Was this the right decision?

I don't really know if this is the right area for this post, so apologies if it isn't!

I wanted some thoughts / insight / advice on what happened to our Barney (he was only 9 months old) when we lost him in Febuary this year. I cannot shake the idea off that we could have helped him more, and let him down Please read this story, any advice either way would be appreciated.

He was never a well bun, he was at the vets every other week with gut problems (mucus poohs etc) and the amount of Zantac and Fibreplex he had was unreal

The big problem started seemingly overnight, when he stopped eating and sat in the cage hunched up - immediately thought it was stasis and he was booked in asap. He had all the usual pain relief, gut stimulants and a check over. No obstructions or gas felt in his stomach it was just empty.

We carried on with the pain killers for a week and syringe feeding and he improved a little, nibbling pellets and basil leaves. He got a very messy and smelly bum one day but we cleaned it up and it seemed to improve. He was quiet, but had improved. He was booked in for a check up and dental to rule out a tooth issue (no one at this point seemed to know what the problem was) at the end of the week, and the night before I felt something large and hard around his stomach area. The next day the vet found a perfectly round, hard, tennis ball size lump

Whatever it was appeared within a week, as there was nothing felt in the initial check up.

At this point we were told the prognosis wasn't good - it was either a fast growing tumour or a massive blockage in his intestine that was too risky to operate on. It was perfectly round like he had swallowed a ball. They pretty much said we had to let him go. Shocked and devestated didn't cover it.
To this day, I don't know if that was the right decision...always feel like more could have been done and we gave up to easy, but when you are told that and he has a massive growth it's hard to think straight. I feel we let him down.

I asked our new bun savvy vet, and she said she would have at least done a scan. But this option wasn't offered.

What do you think, was this probably the only obvious outcome?

If your new bunny savvy vet never met Barney she can't decide honey.

You know when it is their time. I had to have Lilith put to sleep because of EC and had to go to an emergency vet not my normal vet. I was given the option to hospitalise and pump her full of drugs but the vet said this probably would just prolong the inevitable.

From reading your story it sounds like you did the right thing by Barney. You obviously tried so hard to help him and a scan would just have caused him stress and discomfort, which is pointless if either of his options were to let him go.

Thanks. I just wish we'd have got a second opinion. I guess I found it even harder as he was young, and we never knew for certain what it was.

It is difficult as you should not be beating yourself up in hindsight. I would say that in general an xray or a scan is useful in any non-explainable illness just to rule out blockages etc.

it is so hard to lose a bunny and I think you always think 'what if' when you have to make that terrible decision to PTS.

I adopted some baby gerbils and one had to be put to sleep, the others died naturally. We eventually found out it was a bacterial infection that spread through my others and knowing this I managed to nurse the others through it. I always wish I had fought for that first baby, she was so young, but chances are they won't make it through something so serious.

It sounds like what your poor Barney had was something terrible - often these things in young animals can be a result of bad breeding and poor genetics if the blockage was so big you could feel it and he was displaying outward signs it sounds pretty serious and a scan would probably only have told you the reason he was being put to sleep, not helped you save him sweetie.

I agree with Nicola, the vet you now use didn't see him so can't say for sure what they would have done.

I'm so sorry that you lost Barney. It must have been so sad to lose him so young

Don't beat yourself up, I'm sure the vet wouldn't have advised it if it wasn't in Barney's best interests.

Oh Fran,

Firstly Barney was very lucky to have you as you did fight for him.

We are all guided by the advice of our vets and you did nothing wrong by doing this. You put what was best for barney before your need to keep hold of him and that is an incredibly selfless thing to do.

Putting him through a horrible operation would have been awful for you both hun, especially as he wasnt a strong bun to begin with bless him.

dont beat yourself up over this, the life he did have with you would have been wonderful and full of love, and that is all thats important. x x x

I agree with Everyone.... your new vet wasn't there. From your story I doubt Barney would have been up to an operation to rectify the problem.
You loved him... something he would know and he wouldn't want you unhappy; our buns know when we are sad.

When I lost both Toffee and Truffle (not at the same time), who were both relatively young, I had post mortems done. It helped ease my mind that everything had been done that was possible. And it put me at rest knowing there was no risk of infection to my other buns.

Thanks everyone for all your kind words. I guess deep down I knew his problem was pretty bad, especially as his health was never great to start with. It's a tough one not really knowing what it was but we didn't want to find out after he'd been pts as there didn't seem any point, and we just wanted him to be at rest.
He was a little terror, but I miss him.

I can only agree with everyone else. You have to go with the advice you were given, and your new vet wasn't there. Yes, he coul dhave had a x-ray or scan, but I can tell you that surgery to remove an intestinal mass is a last resort, and the rabbit very rarely recovers - it's very dangerous. Most vets won't do it and recommend PTS instead.

Barney had a loving family, home and everything he needed. From a rabbit's point of view, he had a wonderful life with you and I hope you can find comfort from that.

I think we all feel that we could have done more when we loose them, but in most cases, we couldn't really, they are fragile creatures; it's part of the grief of rabbit ownership that we have to get used to I'm afraid

Good that you have a bunny savvy vet now