Why am I having these dreams about my late rabbit?

[Mollykuehl]

Hey, so I have a question I guess I am more seeking opinions rather than answers this may be kind of long but it’s important all the stories included so maybe you guys can help me make sense out of it.

Anyway my bun died on January 26th last year she was my best friend for 8 years. When I first got her I had about 10 other pets that ranged from ferrets to rats to mice to cats 2 dogs gerbils hamsters so when I originally got her she barely got any attention at all. For the first four years of her life I had so many other pets to take care of that she remained in a hutch outside and I completely forgot all about her she would sit out in the cold sit out in the hot and rarely get food or water but she was a fighter and she made it!

After the four years of neglect from me my final pet which was my cat Dezi passed away from diabetes. I realized that my cat and my feritte were the only threats to the rabbit now that they were gone maybe with time that I brought bunny in and her name was Bunny because I never got the chance to really named her we were never that close at first but it ended up that Bunny was the only name she would ever really respond to. Anyway I brought her in I laid down I fell asleep and I woke up and that little rabbit was curled up next to me in a little ball that moment I realized the head the 4 years I’ve neglected her all she really wanted was love and from that point on I vowed that I would never let her out of my sight and I didn’t. After that she became my registered service animal she started to go everywhere with me the mall the store and any other trips that could be made she was always on her little harness and leash in my lap I would walk through the cities and she would ride on my shoulder I would go to sleep every night snuggled up with her and she would be licking my nose.

Needless to say after a short time of this she became my best friend the one animal that you could not get me away from I wouldn’t even want to go on a trip unless she came I don’t care if it was only an hour she went everywhere that I went and she absolutely loved it.

After we had been the best of friends for 5 years and never out of each other site for the final five years of her life I got very busy for the last week of her life where I would leave at 4 o’clock in the morning and come back at 8 p.m. and I would just pass out after I gave her food and water finally that busy week was over I went to let her out of her cage to come play with me she was in her cage over that week cuz I didn’t trust her alone in the house she was kind of destructive. I open the cage she didn’t come out I shook the cage of it said come on baby nothing I looked and she was in the corner curled up in a little ball barely responsive I picked her up she was still alive so I ran her to the emergency pet clinic I frantically ran in at like 10 p.m. at night crying asking them to come and please help me because my baby is dying they didn’t make me wait because this was an emergency so I didn’t have to wait in the waiting room they called immediate triage and within 10 minutes the vet came in to tell me that an infection inside of her went septic and she had to be put down. Needless to say that completely and utterly destroyed me I now have two other rabbits but they don’t like me very much at least not yet.

anyway as I stated she’s been dead since January 26th of last year but over the last few months I’ve been having these dreams about her I even had the same dreams when she was alive I would always have these horrible nightmares about me trying to save her or coming after her coming to get her but I’m always failing her in some way these dreams have really been getting to me. I wake up hoping that she’s going to be there but once I wake up I am met with the cold realization that she’s dead and is never coming back. why am I having these dreams? Does anybody have any insight on this?

There’s one particular dream that haunts me the day after she died I had a dream and I woke up in my bed and I saw her curled up next to me I woke up and I went to put my hand on her and then she faded away I even watched her fade away and I set up and she was gone. I have dreams like this too where some nights I wake up and I’m completely awake and she’s right there in bed with me watching over me then when I reach out to touch her she fades away why am I having these after dream hallucinations as well? I would truly love insight on this.

Thank you.

[BB & Tiny]

Guilt.

[Bam]

I don’t have any insights. Nobody knows why we dream but it’s generally thought to be a kind og processing and sorting of stuff we’ve experienced. And we often dream about stuff that’s been difficult for us. The dreams we remember are those we dream as we wake up, so I’m guessing you have a sleep-quality problem, meaning that you sleep lightly.

I guess you miss her. She was dear to you. You lost her. Loss is very hard.

Well, this is only my 2 cents. I don’t believe much in super-natural stuff (I sometimes wish I did).

[Paradigm]

I don’t believe in supernatural – indeed I would argue that there is a well documented non-spiritual interpretation.

You miss your rabbit. She went everywhere with you. Her death was traumatic for you and so you dream about it.

Given that you mentioned the backstory, I think it is likely that you may be feeling guilt for your past neglect and for not being able to save her.

It is very common for people who have lost loved ones to believe they have seen the person (or animal, in this case) as is dreaming about them.

The reaching out with hallucinations could be hypopompic hallucinations (if they are as you are falling asleep then they are called hypnagogic hallucinations. Though they can be connected to other conditions, if occurring at night before or after you wake up these are not a sign of mental health difficulties and aside from the distress they cause you are harmless.

[Mollykuehl]

I always get them as I’m waking up from a dream about her. What I never understood is why when she was alive I was still having dreams about her dying or someone trying to hurt her and in these dreams I would always sacrifice my own life to save her and when I would have those dreams when she was alive I was always able to save her and then I would wake up and she would be there but after she died I can’t save her in my dreams anymore 🙁

I’ve also been considering rehoming my two rabbits I have now because they’re not happy they don’t like me they want nothing to do with me at all and I would like them to be happy the thing with bun bun was she was My registered service animal to help me with my fear of going outside and these rabbits can’t be that emotional support since they are so easily scared and stressed. Ever since bun bun passed away its been harder for me to go out and do things because I no longer have my emotional support animal. I suffer from a lot of different anxiety disorders. So its been really hard over the last almost a year since she died. I got wrapped up working the last week of her life and I couldn’t spend time with her at all cuz that’s the one place bun bun could not go with me was work and I feel like if I wasn’t so busy with work over those last week before she died I could have saved her but life took me away from her and I missed her few days. I’m afraid that she thinks I forgot about her the last few days of her life

[Reeem]

Do you hangout in your buns rooms? You need to start your own bonding process with your two new buns. You probably just miss her and maybe feel bad about it but im not sure. I always have dreams about my baby , sometimes bad sometimes good its just a thing i deal with.

[Bam]

Mollykuehl, your 2 bunnies are probably happy with each other, don’t you think? When two bunnies are bonded, they don’t need their humans so much for their emotional needs. It’s very natural and very good for the bunnies, but it may seem to you like they don’t like you.

I’m sorry about your anxiety disorder. Your Bunny must’ve been an exeptional bunny. She must’ve meant so much to you, so I don’t think it’s weird you dream about her, but I understand it must be very painful for you.

[Paradigm]

If you want to feel more loved by your bunnies it may be good to spend more time with them.

That said, don’t feel ashamed if you do need to take them back – if the only animal you can afford or want to keep is an emotional support animal, then you may be better placed with a different animal such as a dog or perhaps a rat if you want a smaller animal. It is quite extraordinary that your bun liked to go everywhere with you and I worry that you may beat yourself up and not connect with your current buns if your expect them to be the same as Bunny.

The dreams may just have been that you dreamed about your bunny, or perhaps because you changed from negligence to caring (if you want to get introspective). I suspect the reason you can no longer save her is that you’re processing the fact she has died.

[Author]

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