# <3 Baby Ashlynn <3



## Nela (Jun 26, 2010)

I'm in absolute shock as I write this...

Sometimes life is a ____. I went to feed and check on the buns a few minutes ago and all seemed okay. Smores ran up to eat and Ashlynn was sitting in the run. As I was feeding them, I noticed some mushy cecals so I thought I should check their bums and see if they looked okay...

I can't explain. She was sitting there. She looked alive. She wasn't. She wasn't flopped, she wasn't keeled over. She even had her eyes slightly open, she looked sweet... Like half asleep.

I don't get it. I can't stop crying, I can't stop the questions from popping up in my head. I don't understand what happened. They were both absolutely fine. She and Smores had gone over to Jeff when he went to see them the previous evening. All looked okay. 

How could she just be sitting there? How could this have happened? Why was she taken from me so soon? She was my baby girl :cry1:I was worried about havinga bad first experience with outdoor bunnies... Now I simplydon't know if I can handle this anymore. I don't know if I should have bunnies at all anymore. I don't think I can take more of this. 

I'm concerned for Smores, for the other bunnies. I'm worried I did something wrong. I can't figure it out. Jeff is trying to reach the store. I want a necropsy done. I want her body back. This isn't fair. I was so so happy...

My heart hurts.



:bigtears:


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## hln917 (Jun 26, 2010)

I'm so sorry Nela. I was just reading about them last night. Binky free little girl.


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## cheryl (Jun 26, 2010)

Oh no..i'm so sorry you lost Ashlynn..


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## Nancy McClelland (Jun 26, 2010)

we're so sorry for your loss. Sometimes things just happen that way and bunnies are so good at hiding problems from you. We lost our youngest, Bonnie, in a similar fashion. Our son came over to feed our brood while we were out and he found her on her side and thought she was asleep. She was our youngest bunny, so it was really a shock. If you have animal companions it happens and sooner or later you have to say goodbye--sometimes way too soon. Rest in peace little Ashlynn.:bunnyangel:


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## irishbunny (Jun 26, 2010)

I'm so sorry 
The exact same thing happened to me when I got my first bunnies, often times they come home from pet shops sick and you don't know it. I wasn't on this forum at the time but I posted on another forum I am on and one woman wrote, 'If I had a euro for every time a bunny died soon after being bought from a pet shop I'd be rich'. Of course she wrote lots of lovely things to me as well. That has always stuck with me though and I don't think I would ever do it again.

It is much too tough to get a new lovely bunny for it to pass away way too soon. Don't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault at all and most likely nothing to do with being kept outside

Binky free Ashlynn x


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## Nela (Jun 26, 2010)

Thanks for all your comments and for your thoughts.

We went to the pet shop with her body. They said it was a bacteria and that she had had bloat. They are probably right. I guess I was too in shock this morning to really feel her body right. I do know she had cecals stuck on her bum, but it wasn't diarrhea. I did give them a small dandelion leaf that theymunched on happily... They think that's what might have killed her. They say she could have had the bacteria in her system and with the stress, it just didn't go well. I don't know. I can't feel but guilty thinking I might have killed her by feeding her something.

Anyway, they were kind and offered me another bunny but it just didn't feel right. The bunnieswere sweet and cute but all I wanted was my baby back. They refunded us and told us they hope we find a good bunny for Smores. To be honest, I'm not sure what I want right now. I don't even want to cuddle Smores... just in case. I'm just not sure where I stand right now, nor what we will do.


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## SnowyShiloh (Jun 26, 2010)

Oh my god, how can she be DEAD? No, not little baby Ashlynn  I'm so sorry, Sophie. I'm crying for you. Your sweet new baby bunny. I was so looking forward to watching her grow up. Poor little girl :cry2


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## Spot (Jun 26, 2010)

I'm soooo sorry to hear this.This almost makes me cry truthfully.Don't feel guilty.Anything can happen and even if it was the dandelion leaf that killed her,you didn't know.Rest in peace Ashlynn:cry1::rip:


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## Pipp (Jun 26, 2010)

So sorry Nela. :sad:

To be honest, she didn't look very good the day you brought her home. Most baby bunnies are pretty curious and outgoing at least when it comes to exploring their surroundings from day one, and she just looked too quiet. 

The mortality rate is high at that age, even with the best of care. Their immune systems develop with ongoing exposure to their families and even various foods. 

Stress, including just moving them to the pet shop, will lower the immune system and allow some bad bacteria to get out of control. I think she was facing this before you got her. There really wasn't much you could have done. 

Sorry you lost her. 


sas :tears2:


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## Nela (Jun 27, 2010)

You think Sas? I did find her stressed but I had hoped that getting her out of the pet shop environment would help her, not kill her She had just been separated from her mom 2 days prior to me adopting her. I guess the stress of moving once again really didn't help. I should have known but I thought being here with us and with Smores would comfort her I just wish things would have been different.

Thank you everyone for your comments. This one has been a very hard loss. I have lost so many bunnies that I was really looking forward to this new experience and I had really really grown fond of her, even in such a short time.

I wanted to state that people at the pet store were a bit concerned about Smores having been exposed to the bacteria so they gave us drops to maintain the balance of the gut. We have brought him inside at this time. 

We are considering the options. One is to get him a buddy which he seems to love, one is to leave him alone. I am slightly concerned about having him alone outside. I always seem to find animals happiest with a companion, but maybe I am wrong. The other is to rehome him and for me to not have anymore bunnies. It's a thought but I'm also afraid that it would be very unfair to him. So far, he's looking terribly silly with all his binkying. As much as I am trying to stay away from him, he really knows how to get my attention.


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## SnowyShiloh (Jun 28, 2010)

I don't think you should rehome him. Maybe just wait until you're sure he's better, then get another bun to be his friend.

I saw the Rainbow Bridge thread for another bunny named S'mores right below this one and had a rush of horror before I realized it wasn't your bunny. I'm glad your Smores is doing okay.


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## Nela (Jun 28, 2010)

Thanks Shiloh,

Smores has us under his spell. I can't even consider rehoming him anymore. I have been staying distant but I do put him in the playpen in the livingroom so I can see how he is, and to give him some good play time and he's a total goof. Houdina likes him and pokes at his tail and then he binkies away. He really binkies a ton and does bunny 500s around the pen. He likes Jeff a lot and nibbles at his shoes for attention. He did his first bunny flop yesterday as well... Considering all this, he doesn't look miserable to me. 

I know I still have much to learn, but I also know that I do love my buns sincerely and sometimes crap happens. I do still feel guilty, wondering if that leaf really pushed Ashlynn over the edge. I wonder if I had peeked at Ashlynn one last time before going to bed, if I would have noticed something off. In the end though, my last memory of her alive was of her playing on her tunnel and taking a tumble off, pushing it with her nose and jumping back on. I remember giggling from the kitchen window and thinking she was coming around. Smores of course joined her seconds later and he watched as she played on the tunnel. Even when I found her, she looked so sweet, not in pain at all. I have that to be thankful for. My last hours with her were sweet. I have to thank her for that because I don't think struggling to keep her alive would have been any good for me.

I know pet shop buns are a risk. I really had wanted to adopt in the first place. We really did set out to adopt when we found out it was closed. I'm guessing most shelters have closed due to financing. Maybe they lost sponsors or subsidies, I'm not sure. However, in the end, I also know that my Ashlynn was scared and stressed and it was probably her fate to begin with. She had looked fragile from the start and smaller than her sisters... It's one of the things that attracted me to her. I found her girly, and vulnerable. I didn't think she was that badly off though and i thought some stability would do her good. I am glad that in the end, she passed away here and not alone in a pet store with tons of people peering in at her. She passed away quietly with Smores by her side, and though we only had her for such a short time, she was loved and that is more than she would have gotten if we had left her there.

RIP my baby girl. You left us way too soon honey, way too soon. Know that many tears were and are being shed for you.:bigtears:


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