Goodbye, my velveteen Rex.

Awe, this is another hard post to write. And I really didn't see it coming. This morning, even, I woke up and instantly wondered why everything was just carrying on as normal. Sometimes it feels like a death should be a little more momentous :(

But here is my Rexy Boy's story. He's was a pretty good age for a bunny, I gather. 4 and a half years. I remember the drive home with him. Shew he was tiny when we got him!

The boytjie has never been alone, he's always had Lily and Coal around to love and cuddle him. And he has been a great source of cuddles for them because he so adored Lily. And Coal so adored him.

And he grew to be such a big boy, with the most gorgeous, soft velveteen fur. Every time we visited the vet, the receptionists loved to stroke his lovely fur.

Unfortunately the boy went to the vet more often than any of my other bunnies. He had issues being neutered, he had issues with his eyes, he had issues with his footsies and in the end, he had issues with his sinus. The curse of coming from a breeder, perhaps.

His snotty nose hasn't cleared up at all since it started. It would come and go and sometimes be more noticable than at other times, but you could hear him sneezing a few times a day in little bursts of about 10. We did everything we could for that.

Unfortunately that probably was the post-nasal drip that turned into the pnemonia, which killed him :(

I don't really spend too much time with the bunnies on week-day mornings because it's cold and dark and I don't let them out for a run around because I do not have enough time to make it worth their while. All I do is pop outside to give them fresh food and water. So I didn't notice anything amis on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday afternoon I popped home from work to get changed for boot camp and then headed out. I don't even go outside usually because, again, there isn't enough time for them to run around but if they see me they'll think that's what's about to happen.

When I got home from boot camp, just before 6pm (thank goodness there wasn't the traffic from Monday evening because I only got home after 6 then). I usually give Gyps some food and then go immediately to get the key to open up for the bunnies. As soon as I did that, I could see there was something wrong. He was wheezing badly and looked drained and exhausted. Like he wasn't getting enough oxygen and had no energy for anything.

I scooped him up into the box and rushed off to the vet (which closes at 6pm), still in my sweaty boot camp clothes. I was in tears. I knew there was something very very wrong here.

He had a chest xray to rule out tumours. There were none. It was clear he had severe pnemonia. So the vets kept him overnight. To administer antibiotics by injection and nebulise him and give him whatever else they could. They said they were confident in the short term, but more concerned for the long term (the stronger antibiotics, that they didn't even get to give him, have side effects of kidney failure).

The short-term didn't turn out so well for him either tho. The vet phoned at 8am yesterday morning to tell me he'd died overnight. I'm glad I was at home, with The Trucker (I had a late workshop yesterday so only came in at 10am).

My poor boy. He was such a lovable cuddly little guy. He didn't especially like being held ... but he'd tolerate it occasionally. He always came running to me when I was outside, in case I had a treat for him. He loved his treats.

And he adored Lil. Who I'm most sad for. I'm not sure if she knows what is potting yet. I've been giving her a lot of cuddles in the last few days. Which she is less than impressed about ;) But she is now all alone in that big hutch. And while Gyps and Rexy were forming a sort of friendly tolerance and interaction, which I was keen to watch develop, Lily & Gyps do not have the same sort of relationship. So I doubt there is any comfort to be found there for her :( Poor little bunny girl.

We aren't going to make any future pet decisions till we get back from USA & Bermuda in October ... but I also dunno if getting a new bunny at this stage (Lil is almost 5!) is a good idea either.

Sob. Goodbye my Rex. You will be missed.