitude has been great. Until the last couple of days. Of course, handling him has never been an issue. But the discomfort of his fur, still some loss of back leg participation does not lend to a cuddly Garf. He is too unsure of this new ‘feeling’ The last 48 hrs he has lost a bit of his appetite, and seems depressed. His bladder seems to betray him a lot of the time. I understand he could be experiencing End of Life issues.

Please, what I hope to achieve w/ this rambling post is this…….I am doing what I can to provide him with surroundings to accommodate him. But I am having doubts of my judgement of such. We would appreciate any advice on this. I give him warm towel wiping, lots of soft bedding (which he seems to really enjoy) I don’t use any dryer sheets on his bedding, etc. I just suddenly feel inadequate to comfort him.

My husband is also just really affected – Garfunkel is very attatched to him…vice-versa. do I give him more space or …………..?

AMY, My heart is breaking for Sage, Garf, for our husbands, and you. Strange our situations seem similar and appeared on this post within the same 24hr period.

apologies for the lengthy post everyone…….it surprised me too………

[Author]

Messages