Goodbye Bee

My beloved rabbit Bee passed away today at around 4.45pm. He was in my hands, and as he wheezed to take his last breath, I could not believe what was happening. Everything happened to fast. The diagnosis? Gastrointestinal Stasis - almost always fatal in rabbits and their condition can deteriorate in 12 hours. In Bee's case, he only had 5 hours.

Come to think of it, it was pure luck that we spotted him feeling unwell. We (V and I) went over to Mum's place at 12 noon to talk about some things. We were supposed to go over at 2pm, but there were some last minute changes so we ended up there at noon. When i walked over to say hi to the rabbits (as per normal), I noticed that Bee was flattened out in the cage, almost the whole length of it. That was abnormal, as he usually did not spend time in the cage, except to poo or to wait for food, and never lying down the way he did. As I examined him, I realised his bottom was wet and that he did not seem to want to move.

We then tried to feed him his favourite pellets... to which he would normally try so hard to get by jumping up and down and running in circles with Sara, our other rabbit, to prevent her from getting the food. Today, however, when we put the bowl in front of him, he scarcely moved. It was a clear sign that something was seriously wrong.

We called many vets and finally got an appointment with Namly Place Animal Clinic. The earliest they could make was 2.30pm. Thinking that was a long time to wait, we proceeded to Joyous Vet in Choa Chu Kang, to see if the walk in queue was shorter. Of course, we were dismayed when it took us 10 mins to even get to the registration counter. In the end, we went back to Namly in Bukit Timah. By this time, Bee was quite weak and his ears were cold. We covered him with a blanket, but he was visibly uncomfortable and kept fidgeting in the box.

When we saw the doctor, she said that he was in bad shape and the next 24 hours would be crucial. He most probably had gastrointestinal stasis, a condition in which the rabbit's gut just stops moving. She put a stethoscope to his gut and there was no sound at all. Following her diagnosis, she gave him a painkiller jab, followed by a vitamin jab to boost him. We thought that he would slowly pick up after that...

Sadly, by the time we had reached home, Bee was even weaker and when i took him out the box, he limped to the cage and slumped there, occasionally squirming about. The doc said we should let him rest, but at the same time be by his side... which we did. However, at 4.40pm he whimpered and stumbled out of the cage, collapsing on his side. Then he wheezed and gasped.... and i could feel his heart slowly stop beating. It was devastating, and seriously, I felt so helpless thinking of what I could do to help him. We massaged his gut and his heart, thinking of jolting him back to life.... Of course, to no avail. We just had to accept that he had just left us.

The suddenness of the whole thing is harder to accept than the fact that he is no longer around. We brought him to Mount Pleasant Animal Hospital where he will be cremated and his ashes put in an urn. Yes, he meant that much to us, and will always be fondly remembered. I wish he was still around, hopping happily when I walk near him and running away with a carrot to prevent Sara from getting her share. He was one crazy rabbit - we fondly call him 'harebit' because he looked and behaved more like a crazy hare.

Somehow, this loss is no easier than the last, because it is permanent. I know i won't be seeing him when i go to mum's place, and the only memories I have are the pictures in my computer and the very precious videos I have of him. Thank goodness for the digital age... I at least have some videos of him running and dashing about. Sigh, life certainly is fragile.

When i am up to it, I will write about how we came to acquire Bee in the first place. He certainly brought alot of joy and was a great companion to my mum. I guess, she will be more affected by his passing than I am, as she spends more of her time with him, feeding him and patting him. Now that he is up there somewhere, I'm sure he will look down and be happy that he had such a loving 'mummy'.

Bye bye Bee, I love you and miss you already.