i knew we were going to lose her and not because of an underlying heart condition or because she was too old..we lost her because i royally fucked up. puff has had ongoing issues with snuffles and she got all snotty and sick last week again. i told the staff to start her back on her meds and they did. but i forgot to follow up with how she was doing cuz i am not doing so great myself. and unfortunately she missed her antibiotics for three days because i am not the only one who sometimes forgets things. tammy told me on sunday she looked like crap and she did and i could see from her med bottle that she had not been getting her meds so i cleaned her up and started her back on them right away, but it was too late. puff died during the night because i seriously dropped the ball for her and i am so very sorry.
we will look at the med system that we currently have and try to add better safeguards and follow ups. my just shooting off verbal orders and moving on is not even close to good enough for what that little rabbit deserved. all of us feel like shit around here cuz all of us could have done a lot better for her.
the other issue in that rabbit room is..in the winter it is much too moist. our old dehumidifier has not been doing a very good job in there this year and i should have replaced it sooner. i replaced it today but again, it is a bit late.
too little too late.... is the largest cause of death for all animals everywhere...and today it was the cause of death for a little innocent bunny here at saints.
all we can do from this point on is to make sure we tighten up our sick animal ship and try to ensure from this moment on...we do a much better job.
i am so sorry puff...and sorry i know is not good enough.
Rabbits are very tricky so it's highly doubtful her missing 3 days of meds would have caused her death.
Rabbits are soooooooooooooooooooo good at hiding illness that by the time they exhibit visible symptoms, it is often too late...even if at the vets.
For me, I've never seen a bun get better with 3 days of meds, so her missing the 3 days would have not been the cause of her death.....she may have already been well on her way.
They are such stoic, tough little critters yet at the same time so terribly fragile. They are quite, don't shout out or whine and hide their suffering. With buns, it's often a case of 20/20 and I am still learning alot each day from them. Even when you are extremely vigilant, you can still miss things.
She had a good life, safe, in the comany of other buns and not left to rot in an outdoor hutch.
RIP Puff - I know you will ahve lots of friends to binky with at the bridge.