# My darling Sage, RIP



## Basil (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi All,

My darling bunny Sage passed away yesterday in the vet's office. She was eating fine during the day on Monday, then she looked a little hunched Monday evening. Tuesday I syringed her water and blended lettuce/apple and massaged her stomach. She passed some poo, so I thought it was going to be ok (just a short bit of stasis) but then she passed some mucus. Come Wednesday, she had very bad diarrehea. I called the vet and took her in in the afternoon. And she passed on.

I'm SO unbelieveably sad. She was a house bunny, I fed her only oxbow products (correct hay and lots of it) romaine lettuce and the daily papaya chunk. 

But I can't help blame myself that my darling girl is gone. I should have taken her in on Tuesday. Its my fault she died.

........


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## binkies (Jan 24, 2008)

I'm so sorry. You did everything right, it wasn't your fault. You did what we all do, which is use your knowledge first. Kept a good eye on her, and took her in when it became more than you could handle on your own. Could have happened to any of us, so please don't be hard on yourself. (((HUGS)))


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## Basil (Jan 24, 2008)

binkies - thanks for the kind words. She went so fast, and was so young, I'm having a very hard time with the grief. Sage looked just like the bunny on the far right of your avatar photo.


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## TinysMom (Jan 24, 2008)

Basil,

You did everything as you thought you should of at the time - rabbits are so good at hiding their illnesses. 

My dad said something to me that has stuck all of these years. "Hindsight is always 20/20." In other words - we can always look back and see what we "should" have done or "could" have done.

But we can only live our lives with what we know to do at the time - we don't have the benefit of forseeing the future (unless you're in a tv show or something).

I'm sure you did your best - the soonest you knew you needed to do it. 

Basil was well-loved......and I'm sure that she knew it.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Peg


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## slavetoabunny (Jan 24, 2008)

:bigtears:I'm so sorry you lost Sage. You did everything right. We all know too well that sometimes even doing everything right can't save our precious babies.

Binky free Sage.


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## Basil (Jan 24, 2008)

One thing that is said, is that with every experience, there is knowledge gained. I want to remind the whole community that GI stasis is not to be taken lightly. Get your bunny to the vet if they show signs of it (not eating, not pooping, sullen) right away, don't wait. Its a serious condition. Vets can provide pain relievers, medicine that can get the intestine moving again, and antibiotics. 

Sage would have wanted everyone to know this.


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## mouse_chalk (Jan 24, 2008)

I'm so sorry to hear about Sage. Please don't be hard on yourself, you did everything you could to help her. Hugs.

Jen xx


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## Haley (Jan 24, 2008)

Im so sorry you lost your little one. Was she very young? GI problems are more serious in very young bunnies.

As everyone else said, dont blame yourself. You did everything you could for her.

Rest in peace little one.


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## Basil (Jan 24, 2008)

She was adopted, so I am unsure of how old she was when we got her. We have had her a year. 

I guess one of the emotions in pet loss is guilt - like the 'if i only..' I still feel like crap. I'm crying so much. Loss sucks.. so much.


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## Bo B Bunny (Jan 24, 2008)

I'm sorry


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## Marietta (Jan 24, 2008)

Having lost your bunny is hard enough, please don't blame yourself for what has happened. As a matter of fact you were early in calling the vet, not late, you didn't loose any time at all. On Tuesday she was still passing poops, how could you possibly have known? You couldn't. When you saw a new symptom, i.e. diarrhea, you took her straight to the vet within the same day. Everything you did was correct. Sometimes bunnies' health deteriorates withing a few hours, the more serious is the health problem the better they hide it till it's too late, there are cases that nothing can be done

I send you my compassion - Basil and Pepper shall need some extra cuddles now, it's hard also for them...

Marietta


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## JimD (Jan 24, 2008)

I'm so sorry 

....binky free Sage
ray::rainbow:





GI stasis is almost always the symptom of an underlying issue.

I recently went through something similar with our Chippy.
She was showing signs of stasis for a couple of days. And then one evening she passed a hairball followed by mucous. She seem to act a bit better, but in the morning I found her sitting in a huge puddle of diarrhea. I rushed her right to the vet where she stayed for the entire day and received sub-q. The sub-q were probably what saved her as she had become severely dehydrated.
The cause was Clostridium and needed to be treated with a very specific antibiotic


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## maherwoman (Jan 24, 2008)

Binky free and healthy again, Sweet Sage...

And don't blame yourself, Sweetie...you did all you could for your girl, and did everything you could in your power for her. You had no idea things would go that route...

Hugs to you,

Rosie*


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## Basil (Jan 24, 2008)

JimD - your situation is exactly what happened with Sage. I'll have to look up more about 'Clostridium' ... I really hope our other bunnies can't get this bacteria because she had it? I'm going to look up more information now.

So your chippy pulled through it ok?


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## Basil (Jan 24, 2008)

I wonder how many bunnies pass on because of GI status?? I mean, Sage went from binking to the bridge in less than 40 hours.


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## timetowaste (Jan 24, 2008)

UGH. i'm so sorry, basil. but, as others have said, this is SO far from your fault. you did all that you could for sage, and i think that makes you a wonderful mommy. you can't save everyone, so unfortunate.

"hindsight 20/20" is the truth, peg. i actually have a facebook group called "it seemed like a good idea at the time!" and the other half of that is HINDSIGHT 20/20...LAME. haha.

:rainbow:ink iris:binky free always sage.


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## naturestee (Jan 24, 2008)

Sprite went from binkies and loving her breakfast to deathly ill a few hours later... to dying late that same night. Maybe about 16 hours from onset to death? That included a trip to a rabbit-savvy vet who did everything he could for her.

I'm so sorry you lost Sage. I know how hard it is to accept it, but sometimes you just can't prevent death.

:hug:
*
Basil wrote: *


> I wonder how many bunnies pass on because of GI status?? I mean, Sage went from binking to the bridge in less than 40 hours.


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## Bassetluv (Jan 24, 2008)

One of the only things I find upsetting about being a rabbit lover is the fact that, despite their being tough little guys, they can still go so quickly, sometimes with little or no warning. And sometimes we just can't prevent it. It is just their time to go.

(((HUGS))) for you, Basil...I'm so sorry for your loss...:hug1

And binky free, Sage...there's a ton of bunnies up there, just waiting for you to play with them...


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## Basil (Jan 25, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the kind replies. I think with all of your help, I've moved through the guilt, and now I'm just missing her. 

One thing that I'm excited for her is that she'll have lots of friends in heaven - she had to live apart (but right next to) basil and pepper - and pepper (another girl) was so jealous of her ("Basil, how dare you look at another woman!!"), that she picked on her often. Pepper never did let her bond with them, no matter how many attempts I tried, and boy I tried them all - bathtub, on top of a table, endless spray bottles, etc. Enjoy your friends Sagey, you deserve them.


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## Basil (Jan 25, 2008)

I struggle with depression everyday, and now that she has passed, it has gotten so much worse. I can't eat.. I want to just sleep and cry. I miss her so much. I don't have many people who understand what I'm going through.. I'm sure a lot of you have experienced the same - 'It was just a rabbit.. go in the yard and get another one!' was a comment I received today. I told him that his comments were making me feel worse and walked away. 

I'm so anxious.. and keep going into panic attacks over losing her. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to move through this, or experiences you have of going through this?


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## Haley (Jan 25, 2008)

Oh hun, Im so so sorry this is so hard on you. I wish I could give you a hug. I havent had to suffer through losing any of my bunnies yet but I went through a long period over the past few years where my boy Max was very very sick and I got crap from a lot of people, that "its just a rabbit" thing. Its heartbreaking when youre hurting so much and others are so cruel. 

I dont know if you've seen this thread but theres some information here: Dealing with Grief. You may find some comfort in reading what others have experienced. 

We're here for you. Im so sorry you have to go through this. But youre right, I truly believe shes in a better place now. 

*hugs*

Haley

PS. I also havea Basil and when I got Max and we first thought he was a girl I had named him Sage


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## ra7751 (Jan 26, 2008)

Hi Basil,

Please accept our condolences on the passing of Sage. We have experienced this all too often and it is difficult.

JimD did mention something and I think you picked up on it and are researching it....it's clostridium. I was going to post a brief explanation of what happens in these situations...what to do and what not to do....but right now might not be the best time for that. When you are feeling up to it...give me a PM and I will explain it all for you. And trust me....I read your thread and you did all you possibly could. And how to handle the sadness? Everyone is different. When I lost my special little girl Sabrina....I was devastated as I never knew that little rabbit could mean so much. I wanted to keep her spirit alive and I came up with doing a rescue. Since Sabrina was a "special needs" and rabbit vets were few and far between (even more so than now) I decided to learn as much as I could about rabbits and we started a rescue in her honor that takes nearly exclusively special needs. Now, four years later, we have rescued hundreds of domestic rabbits, expanded into domestic exotics including chinchillas, degus, guinea pigs and hamsters as well as birds. And we now do wildlife....and all of this started because of my grief from losing Sabrina. I like to think I made a positive out of a negative.

Our thoughts are with you....and give me a PM when you feel up to it. Binky free little girl.

Randy


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## AngelnSnuffy (Jan 26, 2008)

*Basil wrote: *


> 'It was just a rabbit.. go in the yard and get another one!' was a comment I received today. I told him that his comments were making me feel worse and walked away.
> 
> I'm so anxious.. and keep going into panic attacks over losing her.
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions on how to move through this, or experiences you have of going through this?



I'm so sorry about Sage, hon. I've lost two, and it's always very hard, very. My first one had heart failure, the second, I suspect cancer, as I had a tumour removed from her a year ago. She was my heart bun, the second one-Angel ( someone sure named her correctly. She was perfection:bunnyangel:.).

It just takes a lot of time. Read the link that Haley provided, it may help a bit, but it may also just bring out the tears and sorrow, but that is also a part of the greiving. It really does suck to say the least. I was sick to my stomach for nearly two whole weeks after losing my girl, Angel. So, I totally understand. Just know that we understand that "just a rabbit" is just not what it seems in text. It's real, and they are special to us, so special you cannot ever even try to explain to someone that has no clue.:hug:

Binky free Sage:rainbow:


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## cheryl (Jan 26, 2008)

I'm so sorry about Sage 

Believe me,i can understand fullythe way you are feeling,i just lost mybeautiful little boy bunny Pippijust over four weeks ago....i'm not over his death at all...hehad EC and he did fight all his health problems for 8 months,he slowly left my life until his little body had had enough and he died the morning after xmas 07......i still have those what if's going through my mind as i really didn't know much about EC and the vets here didn't really know much about iteither...except that there was really no cure and every vet that Pippi had seen all told me the same thing,this dreaded parasite was going to take Pippi....but i fought so hard for him,and he fought so hard for himself....yes i still very much cry and i miss him terriblybecause we went through so much together.

The grieving process for me is very hard,i'm naturally a very shy and quiet person and death shakes my little world upside down and i don't know how to deal with my feelings,i just get this overwhelming feeling of saddness that won't go away,so do you know what i do?...i write all my feelings down in a diary....it does help some.

We are all here for you,and we do understand

Many many hugs to you :hug:

Cheryl


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## Basil (Jan 28, 2008)

*

ra7751 wrote: *


> Hi Basil,
> 
> I wanted to keep her spirit alive and I came up with doing a rescue. Since Sabrina was a "special needs" and rabbit vets were few and far between (even more so than now) I decided to learn as much as I could about rabbits and we started a rescue in her honor that takes nearly exclusively special needs. Now, four years later, we have rescued hundreds of domestic rabbits, expanded into domestic exotics including chinchillas, degus, guinea pigs and hamsters as well as birds. And we now do wildlife....and all of this started because of my grief from losing Sabrina. I like to think I made a positive out of a negative.
> 
> ...



Randy - thats SO wonderful that you were able to take your experience (even though extremely sad) and make it into something .. a rabbit rescue! I totally admire what you did. What a awesome example you are setting. You rock!


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## Basil (Jan 28, 2008)

I wanted to say thanks again to all of the people who posted here.. it has helped me so much. *hugs and thanks!*

I read the grief post - thank you for posting that. I had read it earlier, but it helped to read it again. I think I'm over trying to blame myself. Sage wouldn't like it if I was sitting around crying....

Again, this community is wonderful.. thank you all!


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