# I'm beginning to feel a little cursed



## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

Okay I don't think I mentioned this but a few weeks ago my big gorgeous rabbit Armani died. He wasn't feeling good for 2 days so I took him to the vet but they could find nothing wrong with him. I brought him back home and he was dead in the crate when I got out of the car. He was the only rabbit I'd ever met that really had an incredible personality and liked everyone he met. I have no idea what happened and I just couldn't believe he died like that. He was precious and I really miss him. I knew his little companion Willow was going to be devastated. She was totally bonded with him but had literally nothing to do with me. She's never been unfriendly but just prefers the company of other animals over people. She was most assuredly grieving but had my cats to keep her company and seemed to be doing okay. Well, Fri I could tell she wasn't herself so I kept an eye on her all day. Sat morning she didn't want to eat so I decided to take her to the vet. I got ready to leave and went to get her and she was dead. They both had been eating the same things they've always eaten, living in the same place, doing the same things.... What the hell??!
I don't know that she wasn't just extremely depressed and ultimately died because of that but good grief. I can't say that I was super attached to her because she never wanted me to touch her but I've had her almost 4 yrs so I did care. 
Well to make matters worse we still have a problem with the fox on our property. Now we've discovered there's more than one. Greeeaaaattttt.....
When my hubby went to bury Willow out by the wooded area he came back in and told me that Armani had been dug up and his body was gone. I immediately assumed it was the fox. He said he dug a deep hole and buried Willow so hopefully they wouldn't do the same to her. We were watching a movie on the screened porch last night and we heard them fighting and it sounded really close to the house. I let my dogs out this morning to potty only to find Willow's fur scattered all over my backyard! Seriously adding insult to injury! I really did not need to see that. They are definitely getting bolder and are showing their faces more frequently but to be eating my rabbit in the backyard so close to where we were on the porch?! This is getting ridiculous. We've got to catch these things and get them off of our property....


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I'm so sorry you had to lose your rabbits like that. I had guinea pigs so I know how attached you can get to the little guys. 

We have fox problems here, too. I talked to the guy at animal control and they don't do anything about them because they are considered just a natural animal like a squirrel. I'm not sure what the laws are in your area, but when my husband shot the BB gun at the one that was screaming at us, it took off and didn't come back for a LONG time. Then it came back so he did it again and it hasn't come back since. Now, we live in the county and it's perfectly legal for us to shoot BB guns here. It may not be if you are in a city limits. 

I was sick of the thing screaming at me and the dogs and threatening us every morning and evening and decided it was me or him! It was actually bigger then Chelsy, plus my neighbors all have little bitty dogs that run around without fenced yards so we took action on it. We didn't hit it or anything, just shot near it. It's worked for now and it hasn't come back yet.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I'm sorry  I used to have a guinea pig for 6 years and when he died, I was heartbroken. I dont think I'd want enough one, they just dont live very long.


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

OMG how devastating. One of my coworkers actually had a bunny die of a 'broken' heart. Her one bunny died after a neuter and then the companion died within about 72 hours. I am so sorry for your loss.,


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## minnieme (Jul 6, 2011)

Oi vey, that's rough. So sorry for your loss and the crappy rediscovery you made the next day. hwell: I am sending some good vibes your way...I hope they make it there soon and everything turns around for you.


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

I think Willow did grieve herself to death. Right after Armani died I brought a litter of puppies home to foster and Willow attached herself to them. She stayed right beside their pen and would interact with them when I'd let them out. I told my husband that I felt sorry for her but didn't want to get another rabbit and keep that cycle going. One is always going to die before the other so what do you do? 
Anyhow, one of the rescues in my area had a good previous adopter looking to adopt 2 Dachshund pups so I asked if they wanted to take the litter and just do the adoptions themselves. Willow stopped wanting to go outside the day they left so I don't know if she started grieving all over again. Poor little girl...
When I called my local AC to borrow a large trap for the fox they told me I wasn't allowed to use it for wildlife. I got one from a friend but we've had no luck so far. My husband intends to shoot them if we can catch them. I think they're beautiful but they're getting way too comfortable for me to feel safe. My cats have an outdoor enclosure to go out and sun themselves in and now since I've seen the foxes come out during the day I'm worried they'll get into the cat yard and kill my cats. Not okay! Knowing they can't be relocated (in my area at least) shooting them is unfortunately going to be the only answer....


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Donna, i'm so sorry. I remember when you posted about your male rabbit. I have also had a pet dug up by varmints, and it's like getting robbed - you just feel so violated, even if it IS an animal that did it and not a burglar.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Can you get a live trap and relocate them miles away? It is definitely what I would do. I am sorry to hear about your bunnies. I had two sisters, one who died around 2 years old because she ate a ton of plastic off the bottom of her cage. Then the other lived to be around 7 and had to be put to sleep after a very bad leg injury that we had been tending to for months. Her quality of life was just deteriorating so we had to put her down. If they stop eating they can get very sick very fast and it is really hard to get their digestive tract going again without force feeding. We had several incidents where Abby stopped eating and had to force feed her a gruel made of pulverized roughage to get her digestive system going. They are just so fragile. :/


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

We have a live trap but it's against the law to relocate them. Don't really know all the reasons but even if we have a professional trapper come to the house they have to kill the fox. And after seeing it out my window stalking my beloved Toby, I don't have that much of a problem with this.
Rabbits are definitely fragile. When Armani started acting sick I made him eat, massaged his belly, syringed water into his mouth and he was peeing and pooping fine. He just obviously wasn't well. I took him in and they checked his teeth and belly and all seemed normal. They sent me home with something to keep his belly moving and increase his appetite and within 30 minutes he was dead. Willow was acting normal as far as eating goes up until Thurs. She didn't want to eat her piece of carrot that morning but later that day was back to herself, eating just fine. Fri was okay but that night she was out in the yard and didn't want to come inside. Not too out of the norm but she'd usually always come for a treat and I had to go get her to make her come in. Saturday she was just sitting in one place and let me walk up and pet her. She didn't like to be touched so I knew she was sick. Within an hour she was dead. No more rabbits for me. The 2 I had lived to be around 4 each. My 2 cats are both FIV+ and hopefully they'll still manage to live good long lives. I hate my guys dying....


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

I'm very sorry for your losses . Rabbits go downhill quickly so sometimes there just isn't enough time. It sucks that the first vet sent you home, I wonder how experienced they were with rabbits. What brand of food did you feed? I know some breeders have had their suspicions with certain brands perhaps being contaminated but I'd think you would have seen more symptoms.

I also feel you on the fox issue. When we buried Sparkie (a free-range Giant Chinchilla rabbit who I adored) he was partially dug up overnight. The animal who did it left his ear sticking out of the ground, it was horrible. I remember coming back inside and just bursting into tears, it really bothered me.

Again, sorry for your losses, especially so close together. It sounds like they were very loved bunnies (something that can't be said for most pet rabbits).


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Awwww so sorry to hear this. Having had other animals, also, we have had several, guinea pigs, a bunny hamsters, I know what your going through , but having a fox possibly dig the bunny up now that's it draw the line there! Dang things they are so beautiful yet nasty critters. Maybe your village has some suggestions on how to rid the area of those menacing foxes meaning do they have a group or anything that can give you suggestions how to keep them off the lawn? There has to be something to put around to maybe just maybe keep them at bay. That's sad . Well I do hope you find some solution to the fox problem. We have coyotes and foxes also.


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

swolek said:


> I'm very sorry for your losses . Rabbits go downhill quickly so sometimes there just isn't enough time. It sucks that the first vet sent you home, I wonder how experienced they were with rabbits. What brand of food did you feed? I know some breeders have had their suspicions with certain brands perhaps being contaminated but I'd think you would have seen more symptoms.
> 
> I also feel you on the fox issue. When we buried Sparkie (a free-range Giant Chinchilla rabbit who I adored) he was partially dug up overnight. The animal who did it left his ear sticking out of the ground, it was horrible. I remember coming back inside and just bursting into tears, it really bothered me.QUOTE]
> 
> ...


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

When I was a kid, I was given rabbits, dwarf rabbits as birthday gifts. It started off with Spot and Sniffles. A year later, I got Buck and Bunny. My dad built an elaborate hutch for them, like tiny apartments, with ramps leading up to wooden boxes for them to hide in or sleep in. Buck got a cold, (he was a baby), and despite my best efforts, he did not make it. Shortly after, Bunny got sick.

One day we had a terrible lightning storm with strong winds and even though my dad had attached the hutch to a stake in the ground, it still got knocked over. I came home from school to see it knocked over. Shortly after this, Sniffles died. She must have had some sort of injury we did not see.

So I was left with Spot. Spot I really bonded with and I would sit, legs outstretched and place him towards my ankles. He would run across my legs and jump from my waist to my shoulder and was happy sitting there. We would sit for hours, sometimes. He always sat by his door of the hutch, waiting for me. I feel guilty sometimes because I was a stupid kid who sometimes wanted to play video games instead of share time with my rabbit who always waited for me.

He lived for 7 years. I left in the summer to go to Basic Training and AIT. When I got back, Spot was there, at his door, waiting for me. I took him out, held him in his usual spot, on my shoulder, and we just were. I was there for a week and I spent much time with him. Still, not enough.

I then had to go to Germany for my permanent duty station. About two weeks later, I got a letter telling me he had died. 

I firmly believe he held on long enough to see me one more time and then, knowing somehow that I would not be back, he died. Is it possible for them to die of a broken heart? I believe so for sure.

I loved that rabbit and I hope he knew it. I just think I was a selfish kid who didn't show him enough how much I did. But he waited for me that one last time, regardless.

When you say your 2nd one died shortly after that, if the vet could find no problems with the first one, then I believe your 2nd one died because of grieving. So many animals know more and feel more than we ever give them credit for.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I'm glad to hear that you got one of the fox. So far ours has not come back again. I'm hoping it's gone for good. Maybe your's will leave now that you got rid of it's pal. They really are pretty but they just don't need to be living in our fenced yards!!

Yesterday Shade just missed catching an Owl!! It swooped down right in our fence to catch something and Shade took off after it. It's been living in our yard and is huge, easily way bigger then Shade when it's wings are spread. Luckily he missed it but I'm afraid it could attack Chelsy, mistaking her for a rabbit or something. And some deer were INSIDE our chain link fence making a big trampled nest in the brush that Shade is now rolling around in so he stinks like old deer now.

I'm getting a little tired of wildlife to be honest!!


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

chowder said:


> I'm glad to hear that you got one of the fox. So far ours has not come back again. I'm hoping it's gone for good. Maybe your's will leave now that you got rid of it's pal. They really are pretty but they just don't need to be living in our fenced yards!!
> 
> Yesterday Shade just missed catching an Owl!! It swooped down right in our fence to catch something and Shade took off after it. It's been living in our yard and is huge, easily way bigger then Shade when it's wings are spread. Luckily he missed it but I'm afraid it could attack Chelsy, mistaking her for a rabbit or something. And some deer were INSIDE our chain link fence making a big trampled nest in the brush that Shade is now rolling around in so he stinks like old deer now.
> 
> I'm getting a little tired of wildlife to be honest!!


I hear ya. In the years past if my husband even mentioned killing something I'd be against it. Now, I'm not having that much of a problem with it.... 
We also have a huge owl that lives somewhere nearby or on our property. It screamed right outside of our porch the other night and I thought my husband was going to crap his pants! I think they are beautiful and so long as it doesn't mistake one of my little guys as lunch we'll live together in harmony. 
We have opossums, hawks, falcons, fox, squirrels, chipmunks, lizards, snakes, rats, mice, you name it living around my house. A little nature is okay but stay out of my house (we had an entire opposum family living under our garden tub once) and don't eat my dogs. Simple rules to live by I think...


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

We have nesting falcons. I know they couldn't pick snorkels up and carry her off, but they could sure attack her on the ground - they do it to the squirrels all the time although the squirrels seem to be able to hold their own.

And i wasn't great to my dogs when I was young either - when I went to college I got a dog which was great except I lived in the dorm. I spent alot of time hiding him, so he stayed in the closet alot. When I was discovered and got kicked out, I was afraid to tell my parents so my roommate and I (she also got kicked out) rented a single room that was a total dump so we could keep our dogs. I'm not sure what kind of life it was for them. But when I left school he had a better life.

My dad bought some ducks once to eat the grasshoppers. He/they were hilarious because he'd go out and call "chickie chickie" and these ducks would be waddling along behind him, all in a row.

Edited to add: if you are going to buy a dog from a parking lot and hide him in the dorm, you should probably not get a puppy who will turn into a 130 pound Malamute.


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