Yesterday, after a brave fight against illness, I had to let my beautiful Shadow go to The Bridge :bigtears:
My heart is breaking,and I feel so numb - I miss him already. He had been such a big part of my life for over 5 1/2 years, and has left a huge hole in my heart.
All Shadow ever wanted from life was an endless supply of food, and some bunny to love. I got him from a shelter in the UK, after he had been rescued from a hutch, where his companion rabbit had already starved to death (the reason that he always ate everything in sight, in case he never got fed again). We adopted him as a friend for Pernod (R.I.P), but it took 10 months before she actually accepted him, and when she did, he was so happy to have a bunny to groom him and love on him.
In 2008, we emigrated to Canada, and the bunnies came with us. Shadow loved it here straight away, especially going into the garden, but after 4 months, Pernod passed away, and Shadow was alone again. We adopted Jester from the Humane Society, but he hated Shadow - and never stopped hating him. Shadow wanted to be his friend and stuck his nose through Jesters cage bars, only for Jester to bite it off!!! After our wonderful vet re-attached it, Shadow was as handsome as ever, but it meant we could never let them near each other again, and Shadow longed for a bunny friend.
In August 2009, we, with the help of Pet_Bunny, adopted Georgia, a girl from the Humane Society that was about to be euthanised. She was older (6 at the time) and had a few health problems, but she and Shadow got along together from the beginning, and it was wonderful to see them snuggling together - he was truly a happy boy. When we rescued Bonnie in March 2011, he got on well with her, but as she was bonded to Jester, he only ever saw her occasionally.
About a year ago, Shadow seemed to forget that he was neutered and started spraying . It gradually got worse, and a vet visit showed he had arthritis in his spine and hip, and the vet thought that he may be spraying because he didn't feel 100% and wanted to prove he was still strong. From January onwards he was on painkillers (Metacam and Gabapentin ) and when his movement became impaired, he had acupuncture, which worked wonders, and gave him a lot of his movement back.
However, his spraying became worse, and blood tests showed that he had a tumour on his adrenal gland. An operation wasn't possible, so we decided with the vet to control his pain, and as long as he was happy and had quality of life we would do whatever we could. The reason I haven't been around the forum very much is due to caring for him, and cleaning up after him (washing the Bunny Room several times a day and steam cleaning carpets).
And up until this weekend, things were OK, but on Saturday, there was a huge change in Shadow. He didn't eat his supper friday night, or breakfast Saturday morning, which, for a Bunny that lived for food, wasn't a good sign. We syringed him Critical Care, but by Sunday, he was fighting that and and it was so upsetting to see him fight the syringe. He had even lost interest in Georgia, and moved away every time she went near. The final spark had gone from him, and he just seemed so tired, I knew he was telling me that it was ' time' .
So Sunday, we spent the day telling him how special he was, and how we all loved him. We took him into the garden and let him sit in his favourite spot in the flower bed. Then yesterday, we went to the vet for the last time. Shadow is well known there (as the 'Bunny with the nose job') and a lot came and said "Goodbye" to him. It was his favourite vet that sent him on his way, and John and I took Georgia along, and we all said our "Goodbyes". He looked so peaceful, and although my heart is broken, I'm sure we did the best thing for him. We are having him cremated, and his ashes will come back to us, so he is at home with us again.
So, goodbye, my beautiful boy. You gave us so many happy memories - of jumping on the bed at 4 am wanting to play: of stealing cookies from our plate and having us chase you around to get them back; of your lop-sided binkies, as only a big bunny can do;of cuddles in front of the TV, only to find you had chewed the buttons off the remote (we had 7 TV remotes in all);of your patience and laid back character, of your joy of everything, of you wanting to be friends with everything and everyone, from the feral cats, to the baby magpies in the garden.
I love you, Shadow, and I always will. Wait for us at the Bridge.
Shadow in his sandbox, when still in the UK
Close up
Ready for Halloween
Kisses for Daddy
With Georgia
Making friends with a baby magpie
Relaxing
Jan
My heart is breaking,and I feel so numb - I miss him already. He had been such a big part of my life for over 5 1/2 years, and has left a huge hole in my heart.
All Shadow ever wanted from life was an endless supply of food, and some bunny to love. I got him from a shelter in the UK, after he had been rescued from a hutch, where his companion rabbit had already starved to death (the reason that he always ate everything in sight, in case he never got fed again). We adopted him as a friend for Pernod (R.I.P), but it took 10 months before she actually accepted him, and when she did, he was so happy to have a bunny to groom him and love on him.
In 2008, we emigrated to Canada, and the bunnies came with us. Shadow loved it here straight away, especially going into the garden, but after 4 months, Pernod passed away, and Shadow was alone again. We adopted Jester from the Humane Society, but he hated Shadow - and never stopped hating him. Shadow wanted to be his friend and stuck his nose through Jesters cage bars, only for Jester to bite it off!!! After our wonderful vet re-attached it, Shadow was as handsome as ever, but it meant we could never let them near each other again, and Shadow longed for a bunny friend.
In August 2009, we, with the help of Pet_Bunny, adopted Georgia, a girl from the Humane Society that was about to be euthanised. She was older (6 at the time) and had a few health problems, but she and Shadow got along together from the beginning, and it was wonderful to see them snuggling together - he was truly a happy boy. When we rescued Bonnie in March 2011, he got on well with her, but as she was bonded to Jester, he only ever saw her occasionally.
About a year ago, Shadow seemed to forget that he was neutered and started spraying . It gradually got worse, and a vet visit showed he had arthritis in his spine and hip, and the vet thought that he may be spraying because he didn't feel 100% and wanted to prove he was still strong. From January onwards he was on painkillers (Metacam and Gabapentin ) and when his movement became impaired, he had acupuncture, which worked wonders, and gave him a lot of his movement back.
However, his spraying became worse, and blood tests showed that he had a tumour on his adrenal gland. An operation wasn't possible, so we decided with the vet to control his pain, and as long as he was happy and had quality of life we would do whatever we could. The reason I haven't been around the forum very much is due to caring for him, and cleaning up after him (washing the Bunny Room several times a day and steam cleaning carpets).
And up until this weekend, things were OK, but on Saturday, there was a huge change in Shadow. He didn't eat his supper friday night, or breakfast Saturday morning, which, for a Bunny that lived for food, wasn't a good sign. We syringed him Critical Care, but by Sunday, he was fighting that and and it was so upsetting to see him fight the syringe. He had even lost interest in Georgia, and moved away every time she went near. The final spark had gone from him, and he just seemed so tired, I knew he was telling me that it was ' time' .
So Sunday, we spent the day telling him how special he was, and how we all loved him. We took him into the garden and let him sit in his favourite spot in the flower bed. Then yesterday, we went to the vet for the last time. Shadow is well known there (as the 'Bunny with the nose job') and a lot came and said "Goodbye" to him. It was his favourite vet that sent him on his way, and John and I took Georgia along, and we all said our "Goodbyes". He looked so peaceful, and although my heart is broken, I'm sure we did the best thing for him. We are having him cremated, and his ashes will come back to us, so he is at home with us again.
So, goodbye, my beautiful boy. You gave us so many happy memories - of jumping on the bed at 4 am wanting to play: of stealing cookies from our plate and having us chase you around to get them back; of your lop-sided binkies, as only a big bunny can do;of cuddles in front of the TV, only to find you had chewed the buttons off the remote (we had 7 TV remotes in all);of your patience and laid back character, of your joy of everything, of you wanting to be friends with everything and everyone, from the feral cats, to the baby magpies in the garden.
I love you, Shadow, and I always will. Wait for us at the Bridge.
Shadow in his sandbox, when still in the UK
Close up
Ready for Halloween
Kisses for Daddy
With Georgia
Making friends with a baby magpie
Relaxing
Jan
You gave him a wonderful life despite the rough start he had.
