Had to have poor thumper put to sleep :-(

[Sarahbump1]

This is my first post - usually just a bit of a lurker but I'm so heartbroken I just needed somewhere to vent .

Poor thumper was diagnosed with E. cuniculi this morning - took him straight to the vets as soon as I saw the head tilt (8am as soon as I got home from work was fine usual self the night before ) but he was rapidly deteriorating in front of our eyes . Within an hour he was having tremors and mini fits and both back legs paralysed .

I'm so heart broken . I just keep thinking did I do the right thing? Should I have gone for the treatment?

The vet told me that there is a very poor success rate and it might have been a months treatment for him to be the same at the end of it anyway.

I couldn't put him through that.
I'm so sad :-(

I really think you did the right thing even though it is heartbreaking. I had to do the same thing Georgina had the same complaint, was eating but couldn't move her back legs so not a good quality of life. I have had rabbits for over thirty years but it has never got easier whether one dies or I have had it put to sleep. Mine have all been free range or house rabbits and I believe that if they aren't running around they don't have a good quality of life. I have an 8.5 years old rabbit who lives indoors with his third wife aged 7 years ish, don't know her exact age as she was dumped in the local park, who free range in the garden during the day, along with 4 other rabbits who live in a specially built house not hutches. Can you tell I and my family are rabbit mad !

I only have the one bunny now, list his brother last year to myxi. It was horrific

Is there a vaccination against the E cuniculi? Where is it from?

So sorry

We went through the same thing with Nibbler. He was the best bun in the world but was constantly plagued with a snuffles type illness. When he first showed signs of head tilt we were warned that it was incredibly hard to treat but of course we wanted to try anything given that he wasn't suffering at that stage. Nibby held on for a couple of months until one morning he too was fitting and his back legs gone. He'd got to know the vet so well that even she was crying when we put him to sleep

You did the right thing, no-one wants their bun to suffer. Head tilt is a god awful thing and I wish they could vaccinate against it.

Katherine Kavanagh - I was told that it starts life like an ear infection from little 'mites' that are present in all buns. The infection then slowly makes its way to the brain and sadly once there it's beyond any sort of treatment the problem is that it can go unnoticed until the head starts to tilt as there are not any other outward signs.

Oh that sounds horrific too

Why are bunnies the ones to have such awful illnesses?

I'm a guinea owner so haven't been through this. But reading all the posts on here which are so sad, I'm sorry for all your losses and everyone who pts their beloved pet suffering this horrible illness, you did the right thing.

Thank you for your replies - I'm still not quite over it yet . I know he was just a bunny but he was part of the family :-(

I keep thinking sometimes that maybe I should have given him the chance - but I know deep down it wouldn't have been fair on him . To put him through that and just prolonged the inevitable :-(

DD (7) was devastated when I told her - but we're in Cornwall on our hold now so at least that's taking her mind off it .

I'm now really worried about my other bunny tibby - but she is being given a course of preventative treatment just in case - I'm just lucky my mums a rabbit person or I would have had to of waited until we came back of hold to treat her as the inlaws who were supposed to be rabbit sitting would have never been able to pick her up to give her the medicine . Fingers crossed she turns out ok !!

So sorry to hear about your bunny - it's awful when you lose them but I think you did the right and brave thing.

Fingers crossed for your other bun!