my baby star

Question
A little over a year ago my husband and I found a family of rabbits that had been dumped off on our road, we took them all in.   A brown mom with her 2 black babies& what we thought was another "mom" with 'Star". soon found out that "stars" mom was his dad.we found great homes for the other 4& kept "star" a little black 7 white lop eared baby bunny. we had him fixed, made it through the "teenage years" and just kept falling in love more 7 more with him.  he lived in the house with us & our cat "thump" whom took a great liking to him too. they were buddies!  they both traveled with us to our vacation home. He WAS part of the family!!!  He'd run around in & out side with the cat, always came back home before dark! made us laugh, snuggled, purred when I,d lay on the floor and pet him for hours, & when I'd stop, he'd nudge his nose on my face"don't stop mom I like that & want more! He'd wait in the morning next to the cat on the floor for thump to be fed first, then start doing his "morning breakfast" dance around my feet as I'd bring his food to his dish.  when he and the cat wanted to go out, they'd both sit by the door & scratch the screen. so damb cute!!!  so much joy to our lives!!! Wev'e never been rabbit owners before ,& still can't believe how much we loved that little guy. Friday night he jumped into bed with us & the cat, he was VERY snuggly, sat morning,the cat got up for breakfast,but star did,not. when I went to see what was up,he had a really funny look in his eyes, I picked him up & noticed his body was limp,we put him on a towel on the floor & started checking him for possible injuries,but nothing seemed wrong that we could see(broken boned sores ect)  we held him to his h2o bowl & he drank some , By the time I got in touch with the vet, his system had shut down, a few minutes later he died:(. we looked at his teeth they were perfect & white,his coat was perfect too. we think he may have eaten something he should'nt have. could this be true or could there be another reason for his sudden & uexpected death?   we are in "great' sorrow over this,the house seems so empty&lifeless without "star" he was our entetainment commitee,the cat keeps looking for him too! how do we get through this greif,Ive never experiance such sorrow over loosing a pet. He was truly special to us & everyone who knew him. Please help us to find some answers! thank you jodi

Answer
Dear Jodi,

I am so sorry about the tragic loss of your dear friend, Star.  I wish I could tell you something that would make the grief go away, but that will take time.  And with someone as special as Star, it may take quite some time.

I also wish I could tell you the cause of his death, but the only way to get a clear picture would be via necropsy/post mortem exam, and that should be done within a few hours of death, or the information will not be valuable.  If this has happened only recently, then you can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

if you have the heart to do this, and really need closure.  But note that the most information will be gained if the vet sends tissues from all major organs to a laboratory for histopathology.  Sometimes the cause of death can be seen only on the cellular level, and there are no gross signs to be seen on a general post mortem exam.

You say taht he was in the bed with you.  I am almost afraid to ask, but must.  Is there any chance that someone could have rolled over onto him?  If this is the case, then general organ trauma might have been the cause of death.

If you know that this did not happen, then other possibilities include acute onset of septicemia due to some cryptic infection somewhere in his body (pneumonia?  an abscess?), and again, only a post mortem exam would reveal this.  The limpness and inability to move is consistent with acute onset septicemia (blood infection), but again--that is only an educated guess. Without more information, it's impossible to know for sure what happened.

I know it's small comfort, but I hope you know that even if Star's life was too short, it was a fantastic one, filled with love and everything he could ever want.  He didn't die of a long, lingering illness:  he went suddenly, quickly, and in the arms of the people he loved the most in the world.  We all should be so lucky when it comes our time to cross over.

The pain is for the living, the ones who survive and remember.  I find that it helps to write down the wonderful memories you shared with Star, and save them.  With each word, you pay him tribute and make sure that he will never be forgotten.  He will always live on in your hearts.

I am so, so, very sorry.  I am sending many healing thoughts as one who has been in your shoes more times than I care to remember.  The pain *will* fade, but until it does, just know that your tears do him honor, and will help heal the wounds.

Take care,

Dana