My baby Theodore, as pictured, passed away a month ago due to stasis. He was my son who I dedicated all of my time to. He was only five months, I raised him from eight weeks old. I noticed he seemed sad in the morning before I left for work. So, I refreshed and put out some additional enrichment mats and his dig box for when I left for work. I came back and noticed he hadn’t pooped any more and immediately took him to the vet. When I picked him up I knew it was serious. He felt like a ragdoll. This happened to my previous bunny three years ago. He died tragically and suddenly of a stroke and when I picked him up he felt like a ragdoll. This previous bunny, Chester, I was less educated on bunny care. So I made it my mission to give Theodore, the bunny pictured, a beautiful, long, safe, and happy life. I did everything I could but I miss him everyday. I wish I took him to the vet instead of going to work, I had no idea he wasn’t just cranky. I miss my baby, but unfortunately I can never go through this again. I also can’t help but think I could have saved both of them.

I have so much immense grief, I’ve been reading everyone’s posts and just wanted to engage with the bunny community for support and guidance. I feel very lost without my son, but I know I have to move on.

My 6 y/o bun just got diagnosed with an extremely rare condition called Polycystic Kidney Disease. Although seen in cats, my local specialist has never seen it in Buns before.
I want to get insurance now that we will be going to the vet more often but was looking between Nationwide and PetAssure. MetLife isn’t in my state, so that isn’t an option.
I have two bunnies and a cat. Does anyone have any experience with these providers, and can you offer your opinions!
TYIA

My sweet girl crossed the rainbow bridge last night, a week before her 8th birthday. I got her as a rescue at 6-months old. She was a dwarf lop, free-roam, and truly my best friend.

She always had a clean bill of health, until late June of this year. I noticed she had suddenly started to eat noticeably less hay, and immediately booked her a vet visit later in the week. The night before that appointment, her left eye started substantially bulging with her third eyelid swollen. I was terrified, and immediately took her to the emergency vet, as my normal vet had just closed. She was entering stasis, and stayed the weekend at the emergency hospital where they stabilized her and proceeded to do a molar trim. She had an overgrown tooth that had grazed her cheek, we presumed likely causing infection.

Her eye was slowly getting back to normal, but she clearly was still unwell. I transferred her care back to her regular vet, and proceeded to do a CT. We discovered she had a fractured molar. She quickly developed an abscess. We went in to have the abscess and tooth surgically removed. However the surgeon said the tooth was too stable to be removed, and hoped it would grow out naturally and the fracture would wear down with time. The abcess was removed, and an antibiotic bead was put in.

Recovery from all of this was brutal. She fought me extensively taking Critical Care, which we had to do 3x a day for weeks. It felt like I was torturing her, though I knew it was for her own good. I also begun giving her daily Pen G injections (in addition to pain medications of course). It was an emotionally difficult recovery for both of us, but by late July she seemed back to her old self.

She went for a vet check up in late August, and they said we all seemed well, and we could discontinue Pen G.

Come September 1st, her left eye is leaking white pus and her nose is running. She is still eating well at this point. I take her back to the vet, where we culture the bacteria, and start her again on Pen G. The bacteria found was receptive to penicillin, and her eye resolves within a week or so. However I begin to worry. The bacteria they found was associated with dental infections. But the vet says we should just monitor and see how she does. So we do, and continue daily Pen G.

She was seeming to be doing so well, finally, and was more cuddly and affectionate than she ever had been before. Always wanting to be pet, jumping on my lap, giving me so many kisses. Those days were a blessing.

1 week ago, I pet her and feel the abscess has returned. I get her a vet appointment the same day. I am told she will need another CT, more surgery. I am unsure what to do. I had spent over $10,000 at this point on her care, which was a struggle. I live in a very expensive metro city, so costs here are much higher.

But I decided to proceed and try again. I wanted more time with her. We just must wait for surgery day. Very quickly within the next 5 days her condition worsened. Her eyelid became swollen and her eye again filled with pus. She stopped eating hay. I give her pain medication, additional antibiotics, critical care. I keep my vet updated on her condition.

Finally, yesterday, surgery day. I had been going through so much anticipatory grief while waiting and watching her get sick again. But I convinced myself it was treatable - the vet said her fractured tooth likely became infected, and if we remove it, it should resolve. I told her, and myself, that it would all be okay. That she would feel better soon.

They do the CT and this seems to be the case, a clear cause that can be treated. I am overjoyed. Then I get a call after surgery. The infected root was too deep and they could not remove it. They would need to do a much more invasive surgery at a later date, cutting open the bones on her face to access it, which were very close to her eye. Even then, they could not guarantee they could remove it all. And that she had another abscess on her cheek that they couldn’t find a definitive cause for. With the infected root remaining, recurrence was inevitable, but we couldn’t know how long it would take. It could be a week, it could be 3 months. It was unpredictable. And when it comes back, there would be a fair chance it would be retrobulbar, and require removing her eye.

They had removed as much of the infected tooth as they could, and removed the visible abscess. I could have taken her home then. And waited to see how she did. Waited until it came back, and she got sick again. But I was so afraid that I would bring her home, have her endure another difficult recovery, and it would reoccur soon after. And her last weeks would be ones of discomfort, suffering, confusion, and pain.

And so I decided to say goodbye yesterday. To spare her from the potential pain and discomfort. But I was so terrified in that moment. And waking up this morning without her here - I desperately regret it.

I had decided in advance I did not want to put her through endless surgeries (and honestly, put myself through it either). It was also very hard to justify going thousands of dollars further in debt, knowing it would impact my own security.

But now that she is gone, I would do anything to have her back. For even a little more time. And I wish I would have brought her home. I could have. She already had finished surgery to improve her condition. She was stable for all we knew. She may have recovered well. We may have had more months together. We could have done the more invasive procedure after that to try and remove the root. Maybe we could’ve had another year together. But she also could have suffered, and the infection could have worsened, and she could have spent this time in pain. I know this. I cannot imagine what it would be like, to have this constant pressure inside your head, to have pain when you eat (which was her favorite thing to do!). But she also may have been fine. I don’t know, and I never will. I just miss her terribly. And it hurts tremendously to know I could have her with me right now if I had waited, and brought her home. I feel like it was a decision I made in such crisis and grief, and fear of what was to come. I am not sure how to forgive myself. She meant the entire world to me.

Any insight from anyone else who went through similar would be much appreciated.

he is the sweetest thing on earth. he loves to flop over and get full body massages 🥰

Not sure how it happened, but my boy managed to fracture his leg. I was able to get him in to the vet the same day I noticed him limping, but I had to drop him off this morning to get his cast, and then pick him up again.

So we're three vet trips and $1,117.38 in at the moment. The vet wants me to bring him in once a week to assess the cast, and in four weeks get another x-ray.

He's doing well, still a little high and keeps spacing out while eating hay. If anyone has any tips for stopping him and his bondmates chewing the cast, I will take them.

This loss has been exceptionally hard because it was so sudden. Even if I only had her for 16 months she leaves such a little void.

I found Ruby last summer under a car in my neighborhood. It took about three weeks of daily visits with treats before I was finally able to catch her. With no intention of keeping her I set her up temporarily on my porch until we could treat her fleas and then move her into my office. She was underweight and overall in rough shape. Nearly all of the local shelters were full and after caring for her for a few weeks I grew to really love her.

We decided to keep her and get her spayed. The vet couldn't really determine an age and I couldn't get anything useful from the neighborhood I found her in who were all quite indifferent to her. It took a few months for her and Harrison to work out their relationship, but she ultimately adored him.

She wasn't an energetic bun. She was quite, gentle, and finally opened up to ask for pets, but never made big stinks.

Sadly, yesterday morning around 7:00 AM we noticed she wasn't very interested in her morning pellets so we administered some baby gas drops and tummy massages as we had done before, but this time around the early afternoon she wasn't better. The rabbit specialist wasn't in at my vet and we called 5 more vets around and none had the resources to see rabbits. We tried to feed her some critical care and water and then around 7:00 PM took her to an ER for pain medicine and fluids. They also didn't have a rabbit specialist so we took her home and kept her as warm and comfortable as we could. This morning her normal vet took us in 30 minutes before they even opened and set up fluids. X-Rays didn't seem to show any blockage, but her bloodwork wasn't good. Sadly, she would pass from her hearts shortly after. They believe there was an unknown condition and that the G.I. stasis was a symptom and not the cause. Ultimately, I feel some level of comfort knowing we tried our very best to save her, but it sure hurts to lose her and so very suddenly.

I loved my little Ruby - Ruby Booby, Rubles, Rutabaga, Rhubarb, Roo, Roo-Roo - she was my little princess. It hurts terribly and I miss her dearly. It saddens me that she went through such a tough life, but I'm so very grateful that I was able to make her last 16 months pleasant with a bed of her own, unlimited hay, treats, food, binkies, and pets. I'm so grateful she let me catch her.

Thank you for letting me share this.

So I have a bun who has been having these messy runny poos for about a year and half and we finally found a good vet that knows what’s going on. He has a sort of harmless bacteria in his gut and in his poo that causes poopy butt and loose stools. Also he never does these in the litter box so my room is constantly a poo mess if I don’t stay on top of it. Back to the point. We tried Benebac(?) and that didn’t work and luckily that one tasted good so he took it willingly. The new med we’re trying, he doesn’t like the taste of and has to be fed like 4 small syringes worth twice a day. Unfortunately my buns both hate being picked and I can’t find a solution around it. If I can’t grab him quickly and immediately, I have to chase him around which we both absolutely hate and ik stresses him a lot. This process twice a day is taxing on both of us and I’m worried if this med works that he’ll be on it the rest of his life. I can’t gradually get him used to the pick up process bc he needs these meds immediately and it could take weeks to months to get him used to that. I also don’t know the best way to get him used to the pickup process. When they’re eating I try to slowly put my hand underneath their belly and occasionally lift them for a second or two but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. I’ve also mashed banana into his medicine and he won’t take it willingly still even though my buns like bananas quite a bit. Is there an easier way I can go about this without stressing my rabbit out so much. I’ve seen a few people mention leaving him on the ground and tucking his butt against their armpit as they feed him but my bun won’t stay still for that and will run away. He also doesn’t like being pet very much, only on his behind occasionally so I’m really at my wits end. Does anyone have some advise. I could really use it, I’ve scoured the internet and I’m truly lost. Nari is the black bunny in the pictures who’s been having the problems.

Nine years with this sweet boy and he still snuggles against me on the sofa! Thank you Bunji, for “gotcha”-ing me nine years ago 💙💙💙💙

maple is a rescue and doesn't like being petted very much. she started shedding like 3 weeks ago and she's only gotten off the fur off that allows me to touch. i love my little weird looking girl

Just a lil guy

I couldn’t get a good video of her but she was dreaming in the second picture 😴

I've seen a few vets now including an exotic vet.

Because he's an old rabbit, he didn't qualify for surgery as it would be cruel but the vet said it's likely an ear infection/ear disease. He has been treated for panacur for a while now. No improvement.

One day he just snapped. Running in a circle. Head and eyes moving left to right really quick. It did slow down. When we eventually seen the exotic vet she gave him stemetil for the dizziness and meloxicam. She said his head doing that will be his new self now.

I feel cruel for keeping him alive. He just sits there all day everyday. Still eats, drinks, pees, rests and has a big appetite for treats. But he now can't jump out his cage he's completely blind now just sees bits of light. Just sits there and his head moving to the right over and over like a slow closing door. It's hard to watch. If I carry him into the garden he just sits there and his head moves to the right over and over.

I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm prolonging suffering but vet said he just seems confused and nauseous. So he is on stemetil for the dizziness.

I just don't know what to do. I don't think he's going to recover and I feel cruel letting him stay alive but then he still eats, drinks, pees, has an appetite for treats. But is that enough? When he just sits there.

I had him outside in the garden the other day and he was eating grass nonstop for a whole hour or more. So I'm so confused on how to determine if it's time or not. Today I put him outside and he just sat there with his head moving to right over and over. But tomorrow he may be different again if it's day time. I don't know.

I’ve noticed that my bun will use his poops like a strategic weapon, such as when someone is in his Designated Area or when my friend who always reeks of dog visits and he (bun) poops in this guy’s shoes and around his stuff. And yeah I know it’s a way to mark territory but I’ve only ever seen it when hes upset about something. Today, I came down as I always do to pet him and do the little morning routine and he shot out and started doing binkies all over! Then he started buzzing and running around my feet and as he was, he started pooping. His little butt made a fairy ring around me. And since he’s litter trained he rarely leaves droppings outside his pen. Hes perfectly healthy, but it’s just something I’ve never seen him do before. I can’t complain if it’s him just being super affectionate! I’m proper chuffed! But does anyone else’s rabbits do this? Cheers xx

I recently just got a new baby bunny and I already have one. They're both males. When I let them first meet the baby bunny, he started humping him a few times, but then stopped it seemed like and now he just follows the baby around and when I put him back into his pin the baby will come up to it and reach his arms through and like stand up and almost kind of seemed like he wants in. He will hop away from the baby for a second and then hop right back to it and when he gets to the baby I don't know if he's like grooming or sniffing him or what he's doing necessarily, but the baby is also trying to sit under his belly. Anything I should be worried about or does that sound pretty normal I'm definitely still new to being a bunny mom but I'm trying my best and I'm doing as much research as I can.

I've been ordering from small pet select for the past few years but I'm increasingly getting frustrated with the quality of the hay, the website, and their service. I've been buying their 2nd cut for a few years from them, but the last several months most of the hay is brown, dull, and dusty looking. Some time ago I ordered a box of pellets and it came half the weight it was supposed to be. They made it right by delivering another box, but that experience continues to stay with me and their ongoing bad hay is just adding to it. Then when I went into the website, it took several screens to cancel a subscription with a bunch of deceiving buttons to try to prevent you from canceling, some Temu style prize boxes, a spinning wheel, and a bunch of text messages. The whole experience now feels cheap and ugly.

I have two Flemish giants so they eat quite a bit