Introducing...

awwwwww she is beautiful

those ears!

She is stunning. What a beautiful rabbit and those ears

She is absolutely gorgeous.

Aww, she's gorgeous Marley will be well impressed you got him such a cutie

Ahh she's sooo cute ^_^ looks a lot like my Thistle

What a beauty. No Photo ever does Rex fur any justice either x

No it doesnt - I keep saying to people look at how beautiful my new girl is and they hardly glance at her photo! But the ones who've seen/held her cooed over her.

Wow! she is a beauty.

Thank you

She's always putting her little feet up on her food bowl in her excitement to get to the food, like in the last piccy

xx

Hi All,

I have some very sad news. We no longer have Lady.

She had seemed fine - lively, playful with Marley - eating and drinking fine, etc. Right up until late night when we last went out to feed and see them. Both were tucking into their food - Lady in particular as I remember her attacking a piece of cauliflower almost the side of her head! She was fine.

When we first got her she felt thin, and had very thin fur, and living outside I set out straight away to encourage a bit more weight on her so she wasnt too cold etc. And I'd said only last night to my partner that I was pleased at how her fur seemed to be thickening, but that she didnt seem to have put on any weight and still felt very thin in comparison to Marley - they had the vet's this evening so I said I'd query this with the vet when we saw him.

This evening I came home from work and thought I'd go out and fetch the cat carrier from the shed as they both had an appointment for their myxi. On my way to the shed I glanced at the hutch and immediately saw something was wrong - Lady was on the ground floor, laid on her side. Normally they both jump about when they see me step out as they think its food coming, but she was laid still. I ran over and knew something was very wrong - there was no blood or any sign of injury but she was laying as though unconscious and very slow and shallow breathing.

I called the vet and explained she was ill and asked could I bring her in straight away - they said yes but I think the receptionist felt I was a bit of a drama queen.

In all honesty, as there was no signs of any injury I thought she'd probably fallen through from the top floor as she was laid at the bottom of the ramp and fell through when we first got her. This in mind I was worried about lifting her because I thought if she'd hurt her back I'd hurt her even more - but having no choice in the matter, I got her into the carrier.

Seemed to take me a lifetime to secure the hutch (Marley still being in there) lock up the house and drive to the vet. Naturally I got stuck behind several old people determined to drive far too slow. The whole process was awful. Even when I got to the vet the receptionist made me join the queue behind a couple paying the bill, then answered the phone before she'd help me I was nearly in tears and how I didnt scream at her I dont know. When she was good and ready I hurriedly announced who I was and she glanced into the carrier and decided actually it was urgent after all (!!!!) and got a vet nurse to take me straight into the examination room.

The nurse got her out (not before getting her lovely little ears caught on the door ) and laid her down, saying straight away that she was too cold and too thin. She looked at the basics (listened to heart, etc) and said she'd get a vet to look at her but that it was probably not good news. This I'd known since I saw her laying there but it was still very hard to hear.

On her return the vet had decided that it was unclear what was wrong - she was in severe shock, and that I could either wait and see if they could revive her by warming her up, giving fluids, trying to put some weight on her, but that I'd be looking at spending at least £300 and frankly they didnt feel there were any guarantees. Alternatively they said I could just wait 24 hours to see how it went, and make a decision then. Or "end it", as the nurse put things.

An awful decision as always - I knew that financially I couldn't do too much, plus the nurse said it would be "intensive" treatment long term which sounded traumatic for her. I did consider for a minute giving it the 24 hours to see how things went, but actually having seen her it really felt that she was in a bad way and suffering and I didnt feel it was fair to keep her like that for 24 hours for selfish reasons, especially as the outcome was still unlikely to be good.

So I made the hard decision to have her put down

I just feel awful because of things the nurse said to me - saying she was too cold and too thin, I cant help but wonder if I didnt look after her well, but having spoken to OH now he assures me she seemed perfectly warm before this. And as for her weight, I didnt go before because she was eating so much that I didnt see it could have been a problem...

I was also asked if I wanted to be with her and declined (as I couldnt have coped well with that) but then immediately feel awful for leaving her with strangers in her last minutes.

I think I made the right decision, but its hard not to worry that I've done wrong by her. We'll never know exactly what the problem was now, or how long she was laid there in the cold.

So feeling a big rubbish this evening we only had her 15 days but I'd become very attached very quickly to this little one as she was such a little darling xxx

Oh Sprite I'm so sorry, poor little girl. She won't be suffering anymore, you did the right thing. Lots of love to you, I know how it feels to lose something so precious. Sleep tightly little lady and have fun and the bridge xxxx

So sorry to hear that, I feel very sad after reading this, god knows how you must be feeling. Big hugs sending your way. Maybe there was something underlying which caused this, I think you made the right decision as it sounds like the intensive treatment would have been very traumatic for her when she was already in shock. Take care xxx

What a dreadful shock for you. You must have been so worried about her.

None of us can say what you should have done because you were there and we weren't. All you can do at the time is to listen to the vet, trust your eyes and instincts and make a decision based on those.

Try not to blame yourself too much as these decisions are always the hardest and most painful to make. xx

That's so sad Sometimes they are just beyond what we can do without causing more grief. She knew love for the time she was there, from you and Marley

Sleep tight Lady x

Thanks to you all for your kind words.

Obviously it's been a difficult few days for us. My OH has also been quite upset, but I have taken it a little harder I think as I am finding it hard not to keep thinking about how she looked, acted etc when she was in that poorly state.

Now that I've had some time to reflect on things, I realise that we probably did the right thing throughout her short little life. It's easy to think that if I'd known how little time she had I'd have done this or that for her, or that if only I'd taken her to the vet the previous day or she'd lasted a few hours longer, things would have been different. But they weren't. And hindsight is a wonderful thing - having talked to OH we feel confident that we did all that we could for her at the time, to make her life as happy and comfortable as possible, and that I made the right decision when I suddenly found myself in that horrible position. (Again, it's too easy to think "what if I'd given it 24 hours", etc, but we will never know, but at least I know this way she hasn't suffered any longer than she has to.)

We have discussed getting a new little companion for Marley, (who must be a tad confused, poor little man) and will definately do this, but not just yet. It's now quite cold out, and it wouldn't be fair to get a new little bunny and take her straight out into this cold. We also need some time to get over the horrible shock and loss we are feeling at the moment.

Again, thanks for the support - it's been nice to come online and read responses from people who understand, when most people seem to feel she was "just" a rabbit and not worth being upset about. x

What you lose someone you love, be it a person, a pet or 'just a rabbit', you grieve. Feeling guilty and wishing you had done things differently is part of the process and very normal. You did what you did for the best of reasons and gave her a happy, loving time while she was with you.

XX

Im so very sorry to hear whats happened.

You made her little life happy in the time you had her and no bun can ask for more than that.

Thinking of you and Marley.

Katie x

I'm ever so sorry for your loss, she was a real beauty. I am confident you did the right thing for her and that you cared for her in the best way possible, Marley is evidence of that

Thanks guys x

So sorry to hear this xxxx