Tinkie A.D.

A bridge between the hands and the heart…

Animal Communication

This is a communication I got for Trinket. I have just copied word for word.

 Trinket Sept. 12, 2009

 ~Trinket says she wants you to know that she loves you with all of every fiber of her being. She says she would not have left you if it were not necessary and hopes you will understand that she had to move forward on her journey..as hard as that was. She says she held on for two weeks longer then she should have and was hoping this extra time would help to console you and prepare you.

 ~She says she was very fearful before she passed and her heart was racing…everything was very overwhelming for her.

 ~She says she can’t imagine how she would live without you if she were still living and you had passed so she understands how you must feel now because she is gone.

 ~She says you are needed here (on earth) to take care of the others. She says their are many other rabbits and animals that require your assistance and love. She says you really should have a sanctuary for ill or hurt bunnies.

 ~She shows a mother bunny  with babies and says they need you. She feels this opportunity has or will come to you soon and she asks that you assist them to the best of your ability. She says no one else feels and knows and understands or cares how the rabbits feel like you do. She says you are like the rabbit guardian on earth! She hopes you see how important it is for you to continue to help as that is your destiny.

 ~She says she came to teach you and to learn from you but mainly to show you how amazing you are and how your determination and love can help another being so greatly. She says she stands in awe of your love.

 ~She says the name “Peter”. She says you must check with him and be aware of him to see how he is doing. He needs your attention.

 ~She says she loved the grass and the smell of the outdoors and she misses this greatly. She also shows something creamy and white or off white that she misses. This looks like food/drink.

 ~She says thank you for holding her so much and kissing and loving her. She says you always comforted her.

 ~She shows a pink lead or something long and pink. She says this you should keep in her honour and all the other things should be given to those who need it.

 ~She says sometimes at night she comes to lay on your chest..to visit you and let you know she is okay. She says she sends her sent to you and hopes you can smell her and will understand that she is there with you.

 ~She shows a young girl that holds sorrow in her heart but keeps it help in. She says you must work with this girl to help her to let go of her emotion…let it out or she will become ill. Trinket seems very worried over this. She says to send her love and tell this girl that she is beautiful and glorious and important.

 ~She shows a grey and white bunny that is around you or coming to  you. She says he (feels male or holds masculine energy) will test your boundaries and will but this is more learning for you. She says his teaching will help you in the future. You need to know this so that it will be easier for you to deal with.

 ~She talks about a barking dog and says rabbits really do not like that sound. It is very irritating. (funny…as I write this my dog is outside and has not stopped barking the whole time I have been talking with her!).

 ~She shows discomfort (burning) in her sinus and in her eyes. She says this was very uncomfortable for her.

~She shows a picture or a remembrance of you holding her to your chest and smiling brightly. She says that is her favorite memory of you. She says your smile is very warming.

 ~She says you mustn’t get lost in the sorrow..there is too much for you still to do. She says she would be disappointed if you gave up now as she worked hard to set the ground work in you/for you for what is to come. She says she has every faith in you that you will move forward in love and honour her memory by helping others. She says it would be nice to call your home “Trinkets Place -- A Home For Wayward (or weary) Souls”. She says you don’t have to but the idea makes her smile and feel important and also forever a part of what you do/will do.

She says, with that she leaves you for now, in love. She says you will meet again but she needs to rest now.

 Thank you,

Sheila

   animal communicator    www.sheilatrecartin.com  

Laura here~ I read this over and over and I there is only one thing that does not make sense now and that is the pink lead. There hasn’t ever been anything like that. I look through her things and the only pink i can think of would be her shirts, but it doesn’t seem like this is it.

After mourning over a month now, I feel releif hearing from her. At first I wanted her to come back to me so badly, but I’ve come to feel differently. I wouldn’t wnat her to come back and risk safety and heath to find me again, I just don’t want more suffering for her. And I’ve come to realize too that when she was well, before she ever got sick, she was a different little spirit, her illness forged a new personality and spirit for her. To have just a buny again I would always feel there is something lacking. Sadly the only way to know such an expression of bunny spirit is through the helping of a sick one. That terrifies me to even just say that, its such a double edged sword. The cost of time and money and heart ache when a bun gets as sick as she was is extraordinary and many things had ot be given up in our lives to care for three in a row like that, I just don’t know if I could do that again.  I know we can’t stay in this house forever, we really need to find someway our of here to something more permanent and stable. I hope that can come soon, but until then I really need to just keep on my mission of waiting and helping the 6 furkids I got now and then we’ll see. It was always my wish to have many rabbits, but with many its hard to really have that closeness too. I was lucky I got that opportunity with T. Its a lot to carry on with after her, but this place in my heart always will be “Trinket’s Place” maybe someday that dream can be real. xo Laura

This is a bit of video clip I found of Trinket when she was about three years old. I can hardly reconize her and I can’t really hold this image of her in my mind. She’ll always be in my mind as she was earlier this spring, even when her disability and her little body deforming, she was the most beautiful. ;-(

It had been six months of hell with my pet bunny Trinket battling E.Cuniculi, two episodes of head tilt that took over a month to recover from, a reoccuring bladder infection that spread and caused serious kidney damange, four two week episodes of not eating and having to be syringe fed due to drug reactions, but then rebounding  between each episode all while undergoing acupunture treatment to help her regain her own mobility with escelating hind end weakness that would bring on temporary hind end paralysis. And with a few close brushes with death, I was sure I had little time left with my sweet little “heart bun”. During this time the bond between myself and this sweet, strong little bun had become so deep and I just wasn’t ready to let her go and feared eveyday that it might finally be the time I couldn’t save her.

Even through all this Trinket remained willful, communicative, expressive and ever more loving with every day. It would be nothing for her to stay snuggled in my arms for hours on end smooching my face and neck.

Over the recent months I had read a few book on the subject of animal communication and was thoroughly intrigued. So after a few weeks of deep thought I decided to go ahead with a reading for Trinket with an Animal Communicator Sheila Trecartin after friend of mine and Reiki Master recommended her. My main concerns were centered around when and if to euthanize Trinket and  if she understood what was happening to her and was ready to go. I suppose I feared hanging on too tightly to her would cause more harm.

Being very intuitive myself I already felt that I had connected with Trinket on a deeper level and understood her feelings and some of her thoughts, but I sought a second opinion that would be emotionally detached from the situation. Sheila came highly recommended after being able to locate my friend’s cat that had been missing for several weeks by using animal communication.

The reading was done by me sending her a photo via email to her along with Trinket’s name and my questions. My questions were mostly asking if Trinket understood her illness and if she had any information for the vet to help her. I also asked about when it would be her time to pass and how it would unfold. I did mention to Sheila that Trinket has been ill for several months and that she was having issues with a sensitivity to her medication. That was all the revealed in my email to her. Below is the reading I received back from her. I have copied word for word as Trinket relayed her thoughts to her. My comments are added in blue

Trinket Reading Aug. 18, 2008  The following is my direct communication with Trinket. Please keep in mind that this is her perception of how she views things.  

~Trinket says to tell you that she feels she is the luckiest rabbit in the entire world!  All I can say is I bawled when I read this.

~She says she simply could not possibly want for anything as she has it all/you provide all she needs.  

~She sends you love and gratitude.  Trinket is extremely affectionate, it a more unusal trait in rabbits, but it wasn’t always so. It was only since she became ill that her smooching and snuggling began.

~She says she has pressed on in life for you. She says if it was not for you she would have given up/packed it in a long time ago. She says you are her guiding light, her strength.  I wondered exactly this if I was prolonging her life but I feared if it was a mistake. My vet agreed with me that the love and will in T was still a sign she desired to live.

~She talks about irritation in the throat. She says sometimes the inside of her throat feels raw and that is when she does not want to eat.  I later realized when she was going off her food and I had to syringe feed her, I was mixing her Crital Care too thick and I wonder now it was to hard for her to swallow. She seems to like it better on the runny side and it goes down alot easier.

~She says she is an “only” bunny and prefers it that way. She feels she is superior to the intellect of most other rabbits. She then says she also has a bit of a fear of what other rabbits will do. She says she likes her people, thank you!  T was bitten the first day she came to us and since then she will seek out any bun no matter the size and attack. She is two pounds and will outfight a six pound fatty!! We already gave up years ago at ever bonding her to another rabbit.

 ~She says “3 ago” (I believe she means years?) she felt she had a close call/ a near death experience so to speak. She says she feels you saved her. She wants you to know that changed her level of love for you. She trusts you and believes you will do anything for her.  Yes she did, it was three months prior. After a month of head tilt and living on her side and being fed crital care off a spoon she took a downward spiral when she refused to eat and became extremely weak, I was convinced I would loose her, but we persuvered and she pulled through. I had refused to let her go and kept syring feeding every few hours just small amounts to keep her going.

~She says she does not feel her heart as very strong. She talks about pain that radiates from the center of her chest outward. She says she does not know what is wrong with her but realizes it is serious as she feels your worry.  She is recieving Holistic Vet care with Chinese herbs, acupunture and chirpractic along with her traditional treatment. Her holistic vet is treating her kidney and spleen, but it seems that at this time she had limited Chi moving through her system. Her life force was weak and this showed in her pulse even. Athough her heart is fine, her overall life force has been weak. I had been overwhelmed with worry about her life force giving out on her. After months of weekly treatments she is doing really well now as of Feb /09 she is fianlly stable although still has to be watched for bladder infecitons and now her calcium levels. In the fall after this reading she also came down with pnuemonia which nearly took her out.

~She says she is very curious and loves to know about what people are doing and why. She asks that you sometimes take time out to dictate to her on what is going on and why.  I’ve always beleived the buns were senstive to this. They need to know why we are going out and when we’ll be home. They like their routine so now I explain anything new to all of them.

 ~She says she would like cheese to eat. I m not sure if this is rally cheese but she shows a soft round like orange treat and she calls it cheese. LOL, this is a yorgurt treat that is a little drop. Years ago I used to give all the buns pink ones that were berry flavor. I went out and got more but she wouldn’t eat them until I got the orange Carrot flavored ones. One day I put out a pink one, a white one and orange one and I asked her ” show me the cheese!” She went for the orange one!! She loves cracker so we joke now she is having her crackers and cheese!

 ~She shows that sometimes she just sits and stares at the wall for long periods of time. She says she is just taking time out and trying to not feel any outside stimuli. Sort of a version of meditation for her. OMG, she totally does this, I had worried about it but now I do feel better about this

 ~She talks about seeing horses somewhere. She feels you would have a strong natural connection with them.  There are horses at several farms along our drive to work. I had a pony and my parents had horses when I was a kid, but i have no desire to have them now, other than I do fantasize about having a miniture pony.

~She says she likes purples and greens and soft yellow.  WE have focused on these colors for her with her bedding and clothes!! LOL yes we dress her us, she loves a cute Tshirt!!

~She asks for a stick shaped food with things attached to it. This reminds me of a treat you would give a pet bird.  I got her this but it did not interest her.

~She says she tries to communicate to you through physical gestures and movements. She shows stomping or tapping her foot, twitching up her fur, flicking her ears and other motions. She says she has developed this to communicate to you/with you better.  T is extremly physically communicative and is easily understood by her physical gestures, even our vet has remarked on how extrodianry this is!

~She shows a green plastic bowl (this could be a request).  She didn’t have one so I got her one, but she doesn’t eat out of it, I keep her hay in it, but she won’t eat her hay either.

~She asks for a white ball to play with. This looks like a golf ball to me.  WE go her one but she has showed not interest in this.

~She says there is something green she eats that makes her feel bad.  T has had issues with too much calcium in her urine which has been a big contibutor to her urinary infecitons. We are to limit hight calcium greens and veg, but I put this back in her diet once she did finally recover from months of urinary infecitons and sludge. As of March /09 I am having to again take these things out of her diet again- Kale, parsley, spinach are all way too high calcium along with alfalfa pellets we had been feeding attemptign to keep her weight up.

~She says her dies are tender to the touch and she asks that you are very careful in how you pick her up. She suggest you scoop her under the chest and back end.  T’s legs are deformed now as a result of her hind end weakness. One leg is fused out behind her and the other is splayed out beside her like a flipper, plus she was loosing muscle mass.

~Trinket feels her name has been changed from what it was. She says Trinket isn’t her full/actual name but she likes it. She actually says she would like to be called “T”.  

~She says she feels her body system is off. She says she gets a little woozy sometimes. She wonders what can stop the dizziness?  This fianlly hit home after this reading. With this in mind I had fianlly been able to reconize a dizzy spell which in E.Cuniculi bunnies is a precursor to seizures. She has responded well to an herbal treatment that she took for months.

~She says please don’t allow smoke near her.  I used to burn incense at my store where she was the offical hostess.

~She shows an older pick up truck and says to watch it as it isn’t safe. She says something is wrong with near the wheels or the bar that goes across and connects the wheels. I  think it is the back she is referring to.  My husbands truck is an old pick up truck totally in need of a major overhaul, like brakes, tires and suspension work. I won’t ride in it if I can help it.

~She shows a man with a beard that she really likes to be with /interact with she says to send him love.   My husband has a beard

~Trinket says you are very thorough with things  but you try to do everything at once. She says prioritize and make a list to help you. She laughs and says sometimes it’s funny to watch you move all over the place but she doesn’t feel it’s productive for you.  This so describes me, its beyond funny. I’ll often forget what I was doing because I started anohter project halfway through. I guess you could say I’m a multitasker that is out of control! LOL

~For some reason she feels you and Dave should go fishing.  We cannot figure this one out and haven’t yet followed this advice.

~She speaks of a younger dark haired girl. She says this girl is very sensitive and quite insecure. Trinket says fear stops this girl from doing a lot of things. She says to send this girl love and help her to see she is pretty and can do anything she wants /would like. Trinket says this girl needs your guidance. I have a couple of female freinds say they wondered if they were this girl, so??

 ~She feels you should work with animals in some way but she cautions you to remember to allow them to be who they need to be. By this she means….. you will feel like you need to rescue them but not all need to be or want to  be rescued. She says just doing what you need to and are supposed to is enough.  I have my Masters Level in Reiki and have decided to work mostly with animals, I am also taking a course in Animal Communication myself. I do have issues with staying emotionally detached. I seem to feel the need to save them all.

 ~She warns her dad “Dave about laying back and eating. she says this will cause health issues down the road and is harmful to his digestion. She suggest he sit up straight and pay attention to what is in his mouth as he chews. She says outside distractions are not good either. She also suggests magnetic therapy for his hands. This helps with pain and discomfort.  OMG, I nearly had a stroke when I read this. This is exactly what he does. He lays back staring at the TV and shovels mindlessly, it can be scary some days.

~She says she loves when you all lay in bed together. She enjoys big fluffy blankets and pretends they are hills and caves. She says this is entertaining. She had played on the bed as a little baby but since this reading we bring her up to bed to snuggle under the covers. She’ll rest with her head in our necks resting on the pillow.

 ~She talks about a black and white rabbit that she was fond of. She says she misses him.  Her big sister (house mate) Minnie was black and white and T was obcessed with her, but because Minnie bit T when she first came to live here, she will not bond with any rabbit.

~She wonders what we can do to stop/control her dizziness?  WE got her the herbal treatment!

~She shows a medal container that looks like an old mild can. She say she likes the reflections off of this.  WE have an antique milk can that sits on the floor, but really don’t know what this is about.

~She says it is not her time to go just yet. She feels she will perk up and have a god spurt for a bit. She says if she did have to leave she feels it would be okay. She says your love has been all she needed/wanted this time around. Trinket is still with us now in March of /09 after another two close calls with death, she just keeps recovering even when the vet thought it was doubtful. She truly is a miracle bunny. She uses a cart now and can still drag herself around with her front paws. She truly has been an inspriation and I still don’t know how I’ll ever be able to say good bye when that time comes.

 by Laura Corbier

Mini Mouse House Rabbit

           Poor Mini had to look at “B”‘s dead body all night, with her house being right next to his. I sat with her for some time that morning petting her and telling her he’d be Ok now.  Mini had mostly shied away from me in the past. She’d kiss Dave showing him affection, but I’d be lucky if I’d get a single lick. I could grovel, plead and carry on asking for a kiss, and all I’d get is a face full of bunny butt. As a last resort to build a rapport with Mini, I resorted to the only way to a bunny’s heart I could think of. Treats!

           She seemed withdrawn and depressed for a couple of weeks, food was her only console. Even our vet had heard that sometimes paired bunnies have problems when one dies, the other could just wither in time. We had other bunnies, but Mini hated them all and fighting would always ensue. She’d have to get used to being single. So we began our relationship based on food.

           Mini had a fairly non memorable beginning, she was “B”‘s tagalong for nearly five years. Once I saw her inner nature. Molly our sweet gentle kitty was batting around a toy mouse and came a little close to “B” in a dizzying flight of play. Out of nowhere sprang Mini, lunging at Molly with teeth bared and emitting a rumbling growl from only God knew where. It was the first time I ever heard a bunny growl. They sure can be scary when they need to be. Molly kept her distance and Mini settled down beside “B” content, she had sent danger packing.

           After “B”‘s death, I went the extra mile to lay on the floor with her to try and entice her with treats. She came along fairly quickly. She had a definite taste for sweets just like her mum. She would be aware of what food I was having and would demand to try anything as long as there wasn’t any meat in it. My husband and I developed a bad habit of eating in the living room, on the couch in front of the TV (the joy of no kids!). All too often, Mini would end up in our laps, checking out what was on our plates. If it looked tasty she’d just help herself. It was pretty funny to see her leap from the couch with whatever morsel she stole sticking out of her mouth, rear feet flicking as she hopped off.

           I’m sure Mini learned all the names of her favorite foods. If I even mentioned pancakes, she’d perk right up and watch me like a hawk, especially if I went to the kitchen.  The craziness of her diet began shortly after her mate’s passing. Sure enough Mini developed infection problems, most likely a continuation of what had been going on with “B”. She had gone off her food and the vet had found a tooth starting to weaken. He told me it could be as simple as something getting caught in between the tooth and gum. To this day I wonder about popcorn, Mini loved her popcorn and who has ever heard of a bunny flossing their teeth? It didn’t take long and we were on the cycle of tooth pulling and tooth trimming that took her to the vet every six weeks. She’d be off her salad and soft treats would be all that she’d eat.

           For a year and a half Mini struggled between her up times and her down times. She’d got off her food about a week every month, but after her tooth trim and the occasional removal, she’d bounce back. It was the strangest thing, but since “B” had died, it seemed that she suddenly developed into an amazing little bunny person. She took over her role of being the alpha critter in the house and took on “B”‘s role of caretaker of the humans. Mini even developed the nick name of Smoochy, doling out the best bunny kisses! She still loved her Daddy best, but now she’d shower me with loving kisses. Bunny kisses are the best. They has a silky tongue that is quite warm and soft. She would carry on for ages, until finally the tickle of her whiskers would make me pull away giggling like a little girl.

           It’s funny the little things we remember and miss about a pet.  Dave and I always came up weird nick names for the babies. Mini started out as Mini because she was so small beside “B”. Then it went to Mini Mouse because she looked like her being all black and trimmed in white. Soon it went to Mini Moose or just Miss Moose. I’d come home from work calling out her name while she’d be ready at her hutch door. She’d shoot out of her house like a flash, circling the living room then stopping to beg for her cracker. I’d always say, “The Moose is on the loose!” she’d shake her head in delight and take off to enjoy her cracker. Going through this nightly routine made coming home a joy. It’s then that I miss them most.

           Miss Moose loved textiles. I would often catch her suckling fabric, especially the fringe of blankets and such. She’d suckle the ends until they were sopping wet. She wouldn’t chew the wool, only suck on it. I used to tease her that she didn’t have enough time on her Momma’s teat. One afternoon I caught her sitting in the middle of the living room floor with a bit of white sticking out of her mouth. I approached her slowly and what did I find? She had a bounce dryer sheet sticking out of her yap. I grabbed the little corner and gently pulled it out. She had it all folded up into her mouth and was sucking on it. It sprung out like an accordion when I started to pull. Let’s hope they are not too toxic!

           The funniest memory I have of Miss Moose’s obsession is when she was only a few months old. We had just bought a new couch and love seat for Christmas. Mini was just a baby and could only be out of her hutch unattended for a few minutes. Dave and I were fairly diligent in this matter. For some reason each of us had gone upstairs for only a few minutes, well OK maybe it was like ten minutes we were gone. Dave got back downstairs first. I heard a laugh and he called me down. There she was with her front end buried into the couch digging and her little bunny ass sticking up in the air. We yelled, “Mini!”, she wheeled around and looked up at us with the most innocent eye and a mouth so full of stuffing, she looked like Santa Claus. There was also a pile of stuffing beside at least four times the size of her! Instantly I went from mad to laughter, she looked so cute. She was a terror though, loving to rip apart even more spots on the couch and love seat both. Oh well, they were just cheap furniture anyway, who really cared?!

           I once read somewhere that rabbits are natural interior decorators. OK? I’d have to say that they are also naturally obsessive compulsive, but in a cute way. Mini was a great example of both of these qualities as it pertained to her fabric addiction. Our house is often very cold in the winter, so we have a pile of throws on the couch, these also acted as a barrier to the holes Mini had already dug out of the furniture. Anyway, Mini would often get up looking to re dig her way to China, but would find these piles of blankets. In a huff she’d start to pull the fabric toward her with her front feet. This would result in the blanket becoming all bunched up underneath her belly. Well, then she’d start this hopping and smoothing motion with her front feet, attempting to smooth out the throw in front of her. This would carry on for several minutes until she’d finally take off. You could even throw a towel at her and she’d go through the whole bunching and smoothing routine. We referred to this as doing the ironing. We’d yell to Mini, “hey Mini you need to do your chores!”, as we’d throw a towel over her head. She pop out from under it and then start her work. It was a fun game for all of us.

           Throughout Mini’s final year with us, she maintained her zest for life. If I went to the kitchen for a drink, there’d she’d be looking up at me from the doorway,  “Hey Lady, where’s my treat?” Nearing her end, the last few months, she couldn’t eat so I had to feed Mini with a syringe. If I got her pelleted food ground down and made into a nice mash with warm water, she would eat it right off a spoon.  I could still interest her with pancakes with syrup. There were some nights I’d make a pancake just for her because that was all she’d eat. Some of favorite foods were, toast, muffins, pancakes, pie, cake, cookies, any kind of bread, pizza crust, pudding, apples, pears, grapes and tangerines.  One night Dave made the mistake of offering Miss Moose a bite of his toast. Well, she took off with the whole slice of toast. Dave was running after her in attempts to retrieve the said toast before it landed on the carpet jam side down. We can all imagine how that ended. This was already a repeat event only instead of toast it was an entire piece of coffee cake! When will men learn? I would not have cared if he had cleaned up the jam.Mini’s heath became a cycle of complications at the end. Her teeth were dying and not needing that much trimming, but pain had become the major cause of her inability to eat. So we began using a dermal Codeine that was in gel suspension that would be smeared on the inside of her ear. This approach appeared to be managing her pain without the concern of too much stress for her kidneys. I noticed after several days that she was beginning to loose some fur on the top of her head around the base of her ears. We discontinued the dermal Codeine, but her fur loss had spread all over her body. I’d say she lost approximately fifteen to twenty percent of her fur. It was almost like a burn, her top layer of skin began to pucker and cause her discomfort. I would then peel the dead skin, just like a sunburn.

           We were hoping to stabilize Mini for  the possible extraction of her remaining teeth. Apparently bunnies can do OK on the mashed pellet diet with no teeth. The problem was getting to that point. Pulling healthy teeth would be a major risk of breaking their delicate  jaw. Leaving sporadic teeth in the mouth creates such trouble for them to eat, that malformation of the remaining teeth becomes a major problem, then of course infection is the real killer. We were right at the brink of it all. We knew there were little options left for her. I had been feeding her mash for at least a month and at one point I thought she was going to start coming around, but then she began to decline again. I took her to the vet Thursday afternoon to see what he thought. The news I got was devastating, the infection in her jaw had spread, now her heart was enlarged a sure sign that her game was over.

           I asked many questions about her condition, was there any hope-no. Could we let her die naturally? The vet informed me that it would be like drowning to death for her. I could not allow her to suffer anymore. Dave was coming home that night from a week of being on the road. He could have the night with her to say good bye and we’d have her put down the next morning.

           Mini hadn’t eaten on her own for several days, but that night she began to rebound. It seemed like miracle. She appeared to have no pain. She was eating her salad, she’d not been able to eat salad for almost two months. Dave and I agonized over robbing her of time. We watched as Mini would eat and beg for a treat, but then become tired. With the enlarged heart, her blood pressure would rise and fall. At times she’d be grey and listless, but then several hours later she’d be pink and alert. Our vet agreed to take it day by day until we were ready.

           Dave and Mini came to work with me at my store on Friday, it was a sad day for us, but every moment more with her was like a miracle. She sat with us behind the counter nibbling on carrot muffin and eating all her favorite greens. She seemed oblivious that she was sick, when her blood pressure was us she’d hound us and give us kisses. All she knew was being the best little bunny she could. That night when we got home, she became weak and grey in color again. Saturday would be our last day with her. Back to work again. More carrot muffin and a few pieces of salad. She spent more time weakened, but from hour to hour we could see her will for life.

           I closed early that afternoon. We had to wait over a half hour for the vet, he was out on a call. So Dave and I had some time just to sit with her. She was covering us both with kisses. She was looking nice and pink at this time, she was alert and inquisitive. Mini had become like a little Mom to us, she took over the job of loving the humans after “B” had died and even in her last hours she gave her love abundantly. My heart was breaking each second we waited. The last time we had to have a bunny put down they had to inject directly into the heart so we couldn’t hold him, I hoped it didn’t have to be that way for her.

           By the time the vet was ready, I was weak. Dave held Mini, she was his special little girl and I wanted him to be the last thing she saw before she was gone. There was a last moment of shock for Mini as the drug nearly finished and she cried out confused and afraid. The vet says she didn’t have pain or fear, but I don’t believe him. We knew her too well. I think at that last moment she was afraid, and that moment literally haunts Dave and I both. It was the right thing to do, her suffering would have been too much and she deserved better than that. Her love and joy was worth the pain of loosing her. I think of it as ironic that in the end it was an oversized heart that killed her.

           “B” was still in the freezer at home, I just couldn’t bring myself to bury him or cremate him. Now that Mini was gone, it seemed right. The next day I took in a box to the vet. It was all I could do choke out the words, “Inside is Mini’s mate B. I want them to be cremated together.” The girl at the desk nearly cried. Six years of unending complications due to  reoccurring infections had finally been stopped after it took two of our angels. Mini didn’t quite survive two years after “B”, but she made that short time the most memorable and a gift I would never trade. The pain of her passing was greater than loosing “B” because it was like loosing them both. I still come home with their names on my breath as I walk in, I remember they are no longer there in body, but always in spirit. I like being a bunny mom, it is heart wrenching as their lives are short, but well worth the cost.

           The lesson that Mini left me with was all about will to live out our nature. It was her job to be a good little bunny, loving and bringing joy to her human family. She took over the job freely and spent every breath she had upholding it. She did not conceive the idea of quitting even in failing health. Prey animals fight to the bitter end with every ounce of their being. That is a quality of commitment I wish more people had. No wonder I love my animals, sometimes they are better people than some people. I find loving them makes me a better person and I am grateful for the privilege of being their care givers.

Mini Another Event Remembered…..

           This account that has been added later, was an event I’d much have rather forgotten. It has been in the last few weeks this memory has been coming back to me, so I thought I should add it to Mini’s story, almost a year after her passing.

           It as about two week before we ended up putting her to sleep. Mini was still not eating her salad, but she would eat her pellets all mashed up with water if I presented it to her on a spoon. She was such a trooper and too cute eating her mash off a spoon. I certainly preferred this method to having to syringe it into her mouth. It was a weekend and Dave was home from his weekly run trucking, so I thought I’d make an apple crumble cake. Mini would still eat nibbles of these kinds of soft treats willingly.

           I broke off a little hunk of cake and fed it to Mini, oh how she loved her sweet treats. Sick as anything, but she’d perk right up while she was eating her cake. So I broke off another piece for her and left it in  front on her, while I went to sit down on the couch and enjoy my piece while we watched a movie. Obliviously we sat there for several minutes when I looked over at Mini to see how she was doing. It took a minute for me to realize what I thought was going on. There she was with bulging eyes and making gulping motions very similar to how gold fish look. I then realized she was choking! But could rabbits choke, I knew they couldn’t vomit, but I had never heard of them choking. I screamed to Dave and we rushed over to her. This whole event took several minutes to unfold. It was the most powerless and frightening few minutes of my life. I thought her eyes would bulge right out of her head, she was limp, but clearly terrified and fighting to breath.

           Dave held her and tried to swab inside her mouth but couldn’t find anything. I had the stupid idea of syringing some water into her mouth in hopes of flushing what ever was caught from it’s obstruction. While Dave did all this I struggled to keep my sanity while I finally managed to call my vet at home. Thank God he answered. He seemed as shocked as us that she would be choking, but never the less there she was soon about to die, and I killed her with some cake! The vet said all we could do was to hold her with her head to the floor and to shake her up and down like you would trying to get the last bit of ketchup out of the bottle. I managed to relay these instructions to Dave. We were both nearly in tears, but we kept at it, still she desperately gasped, very close to the edge of life. Then the vet said to try patting her chest and throat. I hung up the phone and we continued for a few minutes with Mini. There was nothing else to do. It was hard to hold her up without having her fall on her head while shaking and patting her. The trick too was to do all this forcefully enough to have some effect, but not to damage her fragile body either.

           Finally she stopped gasping. She panted for quite a while, but there she was alive. I could only call it a miracle! Dave and I were numb with what had just happened. I was devastated with guilt, feeling like I had nearly killed her when we had come so far through her recover. At this point we thought she was getting better and had hope she would recover. I called back the vet a few hours later to tell him that she was alive. He was very diplomatic in his shock that she was still with us. I love how a vet will give a recommendation and a sense of hope, when meanwhile they think you’re a goner.  But when you have nothing else what else is there. Dave really came through in this event, there was no way I could have handled this on my own. The fact that I was having a major anxiety attack through the whole thing was only part of the problem. Thank God for his miracles.

           It was only a few week later she was diagnosed with the enlarged heart. After we euthanized her we were recounting this story to the vet and we all came to the idea that she had not been choking after all, it was most likely a heart attack. Unbelievable that we managed to save a bunny having a heart attack. Pure fluke, and I must admit, giving her the water was surely insane as she could have aspirated the water into her lungs! Tapping her chest was most likely what had helped get her heart going in the right beating pattern again. It is painful for me to remember this account, but I feel it is remarkable and unique and therefore worth sharing.

 by Laura Corbier

         There she was a fuzzy little ball of floppy ears, licking the side of the fish aquarium that she was housed in. Dave, my husband asked to see her. As soon as the pet shop owner picked her up like in the photo shown here, we knew she was the one. Who could possible resist those fuzzy feet?!

           After getting her home I wasn’t so sure. Every time I picked her, she peed on me. We also wondered why she held her ears up like a regular bunny. So off to the vet we went. Sure enough little Buffy had an infection and had to be on antibiotics. That went OK for a day or so until we figured out she was having a reaction to the antibiotic. It took a few weeks, but we got her all straitened out and then we could just concentrate on getting to know her.

           I was still grieving for Moe,  but soon fell in love with Buffy too. Dave and I had a home based business and it was our off season, so there was way too much time on our hands. Buffy was a natural model, she loved the camera and would always be available for her photo shoots.

           Buffy took over Moe’s old condo and after a few weeks of training she’d have full run of the house for hours on end in between naps and snacks. It always amazed us when she’d be upstairs wrecking some kind of havoc, to suddenly come thundering  down the stairs sounding like a herd of elephants to leap up into her litter box on the couch to do her business. She had already chosen the corner of the couch as her spot, so we thought we may as well just keep a litter box there for her.

           Buffy loved the cats, but she loved the cat kibble more. Often we would catch her muzzling out the 12 pound cats from their food dishes. We could see that her naughty level was in direct proportion to her intelligence. Nothing would get past her. When I’d bring in the grocery bags from the car, she’d have a few bags already unpacked before I’d even finish bringing them in. Not like she was spoiled or anything, but I believed in providing a  large variety of greenery for her diet. Every day we gave parsley, coriander, romaine lettuce, dandelion, kale or Swiss chard, grass and or hay, carrots and carrot tops plus a pellet rabbit diet and then there were the treats. Buffy loved apples, grapes, pears, tangerines, grapefruit, popcorn, oatmeal, flax seed meal and the occasional cookie or muffin. One day I was sitting on the couch with a plate of grapefruit which I was segmenting. In a flurry of fur I suddenly realized Buffy was standing in my plate. Before I could realize what was happening she had grabbed the grapefruit and was hopping across the room with it. It was so cute watching her with juice oozing from the corners of her mouth, she loved it! So much for my breakfast.

           By the time Buffy was approaching four months of age, I noticed a major change in her behavior. She’d try to herd the cats, much to their distaste. I’d watch her when she was hopping away and would wonder if she was developing and extra bump between her legs. OMG, how dumb could I be?! A few days later we heard a blood curdling meow from our male cat Chubby. We ran over to him to find that poor confused little Buffy was attempting to sodomize him while his head was in his food dish. I was mortified, Dave was laughing. When he picked him off the cat we could see his little penis. Our sweet baby girl was a Boy! Even the vet had declared him a her and would be the brunt of much kidding for years to come.With no more bows for Buffy, we ended up settling on naming him “B”, just B for now, but after a few more month we decided it had to be Mr. “B”. Weird, but bunnies demand respect. “B” figured he was the Sun and we all revolved around him. I didn’t mind, but one of our cats Kitten (not to be confused with the term Bitch- also known as The Old Bag) would not hear of such a thing. Every time “B” was near she’d hiss and carry on, it wasn’t like he tried to sodomize her.

           We did have “B” neutered as he was one seriously sexed up rabbit. After a month or so he calmed down considerable. He was still the boss of the house and the cats would give him a wide birth. We came to believe that B was lonely. He’d sit with his stuffed toys and kiss them. It was sad to see him try to befriend the cats, but they wanted no part of it. Dave was wandering a local pet store one morning then came home with a cute little bunny friend for B, we called her Mini.

           Mini and B became the two headed bunny. Mini was his bunny and barely tolerated us. B always seemed to shine, being the one to create mischief with Mini at his hip. She adored and worshiped him. You would think that would be enough for B, but sadly no. He demanded to hold top rank in the house above every four legged no matter their size.

           It was a regular day for us a Happy Haven when I heard a major uproar coming from the upstairs. There was a fury of growling, hissing and loud banging. It sounded like two wild cats engaged in combat. I flew up the stairs to intervene and was shocked by what I saw. Wedged behind the toilet was our sweet kitty Molly with terror in her eyes as she was attempting to keep out of harms way. There laying in the middle of the hall was B in all his 5 and half pounds, slightly panting  with his legs out behind him and his side toward another cowering cat- the notorious Kitten in all of her 14 pounds (the old bag) There were tuffs of cat and bunny fur every where! From what we could discern from the crime scene, was that finally B had his limit of Kitten’s disrespect. With her hissing and spitting into hit face, just y his mere proximity to her, B said,  “Ok bitch, you’re on!”, and the rest is history. Kitten got a bite into his ear, and he got a few into her stomach. Since that day, Kitten showed more fear at his presence than her previous disgust. Hooray for the good guys!

           We took B to the vet just for good measure. He seemed Ok, but the vet put him on antibiotics just to be safe, as a cat bite is a vile mix of deadly bacteria and saliva that could fall a 200 pound man let alone a bunny, if left unattended. Basically you can get blood poisoning from a cat bite if it’s bacteria enters your blood stream. So everything looked good for a couple of weeks, until I noticed a scab at his bite site. At close examination by the vet, we found that the scab actually went along a major vein on his ear. Once some of the scab was removed, the vet found that gangrene had infected a large portion of the top layer of skin on his ear. After the debridement, there was a gapping wound that was an inch and half across and three inches long. I nearly passed out when I first saw my baby. By this time, Dave my husband was working as a long haul trucker so now I was home alone all week. I’d have to suck it up and learn to deal with the queasier aspects of our pets health care like the regular cleaning of his wound and the application of the ointments. I could barely look at it let alone touch it!

                      “B” required regular debridements  for I think six months. It seemed like we were chasing one infection that led into another, and many of them antibiotic resistant. I remember one afternoon talking to the vet on the phone about Mr B’s current state while both B and Kitten were sitting on the couch. Near the end of the conversation, I asked if he might loose the whole ear. It was then that B lunged up from his spot and attacked Kitten with his full fury. It freaked me right out, but I believe he understood my conversation. B also known as Beeber developed a fascination with Kitten. She would sit on the couch in her favorite spot, while he’d perch on the arm behind her. His glare of hatred would only take a few minutes to take effect. Kitten could not stand his psychic warfare very long before she’s sulk away. Beeber would then stretch himself out on her spot, so smug and pleased with himself.

           “B”‘s ear infections spread through out his body, most devastatingly into the bone of his jaw. We then found ourselves in a cycle of tooth removal, tooth trims and more antibiotics. During this procedures B would have to be put under general anesthetic . This went on for years. The summer he turned four seemed like a blur of weekly visits to the vet. Amazingly Beeber was a trouper, always loving life and finding mischief. He adored us and lavished us with his kisses, even when he was ill.            Some time that summer, B took a turn for the worst and stopped eating. I began to feed him with a syringe. I was not letting go of my bunny angel. I could still see his will for life and I’d do what ever it took. My vet recommended we try Guelph University as we were at a dead end. So off we went. They ended up pulling another tooth and trying an antibiotic concoction. I guess the combination of the strong medication and the stress of the 2 and half hour drive there and then back was too much, he just got sicker. He spent three or four days in hospital care and then seemed to rebound slowly. I’d sit with him for a few hours each day, often crying trying to bring myself to letting him go. Every time I came ready to euthanize him, he’d begin to rebound and come back to life. I couldn’t bear to end his life as long as there was quality and happiness in his life.

           A few days after I got him home, he developed heat stroke and loss the use of his rear end. What more could happen!? Off to the vet again. Subcutaneous fluids  had to be administered daily for a week. Did I mention it’s a half hour drive to the vets? All this time I still fed him by syringe four times a day. It was at least two months before he began to eat again . Meanwhile he had lost almost half his body weight. He was a skeleton with fur. Gradually he did regained  all his weight and developed the pet name Momma’s Little Fatty, sometimes we called his Dad momma’s Big Fat Fatty. I’d sequel out his name as he’d go sideways through the living room on his tip toes, shaking his fuzzy bum. Both my husband and I cherished our little bun every day he lived because we never knew how long he’d last.

           Still we carried on dealing with abscesses in his ears. The vet had to install a kind shunt in his ear to allow the infection to drain. During these times, we’d have to separate B from Mini in attempts to save her from becoming infected as well. She was obsessed with keeping his infection sites clean. Both of them would pine for each other, it was so hard keeping them apart. Then we found that the abscesses started to spread again. I found one on the centre of his stomach. We just prayed he wouldn’t get on in his major organs or it would be game over. Off to the vet again. This time we just laid him out on his back which makes them go docile and limp. He laid like that until the vet finished scrapping away all the infected tissue with a scalpel, at least 15 minutes. She kept remarking on how amazing he was for allowing the procedure. Every one at the vet was very fond of “B”. He became well known among the other regular visitors.

           Beeber loved the car. He’d stand in my lap with his front feet on the wheel looking out windshield on a good day and on the bad days, he’d lay in my lap as I drove. I’d only let him drive or sit in my lap when we were on the back country roads, in town I’d make his sit on his towel on the floor. He was always such a good boy! He rarely used his carrier to travel, but preferred to go on his harness and lead. We’d customarily go down to see the ducks at the park if he was feeling good before we’d go to see the vet. He’d hop along the fenced duck pens with his floppy ears flapping in the breeze, trying to doge the mud puddles on the way. People were always amazed to see him down at the park and would often ask to take his picture. He was born to model that guy! His newest nick name at this time was Doggy. I don’t really think he knew he was a rabbit. I’d just call him my little Doggy. I do remember one lady in the vet’s office giving me a look one afternoon after she over heard me murmuring what a good little dog he was. Her eyes when wide when she saw inside his carrier, then says to me, “Do you realize that’s a rabbit?” I replied, “Shh, he doesn’t know that!”

           The fall season after his rough summer, I decided I wanted something that would be special to him that I could keep after he passed away. I was going by a local pet supply shop and saw the cutest little hat for dogs. Well you can image. I talked the lady into creating a custom hat and vest made from black satiny cloth that sort of looked like leather. I got her to trim it out with silver studs. I added a big silver B for his hat, and trimmed the jacket with silver chain. He looked bad in his biker bunny outfit. He’d go to the park all dressed up and people would flock to take his photo. He loved the attention he got when he had the outfit on and besides he’d tolerate anything to make his mum happy. Dave my husband was a bit embarrassed to walk him when he had his outfit on, often making some comment about B being one of the missing Village People. Go figure, but he’d walk our little dwarf bunny Trinket in her pink snakeskin outfit!

           We kept up the good fight until the fall just before B turned Six. I had just opened a gift shop in town and was no longer working from home. B still required tooth trimming under anesthetic every three to four months. The vet told me there was always a risk that some day he may not come back out of the anesthetic. He had to have had a least a dozen if not more surgeries. I always thought that would be how we’d loose him.  B was off his food again and acting strange. This time the vets news was beyond devastating. His bone infection in his jaw had spread to his brain. A form of meningitis. I seem to remember the vet gave him an antibiotic injection and sent us home. I was working that day at the store and Dave was home for the day as well, but had to leave for a run that night. We let B sit around in the back office. He seemed confused and unable to see right, running into things, then becoming frightened and sitting with his face in the corner. We could not console him. I put him to bed that night. I found him dead the next morning. I felt so empty inside, I could barely cry. Now there was some relief, he’d never suffer again. Now my concern was for Mini, how would she live without her soul mate. She loved her Daddy OK, but he was only home on weekend, now all she had was me.

           Unable to deal with the loss of B right away, I wrapped him in a blanket and put him inside a box and then put him in our large deep freeze out in the garage. I needed some time before I could bury him or have him cremated. It would be almost a year before we closed that chapter.

           With all that the poor little guy went through, he always remained loving and playful. His energy filled our house and our hearts. A year before he died he gave me a wonderful gift, it was the lesson of forgiveness. Kitten (the old bag) had to be evicted from the main part of the house to live with our crazy dog Tera in the laundry room. She could not be trusted to contain her evil ways. One evening Dave was feeling sorry for her and had “the old bag” in for a lounge on the couch for few hours. There was Dave with Kitten at his side and B jumps up onto the couch about a half a foot from Kitten. He looks at her and inches closer, she turns away and growls just as B leaned into her and kissed on the head. Only months before he’d try and kill her if he had the chance, but now he’d forgiven her. She was still a bitch to him, but it didn’t matter to him anymore.

                                            He was a lover not a fighter.

 And the Little Squeaky Baby  by Laura Corbier   ~This story is a continuation of the Homeless Easter Family

           Even after the babies were weaned and well on their way to being mature bunny people, Cheeks maintained his role of babysitter and snuggle king. More often than not, it would be Cheeks piled up with the kids, while Gracie would take a break for the hounding little brats. Even as Baby Jazz came up on sexual maturity and would otherwise be a rival, Cheeks still maintained his position of the main provider of emotional comfort for all three bunnies.

           Cheek’s story is tightly wound into Jazzie’s story and I wouldn’t be able to tell his without fully telling Jazz’s. Very near weaning time, when Jazz began to eat solid food, we discovered a major problem. I found him one morning hunched up in the hay basket, clearly in distress. I watched him for a few moments and found that he would tense up, close his eyes then emit a painful squeak. It was like when you’d squeeze a dog’s squeaky toy. I picked him out of the hay and found his rear end all soiled with urine. To make a longer story shorter, after some examination from the vet, we discovered that poor little Jazz had a narrowing of his bowel. So every day he’d have to push and cramp in order to move along what should be a simple task for his body.

           We took a wait and see attitude to see if maybe things would settle down after he was fully weaned. The vet recommended a daily dose of mineral oil to help the little guy passing his stool. A few weeks latter things had not changed, and the mineral oil made for a horrible mess on Jazzie’s back end. Throughout all this Cheeks was of immense comfort to Jazzie. After another consultation with the vet, I got the crazy idea to try a natural stool softener. We couldn’t keep Jazz on mineral oil for too long, as it would prevent him from absorbing needed minerals from his food. It was only a short term approach. So I wondered if prunes would be good. The vet figured we had nothing to loose, so only now to work out the dose.

           Almost a week went by and Jazz still wasn’t having a proper movement and the squeaking was killing me to watch. I couldn’t bear this little guy’s suffering any longer. I called the vet to say I was bringing him in to be put down.  The drive was agonizing for me, my heart was in my throat the entire way. I felt so horrible for what I had to do, but I knew it was the right thing.

           I had to wait only a few minutes for the vet, once I got there. It wasn’t my regular vet but his partner Deb. She quickly got up to speed as far as Jazz’s situation. When I pulled him out of the carrier, the stench was horrendous. All the stress of the drive in, helped him out. His bowels had majorly let loose. Crap was everywhere. The vet held him and gently slid her finger over his tummy and the poop just piled out of him- squeak free!

           “Thank goodness the prunes have finally done their job. I really didn’t feel up to euthanizing another animal today.” Deb said. So we agreed we were finally on the path of stool maintenance for Jazz.

From that time on Jazz did Ok on the prunes. He loved them, so taking them was like a treat to him. He’d have the odd bad day every month, but would soon get straitened out by the next day. The big problem we had to watch out for was hair balls. A bunny can’t vomit the way a cat does, so hair balls have to be passed in the stool. Jazz had little room for error in the bowl department, so we had to be quite watchful of his shedding.

Jazzie

  With such a turbulent growing up, Jazzie became very moody and needy. Cheeks was always the one to go to Jazz any time he cried out with discomfort. Cheeks would go to him and nuzzle him with comforting kisses. Gracie and Erie would join in the bunny huddle, but it was Cheeks’s main focus in life to take care of his little guy.

           Months went by and we managed well with all the extra mouths in the house. Sometimes it would be overwhelming when anyone was sick, but somehow we got through it. My recollection of timing has failed me over the years of so many critters and all their special needs, but I think it was about a year later that Cheeks began to show evidence of a serious nature. It began subtle and grew more serious within a few months. Cheeks began running sideways, unable to run in a strait line. It did not appear like Head Tilt, but he had major issue with balance. Jazzie would be crying across the room and Cheeks would start a diagonal path toward him often missing his target and having to back track. Cheeks seemed to be closer to Erie than Gracie was and his job as comforter for Jazzie also brought them closer than the relationship between mother and son. Cheeks was the centre of the universe for each of kids and for Gracie.

           Off to the vet again, this time the news was not good. There was nothing wrong with his ears, so Head tilt was out. The vet deducted that it was a parasite that is often common and asymptomatic in rabbits, but Cheeks had it in the brain. Game over. We brought him back home and tried to make the best of it until he could no longer function.

           Cheeks was still too dedicated to his family. By this time he’d have to run along the wall and often would prop himself up to keep from rolling over. So my heart began to break again. How many pieces could a heart break into and still come back together? Well you suck it up and do your best, and somehow you come out the other end becoming all the stronger and richer for it. When Cheeks came up to his breaking point, his deterioration was rapid. For weeks he managed and seemed almost to compensate for his failed balance, but still was a vital element in his family. I recall that very quickly he went from merely out of balance to being completely out of control. Even in his carrier he would roll, unable to determine up from down. I tried holding him, but he continued to roll in my arms, I couldn’t keep him steady. We were both out of our minds, him with fear, me with grief.

           Cheeks couldn’t be held still to euthanize in traditional ways, two technicians had to restrain him while the vet had to inject directly into his heart. That was the hardest thing I ever had to endure, watching that poor animal in terror and unable to comfort him and hold him as he pasted away. Relief flooding into me after he was gone, but then I realized we were not done yet. I had read that wild rabbits have outstanding memories honed by their need for survival and escape. When one of a pair dies, the remaining one will mourn and then wither in their lack of understanding of where their mate has gone. The vet gave us the option of a necropsy, but I thought it was pointless. Cheeks was dead and if any others in his family were infected I didn’t want to know until I had to. So be brought him to his family so they could say goodbye.

           The intellectual part of me watching this process was amazed, but at the same time, the emotional part of me could barely stand the sadness that I witnessed. We lay Cheek’s limp body in the centre of the room where they had all played and been together. Gracie, his girl came over to him first. She appeared to quickly come to understand what was going on. When she sniffed at his hind end, she jolted back from him, but soon settled down in front of him just looking. Jazz was the next to approach his dad. He went up to him just like any other day, nudging him begging for a kiss, but he just lay there. Jazz nudged again, you could see the frustration on his face. Cheeks would never wait for Jazz to ask twice. Now Jazzie tried to crawl underneath Cheek’s face (the bunny on the bottom always gets the kiss) but still no response. Jazzie just sat there staring at his dad when Gracie finally came over to him, putting her head over his neck and comforting him with stillness. I watched through my own tears from the edge of the room. I wanted them to have their space and the time to understand. Dave was with me through all this and he cried as much as I did and loving them as much as I did.Erie was the last one to approach Cheeks, but she didn’t seem to connect with what was going on. You could see she was oblivious to the reality, she was focused on missing out on the bunny huddle. We left Cheeks with them for about a half hour, then we took him out to the garden and buried him beside our beloved Moseph and another nameless rabbit that wandered into our yard to die.

           Erie never did get it and we could see her looking for him for several weeks, at a loss to understand where her daddy went. Gracie and Jazz on the other hand were quiet and sad looking for a few days, but then carried on to a normal routine. Erie took over going to comfort Jazzie when he cried and Gracie became a bit of a loner for while (she earned the new title The Widow Gracie) then became bonded with Erie. Jazzie was always the third guy out when not muscling in on the smooching.

           I was amazed finding a bunch of bunnies carrying on with a deeper family bond than the one that I experienced as a child. But after watching the passing of a vital member of their unit, I will never doubt the presence of emotion and a remarkable level of reasoning in a simple animal. Rabbits are such frail little creatures with such a naturally short life time, but I am constantly amazed by them and enthralled with their unique personalities. I will never be without the love of a good bunny and honestly I haven’t met a bunny I didn’t instantly love.

           Although rabbits are prone to such horrendous ailments with such a sensitive system, I do find them to be forces of nature not easily subdued or tamed. They appear to allow us into their reality, not joining us in ours. I admire their complex forms of communication often physical and psychic in nature as they challenge me to quiet my world enough to join them on a more spirit level of intuition and observation. They exhibit emotions often like people with bipolar, but again this adds to their charm with such extremes and compulsions. I am grateful to have these wonders that keep me rooted in nature. To top it all off, they all so damn cute I can barely stand it. I’ll never have children of my own and I’m grateful that I have found a way to allow that maternal part of myself to flourish and have purpose.

 by Laura Corbier

           One lazy afternoon I was driving into the nearest town to do some grocery shopping. I noticed three domestic bunnies huddled under a cedar tree at the edge of the road in someone’s yard. Typical of me to notice something amiss. I hate seeing rabbits just loose like that. They are so easily scared I doubt they could navigate the traffic. I tried to put them out of my mind, I had three pet rabbits at home to be concerned about. I did mention seeing the three bunnies to Dave my husband later that night when we spoke on the phone.

           That weekend when Dave came home from trucking all week, we went to town again. It didn’t take long for him to ask where I had seen the bunnies. So when we drove past there on our way home, we saw only two rabbits, the third had been killed on the road a little further down. Dave demanded I pull over so he could go talk to the owner.  Dave is generally an easy going guy, but this outraged him! He went right up to the house to speak to the man who owned the house. I watched them talk for a few minutes then the man went into his garage and Dave returned to the car.

           When he came back, he informed me we were taking the two surviving bunnies. The man came out with a fishing net to catch the now ferial rabbits. I was amazed they managed to catch them. Both were quite frightened and would not tolerate being handled. Dave stuffed the two scrawny and dirty rabbits into our trunk and I just prayed they’d survive the stress. On the way home he filled me on their history and what led them to being homeless under a cedar tree.

           A year and a half earlier, three cute little baby bunnies were purchased as Easter gifts for the little two legged kids. The three bunnies lived in the house until that fall. Apparently they were not too friendly and the kids were bored so the bunnies were sent to an Uncle’s barn for the winter. The one female did have at least one litter of kits, maybe two, but the babies didn’t survive, why I don’t know. So the following spring the three rabbits were let loose on the lawn for the summer. When Dave informed him that his three rabbits were now only two, the man was more than happy for Dave to take them off his hands.

           We got these wild bunnies home in one piece and still alive to my amazement. We put them up on our back deck which had a bunny proof fence already installed. So they stayed there loose for a few days until Dave built them an outside hutch. Two white rabbits were drastically underweight and very ragged looking. Stress was the only reason we could catch them at all for they were almost completely wild. I managed to get them into the vet for closer examination that same weekend. So our new additions were one boy, white with grey smatterings and a girl, white with grey on only one side. And to top it off, the female was pregnant with three or four kits.

           Great, I was already out of my mind trying to figure out how we were going to mange two more on top of the three we already had. It’s not like they’d all get along like one happy bunny family. For now the two new ones would have to live on the deck separate from my other three until I could figure something out. The vet also informed me I’d have to separate the male and female before she had the babies or he’d probably end up killing the kits which would be coming in about three weeks. Great, more good news. Poor Dave got to building right away with the family hutch and the bachelor pad. We settled on naming them Cheeks and Gracie. We managed to get Cheeks neutered right away, but obviously Gracie would have to wait.

           Cheeks was a very compact shaped bunny with a round head and shorter ears. He was timid, but we could see he had a gentle nature. I was in love with him instantly. Gracie on the other hand was very long and shapely like a gangly super model. She had icy blue eyes and a fiery nature. For some time I found her unattractive, but I felt compassion for her and would go to all lengths to help her. We could see these two were quite bonded. Cheeks was very sweet, but fearful on his own. I wasn’t sure he’d take to being a bachelor once the babies would come. We separated them a few weeks later just to be safe. Cheeks was not happy about this arrangement.

           Three weeks later I came home to Gracie with a mouth full of straw, blood smeared all over her face and her belly plucked of half her fur. She had already delivered two babies and was now working on building her nest. I had already put in her hutch a beer box with a side hole and filled with straw for her to make a nest in, a few days earlier. I watched her for hours expecting her to deliver at least one more baby, maybe two, but they never came. Being a fretful Grandmother, I called the vet to give them an update. I was worried that there might be something wrong. As it ended up, Gracie’s poor physical condition caused her body to absorb two of the fetuses  because it could only properly form two babies.

           It was all I could do not to hound her too much. I really wanted to see those babies. I looked into the nest to see two naked little babies, one all pink, the other pink and grey. The pink one was small and skinny, the other was large and plump. I watched from afar for the most part, but checked the little one a couple times a day. Poor Cheeks was out of his mind, he wanted back in with his Girl Gracie and those new kids. I agonized for him for days, there was no consoling him. I would allow Cheeks and Gracie to run together on the deck for an hour, but I made up my mind, when the kids were big enough to venture out of the nest at the age of 12 days or so, I’d see if Cheeks could be in with them without causing a problem.

           It ended up that Cheeks did move back in with Gracie and the kids. To my amazement I found that Cheeks would get in the nest and snuggle with the babies between nursing, and when Gracie would nurse them, he’d clean their bums! I swear if he would have nursed those babies he could have. Cheeks was very gentle and affectionate with the little ones. They would climb all over him and he loved it. Gracie on the other hand would sit up on the third level to be out of the action and would only go on the main floor to eat, drink and nurse the babies.

           Gracie ended up nursing the kids almost two months. At one point I thought I’d have to make the decision of weaning them for her, but she fed them up good before closing the bar. They made such a cute little bunny family. I was still pretty stressed about what I’d do with everyone. I had done some reading on the internet and discovered that baby bunnies often end up a snake food. Well that ended any ideas of putting the kids up for adoption. We’d just have to manage some how.

            After Gracie was done with her weaning we got her spayed. I think it was some time early in November we got the Outerhausen’s (affectionate name for the whole family) moved into our spare bedroom upstairs and began planning for the spaying and neutering of the kids, Jazzie and Erie in the New Year. Welcome home.

The bunny family

  by Laura Corbier

        It all started on a gorgeous August afternoon in 1999 (I think). One of our dogs alerted us to a bunny nest in our garden. We found a nest disturbed and there was a large baby bunny about 5 inches in length laying over three much smaller babies underneath. The large baby had been killed, we thought most likely by a stray cat which the dog had scared off with it’s barking from her run.

           My husband Dave removed the dead bunny and then replaced the nesting material back over the surviving babies. I began an internet search to find information on what we should do next. After much reading we realized it was best to leave them alone, but to check on them the next day. Apparently the mother only comes to the nest twice a day to nurse for only a few minutes even if the nest has been moved. So we thought we’d just keep our eye on the situation. It was the third day when we realized the babies were in serious trouble. Their once plump little bellies were shrunken and all three would pop around looking for their Mum, obviously she wasn’t coming back for them. 

           We called our vet and they recommended cat milk as a substitute for their mother’s milk. The internet informed us not to give too much as it could kill them. We used a syringe for the first few days. The poor little things would not take the milk very well, we relied on the gravity method. Two of the babies died of bloat, one of them in the vet’s office waiting to get in, but the third one thrived, learning to suck from a bottle. He’d go right for it, stretching himself up to grab the nipple.

           Our plan was to nurse the little guy for the two weeks they would naturally nurse from their mum; and then release him at about three weeks old. Intentions are always good, but then someone screws it up. I’m raising my hand now. I felt so sad for him once he was alone with no other baby to snuggle with. I would put him on my shoulder and he’d snuggle into my neck licking me enjoying the warmth. ( huge mistake!) This went on for about a week until he became confident being independent. He started nibbling grass and rolled oats, we thought it was time to take him to the yard for release.

           He sat out in the middle of our grape vine rows for two days, without the sense to even hide. I couldn’t stand it any longer then that, I sent Dave out to retrieve him, maybe for just another few weeks more and we’d try again. Yea right! I just couldn’t bear the idea of him being eaten by the cat that got his mom and other sibling.

           We got him a little cage and we started training him use the littler box. Both Dave and I were mesmerized by this wild creature now sharing  our living room. He was a perfect little guy. He’d play on the floor with the cat’s toys. He always used his littler box, never making any mistakes! As he grew I came to realized I could never let him go, I was just too afraid for him. He got on well with our cats so how why would he ever fear one out in the wild. So Dave made him a three story condo that was four feet wide, two feet deep and three feet tall, I even made him a soft mattress.         

           Weeks turned into months and our little baby no longer looked like a little mouse, but now a wild rabbit. We had a family friend that would come just to see him, also in awe of us sharing our home with this little miracle of nature.

           Moe wouldn’t let us pick him up anymore or really pet him either, but he’d sit in my lap and take treats from my mouth. Moe would share his greens with our cat Molly, and often he’s sit on the back of the couch to watch TV with cats on either side. He’d also sit in front of the TV, so we could admire him. Another of his favorite places was up in the window sill so he could look outside. I’d sometimes wonder if he wished he were out there. But I really believed he liked his life with us. We’d bring him apple branches and pick him a variety of natural greenery from outside.

           As he approached his sexual maturity of four months old we debated as what we should do. We knew we could never release him, euthanizing him at that point would have been kinder than just turfing him out in November. Our vet agreed there was no going back at this point, we were committed, so we decided to neuter  him in hopes of saving him the hormonal anguish that would be sure to follow. Looking back from this point in life, I should have been committed, I wish we’d never done it !

           The surgery went well without complication and Moe was recovering well. The staff not wishing to stress our wild guy left him until we were ready to bring him home. To our horror we could then see he had removed several of his stitches, leaving him with a gaping incision. That’s when it got scary. The vet was uncertain of putting him under again to re stitch him, so we had to do it with Moe awake. It took three of us to hold him while the vet closed him up again. We all knew it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. He was a wild creature and we were trying to make him into a house pet. Our intentions were about love and saving him, but the result were futile. So we got the little guy put back together OK, but then we had to put the cone on him to keep him from tearing out the stitches again. I guess this was a time before gluing incisions. It’s never been an issue with any of my other rabbits since, they always get glued instead of stitched.

           Now we had a cranky rabbit with a cone around his neck. Moe was pretty mad, he couldn’t reach his night stool and therefore had it smeared all over his cone. I was groveling and pleading my case to him one afternoon when he was particularly crabby. He took his front foot and flicked a nice wet, sloppy night stool clump right into my face. What could I say, I told him I knew I deserved it. Thank God he did forgive once the cone came off a few days later.

           So we continued on from there into the winter, grateful that hurtle was over. Moe seemed happy and playful and always ate well for the most part. There had been about four incidents of him being off his food for one day, but then always back to normal. He loved his treats and always shared with the  cat. Never ever did you see any poo  balls out of the littler box, he was perfect.

           It was some time in the late part of January at around 8 pm, when I noticed a trail of poo balls in the window where Moe liked to sit. I looked around and also some urine. In a panic I looked for Moe and found him resting under the computer desk. What could possible be wrong I wondered, we had taken measures to bunny proof the place after he had annihilated a few unplugged extension cords. Little guy loved wiring! In my panic I wondered if he had been electrocuted or poisoned by something. I reached down and picked him up, there was no fight in him, now I was terrified. Dave called the vet and said we were on our way. It takes a half hour to get there, I think we made it in twenty minutes, both of us were in a state of shock.

            By the time the vet started to examine him he began to go into a massive seizure and finally died a few moments later. It all began and was finished in about two hours. We had the option of leaving him for a necropsy, but I couldn’t stomach the thought. We talked awhile with the vet once we could stop crying. The best guess after hearing his history of being off food for a day here and there was an upset in his natural bacterial levels in his gut.

           After much reading I came upon some articles  on the internet that talked about giving orphaned babies the night stool of another doe to help ensure the baby would have the proper bacterial environment that would then enhance their immunity. So there it all was. I was trying to save him from his natural life expectancy out in the wild which would be about six months. Although after he imprinted on us it would have been drastically shorter. He died at he age of six months anyway. It was a tragic loss for us, both Dave and I cried for days. There was a massive gap in our life where he used to be, nothing would ever fill it. The vet’s last words to us that night was to go out and get another bunny right away. I vowed I never would. I just couldn’t love something that much and loose it again.

           We stared at Moe’s empty condo for hours. We came to realize it was too big to get it out the door. Dave had built it in the house. That made me cry even harder, the thought of tearing down his home seemed like the final straw I could not bear. So we drove to town and went to the pet store to look at bunnies.

           We did bring home the cutest thing, but it took a while before I could warm up to her. I still grieved for Moe. He would never be replaced. He was miracle that should never had happened in our lives, but he taught me the gift of acceptance, and allowing something to be what it truly is. We can not change something’s true nature.

           We will fondly remember him in all his names, Moseph, Moe, MoMo and Mower.