Kipcha
Well-Known Member
We lost our boy Ty after nearly 2 years of fighting renal failure, after making the difficult decision to put him to sleep.
We got Ty on April 11, 2009 when we went up for a hopping event in Edmonton. One of the ladies that we knew up there had just received Ty when a family called her, threatening that if she did not show up that night they would be releasing Ty in a local park. She got him having no history, only knowing they had him for a year before they 'outgrew' him.
He was being kept in our friends garage on a blue tarp, which actually wound up dying his poor little feet blue. It took weeks for that to come out and Ty was such a clean little guy, he was obsessive over grooming himself.
A friend of ours decided that she wanted him, but she needed to check and make sure that she was allowed to have him with her current living arrangements. We offered to watch him while she did so we brought him home. It wasn't long after that we discovered she was not able to take Ty, leaving us with him to find him a new home.
We really did intend to rehome him, but my goodness, he had to be the happiest, friendliest and most adorable little bun... He raced laps around the dog and was always so excited to see anyone come by the cage. It was almost heart-breaking to think that a rabbit that social, outgoing and loving was neglected for at least a year, left to himself and just about released in a park to a most likely miserable death. Ty loved dogs, he would never have lasted. He would have run up to the first coyote he saw and it would have been the end for him. How could someone even think of doing something like that?
So, after some thought, we decided to keep the little munchkin.
It wasn't long after that that we started hopping with him and WOW, he was such a little natural, tying our club high jump record after only a month of hopping, a record that still stands to this day. And he loved it, binkying and just being an overall goof.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_KNyepvts4[/ame]
He was a glutton as well, he loved his food for sure. Anything that was green and leafy was to be at his mercy.
He was a happy, healthy boy until June 14, 2011. We went downstairs for nightly veggies to find him wide eyed and leaning against the side of his cage. We went over to him and he promptly fell over, flailing around and desperately trying to stand up again. We brought him in and found out that he had a stroke, and through some bloodwork found out about his failing kidneys.
Over the next months we noticed gradual changes. His water intake rose dramatically, as did his urination, and his litter habits dissapeared. Over time, his hind end grew weaker and he wasn't able to jump on the couch like he used to and every once in a while, he would binky and then lose his balance. But he was still a happy boy despite being told that he would not last until Christmas 2011, we managed to keep him going well until about a month and a half ago.
His muscles wasted away and his mood dropped, as did his appetite. He still ate like a horse when it came to veggies and treats, but rarely did he nibble hay or pellets. And he became far more cuddly. Normally, I would think of this as a good thing, but from having guinea pigs I knew it was a bad sign. He no longer nipped to get down and was content to sit in your lap and be petted. He was losing his energy.
When his blood results came back with unbelievably high numbers, we knew his time was fast approaching. Within the past week or so, he started licking a lot, grooming us and choosing completely to cuddle instead of do anything else. The vet wanted to to put him down on Thursday, but we decided to wait it out through the long weekend and have these last few days with him, spoiling him rotten with treats and love. It was a weekend of a lot of tears, and I know there will be a lot more to come.
I spent last night on the floor next to his x-pen through the night before taking him out around one in the morning, laying with him and telling him how much I loved him, how much I would miss him and how sorry I was that this happened to him. He just licked my face and snuggled in, being his unbelievably sweet and loving self. I wondered to myself again and again how an animal so amazing could have come from such callous people. How they could possibly ever let him go when it was killing me to do so now.
We spent the entire day with him today, right up until 5 o'clock when arriving at the vet. We took him to the many people who loved him so they could say their goodbyes, trying to hold it together. We took him to the park so he could enjoy the sun and the grass, but even then he just seemed to tired and drained, something that just wasn't Ty. I guess, in his own way, he was trying to tell us he was ready.
We got to the vet and I sat in the van for a few minutes, not able to force myself to walk through the doors, holding him in the back seat and crying, trying to keep from distressing him but knowing I needed to go in.
I decided to stay with him through it. He was calm and didn't react, even for the sedation needle. It took everything I had not to call it off and tell them to stop when he started licking my arm as the drugs took effect and I petted him, trying to make sure he wouldn't be alone through this. And then he was gone.
I and the rest of my family loved him so much and it was so hard today to let him go. He's been such a little fighter for so long that I would doubt myself and wonder if I was making the right choice, but then he would do something as simple as try to stand up at my feet and roll over backwards and know that it wasn't right, that if something wasn't done he was going to hurt himself worse and then I would really have regrets. Today, it was like he knew, and being such a loving soul he seemed to do nothing today but try and comfort everyone and let them know that it was okay.
Binky Free Ty. I hope your better now on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge, free from sickness or pain.
