Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Chance, we hardly knew ye


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Dear little Chance, less than one year old, died suddenly this past weekend.  I am uncertain as to what went wrong, and will never know as I did not send her for autopsy.  We buried her by the fallen tree on the bank overlooking the river.
I first discovered that she was not feeling well when I noticed that she did not touch her food or water bowl on Friday.  This was unusual for Chance, she was the only bunny who was born alive out of a litter of 6, and she always had a big appetite from the time she would nurse without any competition.  She loved to eat and was always eager to see me at mealtime.  This day she seemed very listless and subdued.  I tried to get her to take some water through a syringe.  She perked up a little, and ate some of the fresh dandelion leaves that I offered to tempt her to eat.  She chewed very, very slowly as if it were an effort.  I watched her all day, trying to offer other bits of food.  She ate some apple, but did not want any banana.  She did eat some hay, but none of her regular food.  She stayed very still all day, and only moved occasionally.  She did not pass any urine, and the droppings she did pass were very small.  By evening I was very worried about her. She passed away during the night.  She was a little over 6 months old.

I feel so sad about Chance, even though I didn't have her very long.  She was a sweet bunny, and special because she struggled to live, despite the fact that all her litter mates were still born.  We named her Chance because we were doubtful if she would pull through those first few days.  She grew into what seemed a healthy young doe, but sadly, I suspect that something else was wrong that I could not see.
Now her hutch is empty and I miss her.  Little Chance, we hardly knew ye. 

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