my baby died yesturday

Question
I'm hoping you can help me, I have two male fixed rabbits one that I rescued from the pound (sampson) and one that I recieved as a gilf when he was 6 weeks old(allie). 3 weeks ago I moved them from their combined two cages in the garage of my parents home and down into an old chicken pen so that they could run around. Allie lived with me for a year at school in my dorm room and was never confined so he got a little testy if he didn't get time to run and play. Sampson was always in a cage from what I could gather but took very quickly to allie and they never where very far apart, he was learning that he could be  a rabbit and have fun. After moving them down to the chicken pen my mother only checked on them once a day rather than the constant flow going in and out of the garage. She noticed about a week and a half ago that sampson was loosing a lot of weight but thought it was from all the new space and the change of enviroment. A week ago things took a turn for the worse she noticed that he wasn't eating or drinking and moved them both back up to the garage. she started feeding him with an eye dropper and he was sucking it all up, would eat until he was full and then would let her know he didn;t want anymore. She worked at AGWAY so she got some antibiotic to put in their water and gave him some through the eye dropped 4 times a day when she feed him. His jaw seemed to be locked and he couldnt/ wouldnt open his mouth. After almost a week of doing all of this he seemed to be getting better hopping around the cage, and looking better, but yesturday morning she went in to feed him and he refused to eat, this normally passive bunny fought my mom and bite her many times. So mom left him and when she got home last night at 9:45 he was gome, still warm and there was nothing she could do. She tried so hard, and now im scared for my allie cause he's all confussed and was cleaning sampson and cuddling with him trying to make him better. I'm afraid that I'm going to lose him too. Sorry if this sounds over dramatic but these two where my therapy bunnies and helped me through a very rough time... I had made an appointment at the vet for sampson for fri and now i think i'm going to take allie and and get him checked out. mom said he seemed confussed last night looking for sampson while she was cleanin the cage she took him inside the house ( he loves to runn around grams house and play with the dog/ cats) so that he wouldnt be too lonely...I need your advice what do you think I should do?

thanks you so much

Answer
Dear Mary,

I am very sorry about this tragic loss.  I wish you had contacted me sooner.  I might have been able to help you with Sampson.  But that is past, and now we have to worry about Allie and his grieving for his partner.

Rabbits who lose a bonded partner grieve as badly as bereaved humans do.  It's good that Allie was able to see Sampson and visit with his body.  He will eventually understand that his friend is gone.  But he will grieve, and the only cure for that will probably be for him to be (1) neutered and (2) then allowed to select his own mate from among those at your local rabbit rescuer's foster home.  You can contact one here:

www.rabbit.org

Just click on the icon on the side that says "Chapters," which is a local listing of rabbit rescuers in your area (by state).  Allie will need a LOT of love and attention right now.  I have known a bereaved rabbit to grieve to death, and only lots of love and constant attention from his human will help until he can get over his grief a little and then be allowed to choose a new mate.

Don't bring home a "surprise" bunny.  It is more likely that they'll fight than get along, as rabbits are usually very picky about their rabbit companions.  It is important to let *him* choose.

I am very sorry about the loss of Sampson, but hope that with the tips above you will be able to help Allie get over this and have a happy life again.  To find a good rabbit vet in your area, go to:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.  Please write back if you have other questions.

Dana