Lost A Friend Today Options

[sapphireluna]

Hi. I haven't been here in a while, but I needed to come back as another friend has left, so suddenly too. Less than a year after my beloved cat passed away, I had my newly adopted rabbit die on me yesterday.

I'm really sad. Something terrible happened. I adopted a second rabbit less than 2 weeks ago and yesterday she passed away. I didn't have her for very long and yet I can't stop crying. Mostly because I think it was my fault.
I think she died from a heat stroke that could've been avoided. While she got used to my other rabbit, she was living away from him in the kitchen. But it has been really hot this week, today was really hot and humid and my house really gets hot easily. Her water bowl was full this morning when I left for work and it was completely empty when I came home. That's what makes me believe it was a heat stroke. There was nothing around that could've been harmful. I should've put her in a cooler place..There was too much light in the kitchen. Rabbits are very prone to heat strokes. My other bunny was in a different room which was cooler and darker. That`s why I`m pretty sure it's the heat...

When I came home I saw she hadn't eaten much and wouldn't touch her carrots which she adored. I could see she wasn't well. I left to go to the store to buy her nice herbs to help her eat more, but when I came back she was lying on her side, all stiff and I knew it was too late. If I had recognized the signs earlier, I could've tried to save her.

I feel so terrible! She was alive and hopping around just a few days ago. This didn't have to happen. It's my fault she died. She was so sweet and well behaved. I feel so bad. I knew it was hot, but I didn't think it would be this bad.I should've known better. She wasn't even a year old! I didn't even have time to make friends with her properly. I had been looking forward to getting a second rabbit for a long time...I had been watching her at the shelter for a while. It makes me very sad to think she'd still be alive if I hadn't brought her home. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to make friends with my other rabbit and be with us for a long time. She didn't deserve that. She had been at the SPCA all her life, and when she finally got a home she died. The adoption lady told me it's not my fault, that these things happen because rabbits are so fragile but I still feel responsible. I put her through this and she must have been in much pain when she died.

Here's a picture. Her name was Felicia
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/sap...na/DSC00257.jpg

[Gretta's Mom]

Hello SapphireLuna

I am so sorry about the passing of your new bunny. Like Moonbeam has said so beautifully, the two weeks Ms Felicia spent with you had to be the happiest days of her life. I have no experience with bunnies, but from what people have written here it seems that they are VERY fragile. Sapphireluna, her passing is no ones' fault, least of all yours. Whoever made this universe made our precious fur-babies' lifespans much shorter than ours. It could have been anything - most likely some underlying condition that nobody knew about. Everything, EVERYTHING, you did for her was out of that special love some very rare people give and get when their very own one-in-the-world spirit-animal finds them and asks to be with them. That's you and Ms Felicia. And as wonderful as it is when we can see and touch them, that's how horrible it is when they go on to the perfect world. I think it was Moonbeam (a very wise person) who said that reason the hole in our hearts will never go away is the our soul-mate took part of it with them - and left us with a part of theirs. Felicia is safe, not in pain, and is going around that perfect world bragging to all her new friends about the most spectacular two weeks of her life. I'll send my Gretta (a beautiful chocolate lab, the kindest dog who ever lived) over to meet her - is she hasn't already.

There are ALWAYS should-have, could-have, would-haves - I think part of it is that demon guilt that human souls are so prone to and part of it is an expression of the deep sadness we feel and the even deeper longing for "just one more minute" (another demon). Sapphireluna, this site is a life-saver. It's peopled with those rare people whose spirit animals has found them in this whole wide world - and who have gived and received the best kind of love there is. We're here and we care. Many of us write through tears - in fact right after Gretta passed I felt there were so many tears inside me needing to be shed I came here and read the stories just to release some of the sadness. Your Felicia is an amazing creature. She packed a lifetime of love into just two weeks. You go, Ms Felicia.

Thank you for sharing your bunny-bun with us. Please keep in touch.

Gretta's mom