I had to have one of my partner's favorite rabbits put down today. Not too long ago, we had a severe heat wave, which left her paralyzed in her back legs, likely due to brain damage from a heat stroke.

When my partner found her, she was in the advanced stages. Since then, she's shown remarkable, although slow, progress.

Until today.

Sometime during the night, she managed to urinate on herself. She hadn't been doing that before, so we didn't know to worry. This morning, when my SO looked in on her, my partner and I were informed that this poor doe had flystrike.

To those of you who don't know, flystrike is an infestation of botfly larvae, which have tunneled into an animal's flesh. They prefer wet fur, which is why urine soaked fur made a perfect "nest" for them.

It was not a pretty sight. It never is.

I couldn't put her down myself, I had grown far too attached to her even though she wasn't technically my rabbit. She was very sweet and always eager for pets and cuddles. She was a devoted mother and very nearly a family pet.

A few minutes ago, the man we asked to put her down came and got her. I never saw him but she was gone from her cage. Just like that.

It always seems to be my partner's rabbits that get sick. :(

Goodbye, Cass. You'll be missed.