Rabbit just gone to vet..

[diddl]

and I fear she won´t be coming back.

She appears to have head tilt, so I´m hoping a treatable ear infection, but can´t help fearing the worst.

Sending you lots of positive vibes. It's not always really bad news, so hang in there

Keep us posted, please x

Her temperature was low & she is in a coma

Vets are going to warm her & see what happens.

I don´t understand-the room they are in is cool, but not as cold as before they came in from outside.

Not sure if she´s got something that has caused her temp to drop or if her getting cold is the cause iyswim.

Well,it didn´t work.

When husband went back, she´d died in the meantime.

Now worried about other as don´t know what caused it.

sorry for your rabbit. i lost two last year.

Yes, thinking the other might not last much longer but don´t think we want another.

Just will have to make sure he gets even more attention everyday.

So sorry to hear this diddle

Sick rabbits are unable to regulate their temperatures properly and can become hypothermic very quickly, so I'm sure this was just another symptom of the illness that caused her head tilt, rather than the cause of it.

Well, we´re all cried out, for the moment-daughter & I anyway.

We´ve had crap comfort food for lunch-hotdogs and the little mite has been buried.

It seems that she had got worse between here & vets & I think if we´d done nothing she could have died with my daughter holding her.

Problem then is you get the what if it was treatable scenario.

At least we had an idea this morning so were able to have cuddles & a little goodbye "just in case" before she went to the vet.

You're allowed to eat as much junk as you want Diddl, it's practically a rule in these circumstances. It's good that you both got the chance to say goodbye to her - I definitely think you would have suffered from the 'what if?' thoughts if you hadn't. It sounds like she passed away peacefully and was well loved throughout her life, which is a lot more than a lot of rabbits get, just remember that

It's such a shame for your boy rabbit - we've got a bonded pair and I don't know what we'll do when one of them goes, it's horrible thinking of them on their own after having company for so many years. But another rabbit probably wouldn't go down too well with him anyway, and then when he goes the new rabbit would be left alone so you'd have to get another one, and the cycle just continues. Just give him lots of attention and treats and I'm sure he'll be fine. Or have you thought about getting him an indoor cage/hutch/dog crate so he can live in one of the busier family areas of the house for company, and you could let him hop around and play with DD when you're at home? I don't know what your circumstances are so this might not be possible (we couldn't do it with our boy rabbit because he's huge and the big 'brave' labradors are scared of him!) but if you've got the space it's something to consider.

Just wanted to add (not very nice subject, sorry) that if you buried her in the garden, it's best to put a big heavy rock or piece of slate over the area (you can get them in B&Q) because foxes are desperate for food at this time of year and might dig her up, which would be really awful

I'm sorry to hear about your rabbit diddl. I wanted to suggest that you speak to your vet about treating your other rabbit for E.cuniculi a parasite that affects the nervous systsm of rabbits and one of the most common symptoms is head tilt. It is really easy to treat in the early stages and if you were my client I would be suggesting it for your other rabbits.
As a rabbit owner my Mummy bunny was brutally murdered this time last year and her son and companion Percy bunny lived very happily alone for 7 months (till he was brutally murdered to - we have a horrible fox that can break into rabbit cages). He actually seemed to be happier alone, though he was the brains of the outfit.

Sorry to hear about the rabbit. Hope the other one stays healthy and isn't too miserable by himself.

And Lizcat, I'm to hear about the fox breaking into your hutch. What kind of hutch was it? We have this type, and I've always though it was pretty much foxproof with a few extra locks on the doors.

Yes we´ll keep a close eye on our other rabbit and more than likely take him for a check Monday.

I do feel bad for him being alone but the animals were really for the children-although I´ve loved them & cared for them also.

But we have found them a bit of a tie also re holidays.
We also have guinea pigs & three dwarf hamsters who started off together but are now in a cage each.

So that´s 5 cages!

It was last night when rabbit seemed to be off her food, although she did have a little run around (and a wee!)

This morning it looked as if she had sat in the bed all night, & by the time she was at the vet she was in a coma, so I don´t think we could have done more.

Hopefully she didn´t suffer-there was no grinding of teeth which I´ve heard they can do.

I understand what you mean about the caged animals - we have 2 rabbits, 1 guinea pig (had 2 up until last year), 2 cats and 2 dogs, and the rabbits and GP are the most difficult. We didn't even set out to have them - our first rabbit was a pity case. She was 4 months old when I saw her in a little pet shop I'd popped into on my way home, and was in a tiny glass tank that she could hardly move in. There was a sign stuck to the glass saying 'Free rabbit, must go this week, on death row!' like it was some joke. Horrible man grrr (business went down the pan a few months later, that's karma for you!). I couldn't leave her there, so instead of some cat litter I left with a beautiful black long-haired lionhead rabbit in a box! It was my birthday though (and t'was fate, obviously!), so DH couldn't shout A few weeks later, when the outdoor 'rabbit mansion' was finally built, we got her a companion - a dwarf lionhead rabbit, or so we thought. He just kept growing and growing, and is now almost 5kg and twice the size of her! But then again, he was also supposed to be a 'she', so what did we expect?! The guinea pigs belonged to our neices, but one of them became allergic so they had to go, and we agreed to take them so the girls could still visit. So then there were four!

As much as I love them, I wouldn't have caged animals again. I used to have a horse and I would almost put them on par with that commitment wise - cleaning out daily, fresh greens every morning, fresh hay and water twice a day, checking them morning and night, cold proofing in winter, heat proofing in summer, exercising, nail trimming, grooming etc etc - and it's impossible to get someone to look after them when you go away. Actually, scratch that, I could always get someone on the yard to look after the horse - rabbits are harder! And, as lovely as they are, you just don't get much back from them like you do with dogs or horses.

I think a lot of people underestimate the amount of space and care rabbits need, and think they're the ideal pets. When someone asks me for an easy pet, I say get a cat - or a goldfish!

Yes, our guinea pigs were from a school friend of my daughter who was going to get them PTS.

The rabbits were rescue ones.

It was a dwarf lionhead that we lost today-hardly bigger than the piggies.

The one we have left is supposed to be a dwarf lionhead & he is twice the size that she was.

Maybe that´s the male female ratio?

I think he is quite small compared to"ordinary" rabbits-and definitely very light in weight & not very thick fur.

I have heard that Lionheads are a relatively new breed and not especially hardy.

Our female sounds very similar - she's a bit bigger than the guinea pig but not much. But the boy rabbit is massive, I'd probably put him at about 4 times the size of the female, and he's bigger than the cats! The vet said he's the biggest rabbit that she's ever seen outside the giants, and you should see the size of his feet! He's also got a very thick coat and only a small lionhead 'fringe', whereas the girl is complete fluff all over, you can hardly see her eyes or her ears, they're all hidden in mounds of fluffy black hair. You wouldn't think they were the same breed at all. They don't seem to mind though!

Yep, just looked up the notes from when we took them to the vet a couple of weeks ago - female 1.4kg, male 4.8kg - that means he's over three times her weight! Our cats were weighed at their boosters in January and they were 4kg and 4.5kg, so he's quite a bit heavier than them - I must have the fattest rabbit in the world! It's a wonder the girl hasn't got squashed