sarahtrg
Member
Three years ago I adopted a mini lop male whom I dubbed Erik. He was approximately one year old at the time and was neutered immediately. I had no other pets in the house and for awhile it was just him and I. He is super friendly and learned to use a litter box really quickly which meant he had free roam of the house. I started being gone for several hours at a time for work or university and I could tell he was lonely.
Being neutered I decided to introduce a female bun friend to him in hopes of easing some of his loneliness. He immediately loved Lotte but even after proper introduction time, etc, he was domineering towards her, demanding affection and sometimes being minorly territorial towards certain areas in our apartment like under my bed. They shared food fine and they would snuggle together every night to sleep.
However at their yearly exam my vet noticed she had some scabs in various stages of healing on her backside that most likely must have come from Erik. Which meant he was picking on her when I wasn't noticing.
She died, only 18 months old, from what seemed to be a seizure or stroke without any injury found on her post-mortem. It was the most traumatic moment of my life seeing her and holding her in my arms trying t keep her airways open and have her pass away right there. Especially since my very first bun had died in my arms as well.
Ironically, she passed away only a few weeks before I had planned to bring a lab puppy into our home. Despite her death, I still brought the puppy home and he's now a big 16 month old 80 pound crazy teenager.
They were an interesting pair of housemates for awhile but it became clear to me after my puppy was six months or so that he and Erik wouldn't be able to coexist without a lot of time and training. So I had to spend time with them in separate rooms until that time. And my puppy unfortunately took up a lot of my time because he broke a leg at a young age by rolling off the bed and as any dog owner knows, raising a puppy can be a full time job.
I decided to try once again to bring a girl bun into the picture now that perhaps Erik would appreciate having another buns' presence more.
Nettie was a part of our lives for only four months before I noticed she was limping and lethargic. She passed away at home before I could even get her to the vet. I tried to find the source but all I can assume is that she must have been bitten by Erik or hurt herself somehow and that it got infected. She had no contact with my dog and I'm positive about this.
After losing yet another girl I felt grief for another death and guilt for perhaps bringing two sweet innocent buns to their deaths.
Don't get me wrong Erik is the sweetest friendliest bun I've had and he loved his two girl mates. But his domineering, bossy, bullying attitude around them (and perhaps his hand in Nettie's death?) makes me very afraid to bring another girl into the house despite that he is obviously lonely and wanting company for more than the few hours a day he gets from me.
Is my boy doomed to be single forever or is there something else I might try to give him company during the time I'm not with him?
Being neutered I decided to introduce a female bun friend to him in hopes of easing some of his loneliness. He immediately loved Lotte but even after proper introduction time, etc, he was domineering towards her, demanding affection and sometimes being minorly territorial towards certain areas in our apartment like under my bed. They shared food fine and they would snuggle together every night to sleep.
However at their yearly exam my vet noticed she had some scabs in various stages of healing on her backside that most likely must have come from Erik. Which meant he was picking on her when I wasn't noticing.
She died, only 18 months old, from what seemed to be a seizure or stroke without any injury found on her post-mortem. It was the most traumatic moment of my life seeing her and holding her in my arms trying t keep her airways open and have her pass away right there. Especially since my very first bun had died in my arms as well.
Ironically, she passed away only a few weeks before I had planned to bring a lab puppy into our home. Despite her death, I still brought the puppy home and he's now a big 16 month old 80 pound crazy teenager.
They were an interesting pair of housemates for awhile but it became clear to me after my puppy was six months or so that he and Erik wouldn't be able to coexist without a lot of time and training. So I had to spend time with them in separate rooms until that time. And my puppy unfortunately took up a lot of my time because he broke a leg at a young age by rolling off the bed and as any dog owner knows, raising a puppy can be a full time job.
I decided to try once again to bring a girl bun into the picture now that perhaps Erik would appreciate having another buns' presence more.
Nettie was a part of our lives for only four months before I noticed she was limping and lethargic. She passed away at home before I could even get her to the vet. I tried to find the source but all I can assume is that she must have been bitten by Erik or hurt herself somehow and that it got infected. She had no contact with my dog and I'm positive about this.
After losing yet another girl I felt grief for another death and guilt for perhaps bringing two sweet innocent buns to their deaths.
Don't get me wrong Erik is the sweetest friendliest bun I've had and he loved his two girl mates. But his domineering, bossy, bullying attitude around them (and perhaps his hand in Nettie's death?) makes me very afraid to bring another girl into the house despite that he is obviously lonely and wanting company for more than the few hours a day he gets from me.
Is my boy doomed to be single forever or is there something else I might try to give him company during the time I'm not with him?
