Goodbye soft Alice

Last week, Alice died. I'm so sad :'(

Yes I know, rabbits live for an average 6 years, (but I have heard of many domestic rabbits living on average 8-12 years.)

And yes, Alice was sick for awhile so it's not a surprise.

And in the last week she had deteriorated to a stage that i knew she was no longer comfortable and couldn't function as a normal rabbit would prefer to. She couldn't groom (rabbits are obessive compulsive groomers like cats), she couldn't use her litter tray, and she began to get gut stasis, which is the real grim reaper for rabbits. She was clearly uncomfortable from a bloated and probably painful gut. It was crueller trying to force her to take mediation anymore so I stopped it that last week.

So yes, I knew this was coming, that I had the horrible, final responsibility of bringing her to be euthanised at the vet.

Still, despite all this, I cried so much. Nothing was sadder than having to watch her twist and turn her head in a last struggle, her eyes desperate looking, as the vet held the anaesthetic mask over her nose. Nothing was more painful for me than patting her head and ears to calm her, to keep the gas mask on her snout, telling her it was "ok". "It's ok Alice", when she was in fact she was being put to sleep forever. I would have felt better if her eyes did sleep, instead of staying wide open.

RIP dear Alice. 14 April 2011.

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