Very Sad News: Baxter Has Passed Away

It is with great sadness that I share this news: we lost Baxter in the early hours of the morning.

I woke to Liz sitting up in bed, talking to our vet’s emergency care service (where we had left Baxter for observation overnight). It was 5AM, and they were calling to let us know Baxter had passed away.

Though Baxter had stabilized earlier in the night, she had taken a very severe turn for the worse. Though the technicians tried to save her through CPR, Baxter’s heart wasn’t strong enough… and gave out.

It was terrible news, and a terrible thing to find out, first thing in the morning. To have Baxter taken away like this was a shock, and a surprise to us both. We knew Baxter had some medical issues, but we still figured we had a little more time with her. This was such a fast and surprising turn, and so inexplicably sudden.

Liz was incredibly grief-stricken, as you can imagine. She’s had Baxter ever since Baxter was a small, baby bunny… well over nine years. At a later point in the day, Liz told me that she’s known Baxter longer than she’s known me.

In addition to our grief, we had a rather unpleasant task ahead of us for the day. When rabbits are bonded together, one of the things we learned is that separating them is oftentimes a stressful experience for the other rabbit. And in the situations where one rabbit of a bonded pair passes away, you need to take steps to let the surviving rabbit know what’s happened. Otherwise, you run the risk of the surviving rabbit perpetually “waiting around” for the other rabbit to return home.

So we ended up going to the vet, and bringing Baxter’s body back home with us for a few hours. Though it seems a rather morbid thing (and a really, really difficult thing to do, emotionally)… this was something we needed to do to help Quincy. And, if I’m quite honest, it probably did more to help us – having Baxter around for a few hours, so we could sit with her, and cry, and say our goodbyes.

Later on in the day, we returned Baxter to the vet and made arrangements for her cremation.

Today was a very difficult day. Liz has pretty much been crying at every turn, and it’s been tough to console her. At a few different points during the day, she would whisper to me I just want Baxter back and it’s just heartbreaking to both hear this, and to feel that there’s nothing in my power to take her hurt away.

If you’re able, please go and read Liz’s blog post. I’m sure she would appreciate some kind words and condolences.

Related:
Everybody… Meet Baxter
Christmas Tree Decoration, 2006
Posts tagged with “Baxter”