Your Pet Loss Stories

by Bree
(Perth, Australia)

I still remember the night I went to pick up my beautiful bunny it was April 2009, she was black and I picked her myself from a group of bunnys my friend was giving away and I loved her instantly... I called her Snuffy. We also picked another bunny that night a white one that we called Snowy....

I remember being so very happy and I immediately treated them like my own kids (I don't have any children) I spent time with them every single day and they were my companions at night when my husband worked....

Christmas 2009 my husband gave me another bunny a grey one and we called him Snitch.... although I loved him so much, Snuffy was still "my little girl".

In April 2010 we found out both Snowy and Snuffy were pregnant and I had a brilliant time helping my Snuff to be a mummy and raise her babies. We gave most of the babies from both rabbits to a pet store but we decided to keep a baby from each of our rabbits. Snowy's baby was called "Snowy jnr" and Snuffy's baby was called "Muffin" but we call her Muffy.... I loved having my 5 rabbits and each of them bought a different personality to our family...

Snuffy was our calm and mellow bunny, she never bit us and would always calmly sit in my arms or on a towel on our lounge suite at night whilst I watched tv... if she needed to wee she would gently "nip" me and I knew that meant she needed to go outside. She would lay with me and was a great mummy to Muffy... she did thump when she was frustrated and grunted as well but this hardly ever happened... she was quite simply perfect and best of all she was mine!

I think the best memory I have of her is that each and every time I went to the cage to feed our babies it was Snuffy that was running back and forth along the front of the cage and sitting up on her back legs to "inspect" whether we were putting enough food in and she was ALWAYS the first to the food and water bowls.... She was the smallest out of all of out bunnies but by far she ate the most. This is how she got her nickname of "food nazi" and we loved her for it. The excitement on her face at hearing us walk up to the cage with the hay bag or food into the food bowl is now etched in my mind...

Our bunnies are our babies and they are our life...

So 3 days ago I lost my beautiful Snuffy and I'm still in complete shock... I work away and I returned from work last Thursday to notice that Snuffy seemed "odd", I went to feed the bunnies and whilst Snuffy would normally be the first to the food bowl, she simply sat in the corner of the cage facing the other way. I thought it was strange and kept and eye on her but at this stage I wasn't overly worried.

Later that night I bought her inside and to see if she was hungry I put out food and water bowls.... she turned away, I was puzzled and starting to worry.... I gave her lettuce (her fave) she turned away again... I called the 24 hr vet hospital who gave me advice and I kept trying. I stayed up all night and she wouldn't eat or drink, I took her to the vet the next morning at 7am and a lovely lady saw her and gave me some antibiotics to help her and told me to syringe baby food into her mouth.

I kept trying all day and she wouldn't have anything more than her medicine or a few mls of water... I was definately worried so took her to my regular vet that afternoon, he gave her another shot of something to rehydrate her and told me to come see him the next day if she wasn't any better.... still all through the night she continued to not eat and barely drank, I was beside myself and couldn't shift this feeling in my stomach that something was seriously wrong...

The next day after still no more eating or drinking I returned to the vet.... he checked her again and found a lump in her stomach... my heart sank and my body went numb... he said he would do surgery on her to remove the lump but she may not make it.... I called my husband crying but we knew we would have to do something as with her not eating she would die of starvation if we just left her...

I sat in the room next door to the surgery room and after giving her a cuddle and a "I love you" she went in for surgery.... I sobbed uncontrollably and text my mum to come and be with me... moments later she came out and the vet nurse said she did well... I got asked if I wanted to hold her so wrapped in a towel I held my beautiful girl for 15 minutes... if only I had known it would be my last cuddle...

Minutes later after deciding if she would stay at the vet til monday morning or come home with me I decided to leave her at the vet as they could monitor her and there was medication available if she took a turn for the worse... I left the vets with a heavy heart but truly believing I'd be picking up my girl on Monday...

3 hours later I'm at home with my mum and I receive a call from the vet, with a shaking hand and tears in my eyes I'm told that she has woken fully from the anaesthetic and has gotten up to eat and drink.... my heart soars and I'm smiling from ear to ear... then the news... shortly after eating, my beautiful girl deteriorated and passed away......

My entire world came crashing down....

My gentle, calm and good nature friend, my companion and my gorgeous food nazi is gone...

How could my beautiful girl be gone...

And now nothing will ever be the same again... I'm devastated, I'm lost and I still can't believe that I'll never see her again.

My beautiful Snuffy... you were a beautiful animal and you will live on forever in our hearts and through your little girl Muffy who we treasure so very much... Rest in Peace our Snuff and know that we will love you forever... our litle food nazi we miss you so very very much xx