Sweet Bella

[GlennTheLionhead]

So heart-broken to be writing this just 5 months after welcoming Bella to our home.

I first just wanted to say that she was the sweetest most wonderful bunny and I will remember every moment we had. She looked so relaxed in the car when we first met to take her home. The rescue told us that she was shy and took a lot of time to come out of her shell, well didn’t we feel great when she was super flopping and begging for strokes on the second day! It really made us feel like we were able to show her a life she had never known before <3 one thing that gives me and my partner peace is that even though our time with her was short we know that she really did love her life. Every time a bag rustled she would run in, tail pinged upright super excited, dragging her poor little leg. She always came to us for cuddles, she was the snugglest bun we’ve even had, she even groomed us which Glenn doesn’t do! She would come sit in the lounge with us for hours even when Glenn wasn’t around. She was clumsy in the most endearing way. She was a glass half full kinda bun, she didn’t have a grumpy or bad bone in her body and was just thrilled to receive any toy, treat cuddle, never moody! She loved smoothies and banana as safe treats and she loved trying to hover dropped tiny peices of popcorn off the floor on movie night and trying to sneak a sip of my cup of tea as forbidden no nos! She really did love her life with us and I’m so happy we were able to adopt her and give her that happiness. With Glenn she was just as snuggly, she had a strong personality and was able to boss him about in a way we haven’t seen Glenn bossed about before lol! They were very much stubborn equals that comforted eachother with cuddles! It was a long bonding process but one that always went pretty steady! Its a shame their life together had only just began really, but that said they got a lot of enjoyment from one another, that was easy to see! I could go on and on

Bella passed away on Monday the 21st from a ruptured bladder. She had what appeared like an episode of gas, still eating, still pooping, a little less than usual but still grooming and moving around so it really was a shock when she took a sudden turn. She still had the suspected gas in the morning after having it on sunday evening (we stayed up with her) so we started to get a little worried but her eating and pooping kept our minds at ease that she was not an emergency case and may well have be able to overcome it at home without a stressful trip to the vet, she even chomped down a load of dill, then suddenly a minute later she just turned, we rushed her straight to the vet but there was nothing they could do for her, they informed us her bladder had ruptered. With their advice we put her to rest and I was able to hold her and speak to her as it happened. It was a pretty rare case and she suffered badly from arthritis, and despite being treated and checked for cystitis it is possible that some form of chronic cystitis, exacerbated by her arthritis, went undiagnosed or cloaked under the arthritis and pain meds eventually causing her to go 🙁

But I don’t really want to focus much on the hows and whys, I just wanted to share what happened incase someone finds their bun in a similar situation one day.

Rest in peace Bella boo, the bun that was full of joy and brought us so much joy!

Binky free sweet girl.

[GlennTheLionhead]

Wish I could upload a couple photos here but it wont let me, not even to add them to my profile then upload them.

[Wick & Fable]

Sorry — we are having site-wide image upload issues. If you can post the images on imgr, google drive, or another picture posting site, you can always post the share links here so people can see your lovely Bella.

Thank you for telling her story, and I’m sure this will be very helpful for future rabbit owners. Binky free Bella~~ you were so well-loved.

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.

[GlennTheLionhead]

Thank you Wick.

Its all the memories we wanted to make as well that makes it hard. For example I was saving up for a bunny castle that she could use as the ramp was low and she loved things like that!

I try not to think of what ifs but I’ve had the same thing happen twice now, which is loosing a bunny because no exotics vets were available for treatment (days off ans the next nearst was hours away- a journey they wouldn’t have made) Im sure all vets worked hard with both my girls but we lost maggie at the hands of an intern vet who I had to actually guide with what I knew and Bellas vet was a small animal vet who to be fair was good but just did not have specialist care to be able to repair her bladder and kept saying ‘we think’ during diagnosis and treatment. .. So like i say i thank the vets a lot and hope that they learnt something to be able to treat future rabbits but part of me is frustrated at the lack of exotics vets available, its a shame that rabbits don’t have the doctors thats cats and dogs do readily available and experienced… Im sure something many of us can relate too.

On a brighter note here are some of my favourite photos/clips of Bella! I have too many to share them all!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XTWbGqfccEgKuKnY9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6JwqC853kfSFeSdZ6

 

And one already in my library!

[GlennTheLionhead]

Not entirely sure if those two links work so here they are again in google drive format!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17jI19CzIyKpmc78G_i3QNXIuxW80N_nV/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17g_lx2WwDtRoVxtPa8uibYwnzMeHdHye/view?usp=drivesdk

[Bam]

I’m so sorry you lost Bella. She was truly gorgeous!

I too have lost buns because they fell ill on the weekend. I’m pretty sure at least one of them could have been saved if he could’ve been seen by a proper rabbit vet. I would’ve lost my Vilde too if he hadn’t had the sense to get sick on a Tuesday morning.

 

(btw the last two links, I need to ask permission to see them from my google account. Maybe you haven’t made them accesible to anyone who has the link?)

[DanaNM]

I am so shocked and heartbroken to read this. 🙁  I am so sorry for your loss.

I’ve lost too many rabbits too soon and over the weekend when no specialist care was available. It’s horrible feeling so helpless. And so often the early symptoms of a serious rare problem present like symptoms of common, less-serious, things. Ugh. I do hope that rabbit veterinary care eventually gets to the level of dogs someday.

You gave Bella an amazing life with you, although it was short.

(((Binky free Bella)))

. . . 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.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

Thank you for your kind words Bam and Dana!

Im sorry you both also went through a similar instance of loosing bunnies when the outcome may have been different if circumstances weres a little different. I do wish our furry friends weren’t so good at hiding and playing down their illness.

It was a shock for us too, after Glenn’s first wife passed away in 2019 he was long overdue another companion, when Bella came along it was so exciting and refreshing for us all, so to have this happen justs months after welcoming her is definitely tough.

Nevertheless, I am trying to focus on the good and appricate the time we did have. I had never adopted before Bella and she really showed me just how rewarding it is to adopt not shop! Her photo and memory will be going on the shelf in the bunny room, next to Maggies photo <3

Hopefully this link of my favourite photo of her and a cute vid finally work!

View post on imgur.com

 

 

[Bam]

The link works for me. That is a wonderful picture! They were so beautiful together .

[DanaNM]

The link works for me too! They were such a gorgeous couple! Those lionheads sure do know they are beautiful!

It’s so crazy, your account of trying to re-bond Glenn sounds so much like when I tried to rebond Bertha after Bunston died. We had a string of bad luck (involving a foster that got very sick, and then another broken bond with another bun), and then when I finally re-bonded her to Moose, he died suddenly after only 5 months. Such eerie similarities.

I’m glad you are able to focus on some positives. Without your loving care Bella might have died alone in the shelter, rather than in a loving home with a hus-bun. <3

. . . 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.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

Thanks Dana, thats very sweet of you to say and comforting! Its so nice to have a community that understands the loss of a furry bunny friend, so many non bunny/animal people don’t understand and definitely underestimate how upsetting it is.

Wow that is eerily similar, even the amount of time you had together. I’m sorry you had to go through that too, poor Bertha and Moose.

 

 

 

<hr />

 

[Author]

Messages