Rabbit loss... Bunny grief

[EmilyB]

Hello,

My first post and I'm hoping to get some advice.

Our beautiful girl Jolene died overnight on Saturday after getting a gastric obstruction.
We are beyond words (we had no idea how much she'd change our lives, and we'd only had her 4 months)

Our little boy Henry (9months old, here with us for 2 months now) has been left behind.

They would spend all day together in our living room, but not always "with" each other.

He's come home and we aren't sure if he is aware of what's going on.

Unfortunately he didn't get to spend any time with Jolene's body.

He is behaving quite like he was, and last night we even had a couple of binkies from him. But he keeps going to places we knew she used to sit, and licking the ground. Is this normal? Is this his grief? Will he be OK?

On the advice of the vet we have gone and got a tiny new girl, she is being put in a pen in the living room this afternoon so we're hoping he will enjoy the new company.

My question is really one of reassurance.
Will Henry be ok?
And will we ever not feel so heartbroken?

Thanks so much

Emily

 

[JBun]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I had something similar happen as well. A new little girl bun that I totally fell in love with, died from GI stasis after only being with me for a few months. I was completely heartbroken. It took a while to not feel devastated at her loss, but it does lessen with time. I still miss her, but there isn't that constant ache in my heart.

It sounds like he's adjusting fine. It's not unexpected that he would still feel like she is around. Rabbits lick their surrounding for a variety of reasons that I haven't quite figured out, but I would say that him licking where she would be is a good sign, since rabbits mostly do this when they are content and happy.

 

[EmilyB]

Thank you so much for your reply.
We are now trying hard just to remember the lovely quirky things she used to do.
It doesn't make the pain less, but more bearable at present.

We are hoping having a new little companion will help him. I just can't bear the though of him struggling to understand it without knowing, and maybe waiting for her to come back.
It feels a little like he's just enjoying being in charge and all the attention he's getting from us! He's been running around causing havock today as normal so hopefully it's all good signs