Right decision? Was it his time to go?

[DutchJim]

Hi everyone, I’m new to this forum. On Monday we had to make the biggest decision I’ve ever had to deal with and that’s putting down our beloved Dutch dwarf Jimbo.
I am very happy he managed to live for 10 years (he was a free roam bunny and only slept in his hutch when we went to sleep) and that he had a healthy life where he got to his senior years with rarely any health problems, but unfortunately 2018 (in particular May-July) took its toil on him and one sickness after the next occurred which I think was too much for him to deal with. I’m just wondering now did I do the right thing and was there another option?

So basically there was a period where he was doing so well and active as ever (may 2018), until he started losing his eyesight. I don’t think he adapted so well to this, as you can imagine he was a free roam bunny in a 6 bedroom house and would often disappear upstairs and so not being able to do that effected him but he still was a trooper and knew where his secure spot was and maintained his eating and drinking habits.
He then started splaying his legs within a few weeks to which I was surprised by given the amount of exercise he had all day, but it didn’t bother him and he just simply had a more leaned stance when eating. After a few days this turned into dragging the legs and he stopped eating as much as he would normally. Then one day when I said good morning to him after waking up he looked very very sluggish and breathing very heavily to the point he could barely get up, and when he did he just disappeared under a sofa for half the day, his heavy breathing continued and I wasn’t sure if it was due to the heat (London had a heatwave)

I was worried about him not eating, so I made an appointment with the vets. They were immediately worried about his breathing and the state of his splay legs where he was laying on his belly flat out on the vet table unable to lift himself up. They mentioned we may need to do what’s best for him and let him go as this was not good quality of life for him, to which I agreed but I wanted to perform an X-ray and see what is going on. The vet gave our bunny a strong pain med which helped ease his breathing and any pain he was feeling and allowed us to spend one final night with him as a family and give him all the hugs,kisses, and treats he deserved for bringing joy to us.

The next day the xrays showed some slight arthritis and possible lung cancer. It showed his chest area was white when it should be covered in black in the X-ray, which meant fluids had built up and he was struggling. At this point the vet said they can try drain the fluids but given his age and how he his coping with the anaesthetic, it would be better to let him go peacefully while he is asleep. This literally broke my heart and I became a mess, but all I was thinking was can I let him suffer just to keep him living? In the end we decided to put him down ?

I do feel some guilt, was it the right thing to do? Would draining his lungs of fluids make him better as it would mean he can breathe without pain. The fact that he lost his vision and both hind legs made me think I’m doing the right thing for him. Im also so annoyed at myself that I didn’t take him to the vets sooner and probably save him, it’s just he hid his sickness so well that I assumed he’s ok as he was running about and eating/drinking well.

That being said I am happy he lived with us for as long as he did (6 weeks to 10 years) as I know most aren’t that lucky, especially as a single bunny. In fact 10 years is a massive part of my life and he’s seen me grow up and he moved homes with me …..but I do still wonder if it was his time to go.

Has anyone had similar issues as this before? If so what was the outcome and was it able to fix so that the bunny could live on happily?

[Sofia]

10 years is incredible. He clearly had an amazing life with you and loved you very much. Everyone has their doubts when a beloved pet dies, but it’s completely normal. I think draining his lungs wouldn’t have done much, he might have died in the process from anaesthetic, he still had the cancer and the arthritis. And he was 10, even if he was heaIthy he mightn’t have lived much longer anyways. In the end, he was in pain, and that’s the worst thing for an owner, to see their bun hurting. You go to spend his last night together and you made it extra special, at the start you’re going to doubt yourself, but I think you made the right choice. Sometimes its just the kinder option to let them cross over.
Binky free sweet Jumbo <3

[DutchJim]

Thanks for that, I can rest bit easy now knowing I relieved him of some difficult pain and that it was the best outcome. The thing that is so hard to deal with his how suddenly his health took a turn. Even looking back at his photos and videos leading up to his final days, in the space of like 4 days he went from being active hopping around and eating to suddenly dragging the legs and breathing heavy trying not to move. I understand this happens, and to so many bunny owners on these forums but I am just wondering if he was carrying the cancer/tumours since birth, or caught it somewhere as he had X-rays 2-3 years ago for sludge that showed no signs of any tumours in his lungs. Could be like you said…he was getting old and became more vulnerable.

[Sofia]

Yes, sadly, most senior rabbits will get sicknesses very easily. But like I already mentioned, 10 years is amazing.

[Bam]

I’m very sorry you had to say good bye to Jimbo. 10 years is a wonderfully long rabbit life though, and you did get that last night with him.

I honestly don’t think having his lungs drained would have helped much. He’d still be dragging his legs and his lungs would soon fill up with fluids again unless the cause was identified and remedied. Sometimes it’s more merciful to not have a lot of procedures done. He was very old and it’s unlikely that he’d have regained his health.

Cancer is primarily a disease of aging. It happens because every time a cell divides, its DNA is copied and each copy differs a little bit from the original. Over time, the copies accumulate many such errors. The cell “proof-reads” the DNA and can repair some of the errors, or stop itself from dividing. Cells with badly flawed DNA that still manage to divide can be caught and killed by the body’s own immune defense. With time, the control functions and the immune defense get weaker and not as good at recognizing and eliminating “bad cells”. This allows the bad cells to divide and grow into tumors. (This is of course a very brief attempt at explaining how cancer arises). In short, Jimbo probably didn’t have cancer from birth and it probably wasn’t caused by him having had an x-ray. I think he was “just” very old.

I’m glad you got to have him in your life for so long, and that he only had a short period of illness.

[DutchJim]

Thats a great brief description on how cancer occurs and explains a lot about how all these illnesses occurred in the space of 2 months (eyesight/hind legs/cancer) thanks everyone for the replies. He was great and never let the symptoms drag him down, even when nature took away his legs and sight he still found a way to be happy until his last gasp.

Thank you for comfort you’ve all shown, I am now happy with the outcome I decided and can now look back on his good times and the joy and happiness he brought. We talk about how rabbits need boredom breaker toys to keep them entertained……well Jimbo was my boredom breaker, always made me happy when I was down.

[Gordo and Janice]

Just chiming in. You seem to be already comfortable with your decision which is appropriate. 10 years….absolutely marverlous! Bam explained the cancer issue sufficiently. Age sucks. There are no two ways about it. People can go quick too but animals really do, quite often. Just to let you know that you made the right choice. Our little girl, Icey, was almost 8 when she left this life. Same kind of thing in that she was perfectly fine and then within a month and a half gone. We actually tried to do something which we would do again given the same circumstances because it was a seemingly routine molar grinding or shaving or what have you to address her change in diet. But in the end the stress of the whole procedure whether the grinding itself, the anesthesia, or the vet visit, or all of the above, brought about her demise much quicker. The day we picked her up and brought her home she was never the same again. Before we took her the only thing that had changed was she began not eating orchard grass and was beginning to leave pellets uneaten. After we picked her up she would not lie down anymore which she was doing as normal as a rabbit does when lounging, before the vet visit. She literally stood for the next month and her eating got worse and she deteriorated quickly.

So just reassuring you (not that you need it) that not doing anything drastic at this stage in Jimbo’s life was fine and most likely for the better. Going through any additional significant procedures probably wouldn’t have made a difference in the long run for the betterment of the quality of Jimbo’s life and may very well have exacerbated his health decline.

So wonderful you got to spend the final night with him loving him so. It’s always sad and will always be but knowing the night before is the last night allows you to really reflect and concentrate and appreciate and love that little precious soul so intensely before he goes. So many wish they had that. Good for you, your family, and especially Jimbo. 10 years…….what a great run!

Binky free {{{Jimbo}}}

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