Cotton wasn’t well for days after her jab. She didn’t eat much and she looked like she was in pain. Long story short, we rushed her to the vet. He said that she was having an adverse reaction to the vaccination. He gave her three injections, one for stopping gut stasis, one for gut pain and the other for general pain. At that point in time I was wishing that this wasn’t happening, and hoping that she would get better.

We got her home and she was really uncomfortable. The vet told us to feed her Critical Care, which we did. She struggled to breathe. I sat with her in a blanket burrito for hours. She looked up at me, her eyes were sad and it was as if she was saying goodbye. She passed away at around midnight.

We left her in with Buttons so he could grieve. That way, we wouldn’t go looking for her and wonder where she has gone. He sat, staring at her body. He didn’t move. I patted him and he was cold. He was sad. He needed comfort.

My sister picked Cotton’s body up, and wrapped it in the polar fleece blanket I was cuddling her in earlier. We buried her in the garden, near some nice plants, with the chickens, other pets and wildlife we had to bury.

I cuddled Buttons. He needed support and so did I. I felt lost, I didn’t know how to handle this situation.

Buttons missed her terribly. He was depressed and didn’t eat much. He’d sniff the entrances of the tunnels, the hutch and the other areas she had been, and just be sad. I felt exactly the same as he did.

I didn’t want to continue writing this. I was as sad as Buttons about the loss of Cotton and I thought there was no point continuing because I couldn’t imagine life without her. But, I had Buttons. I needed to make sure he was going to be alright. We were both going to miss her.

Danger

Be aware that bunnies can have adverse reactions to the Cylap vaccination. Apparently, it’s a 1 in 20 chance. I guess it’s the luck of the draw.

Averse reactions to the Cylap vaccination were recorded as swelling at the injection site, fever and lethargy, swelling in the forelimbs and heart palpitations.

What they don’t tell you is that it can kill your bunny within a few days. But, apparently, that is rare and classed as an extreme case. 1 out of 50 rabbits die from the Cylap vaccination. That is not safe and effective.

Rabbit savvy vets do not like the Cylap vaccination.