Rest In Peace...Trophy the Rabbit

We had quite the emotional weekend- completely draining.

Our daughters Netherland Dwarf rabbit wasn't looking so hot- not as active and didn't appear to have eaten or drank anything the previous night. We decided the next course of action was to clean the cage out and with a newly cleaned cage be able to tell better if he was going to the bathroom. During the whole day we checked on him, took him out of his cage to access him, made phone calls to other knowledgeable rabbit owners in 4H and researched online at vet websites, bunny sites and forums for any clues. We tried several things the remainder of the day and overnight that we gathered from our 4H friends and recommended websites- he didn't go to the bathroom all day. We syringe fed him so that he wouldn't become dehydrated. We read about GI issues, blockages, hair balls, just all kinds of tummy troubles- we were up every 1 1/2 hours during the night to check his stats, rub his belly and syringe feed him. At 4am, he passed away in my arms with our daughter by my side. We both cried together.

The thing we kept coming back to in reading so much information was that rabbits are animals of prey and hide 'hurting' or something 'wrong' very well....and when you finally do see the signs...most of the time its too late.  In this case I truly feel like it was...it was literally about 24 hours time from the time we saw something was wrong to his death. 

My daughter and I prayed together as she stroked his belly telling him he was a good boy then I picked him up to put him back into his cage and as I sat there for a moment he passed away in my arms.

When we got him he was a year old and had not been worked with or gotten very much attention- Our daughter worked with him everyday, caring for him, giving him the love and attention he deserved and practicing her 4H showmanship with him. She loved this rabbit. She wanted him to be buried but unfortunately we are in a rental so a dear friend told us about one of her friends doing a 'garden memorial'. What a great idea. We had a wonderful talk with both our children about the cycle of life....now Trophy's body will rest in peace and help plants grow and our daughter will forever have a happy memorial for him and the best part she said was that when we move, he can come with us.

Rest In Peace Trophy the Rabbit, you brought much joy and happiness to our girl!