Tinkie A.D.

A bridge between the hands and the heart…

Ever since our very first rabbit years ago, we have had these episodes of “Hairballs”. You see the problem is that unlike a cat, rabbits cannot vomit up the hair that ends up being built up in their gut from all their grooming. Shedding season can become a dangerous time for rabbits and it seems that rabbits can shed several times a year. A buildup of hair if not treated will develope to a full out case of stasis and will threaten the life of your bunny. Whether short haired or long haired every rabbit is at risk and needs to be monitored and assisted during this time. A lot has been learned since those years about what is going on and how to handle it. In the old days we were told by our vet to syringe mineral oil into their mouths several times a day, but we have since learned that the oil coats any hair or food build up in the rabbit’s gut and actual hastens the problem instead of making the mass easier to pass as previously believed.

Fibre is our Friend~

Prevention is totally the way to go with this problem. First thing there is no amount of hay which can be too much. The more good quality grass type hay like Timothy and Orchard grass a rabbits eats, the better. I would go as far as to say that pellets should in most cases be only offered in very small quantities. At our house the young buns get pellets only to a point where they have the adequate body weight and conditioning and then pellets are weaned off over time to ensure the bun is eating lots of hay and  fresh greens.

Grooming~

Two of our rabbits have been pellet free for a few years now and have always eaten copious amounts of hay and have only had a few instances of what I would call “hairballs”.  Even with eating lots of hay everyday and their portion of fresh greens during the heavier sheds they can fall victim to too much hair build up in their gut. The first sign is the stringy poops, where the individual pooh balls are strung together with hair. Regular grooming is really a practise that helps avoid these kinds of events as well has help to socialize your bun and have him comfortable with being handled.

To be completely honest our two mixed breed buns Gracie and Puds really only get groomed during their sheds. But I find that they will need daily grooming over  a period of a few weeks until they are finished shedding. I use a flee comb and I also have a Furminator, but I mostly prefer to wet down the bun with water on my hands and give them a good massage all over, this helps to loosen any fur and sticks to my hand so I can then rub it off. Then I start with the flea comb gently taking out the loosest of the wool. Sadly these sessions can frequently become a bit over zealous and its not uncommon for a bun to have some bald spots when we are done. The key is to not take too much giving them bald patches with sore spots. The hair does grow back and I find during the most severe of shed this tends to happen.

Funny that I find rabbits only seem to go through these severe shed sporatically. There doesn’t seem to be a rythm or reason for these. I’ve had a few buns go years inbetween these major shedding events. For the most part I find bunnies tend to have ligher sheddings that last a few weeks.

~Long haired breeds like Fuzzies, Jersey Woollies and Angora absolutely require regular  grooming. I find with my Jersey Woolly, combing her out really well once a week allows for a light mid week fluff up. So far she has gone through one shed as we’ve only had her 5 months, but we got through it without any major mishap.  

When your Bunny stops eating~ The onset of Stasis

So your bunny didn’t eat any dinner or isn’t taking any of his favorite treats. This is a serious situation. Bunnies need to pretty much continually eat so that food matter continues to ove throughout their gut system. If this slows down it is the onset of stasis (a must read article by Dana Krempels MD) which untreated is life threatening. First thing I do is look for poop. I make sure I clean the littler pan and their hutch so I can make sure what is new and what is not. But I also look to see if I see any of those stringy poops.  I also take note if there is excess hair around their bedding as a sign of shedding I have neglected to detect.

There are few tell tale signs of hair build up in the gut. The stringy poohs, small mishappen poohs, the lack of poohs and a bunny that is figity and unable to get comfortable. Commonly a bun will stetch out funny and keep shuffling their postion because pockets of gas build up in the gut causing pain and discomfort. I’ve also noticed increased drinking during this condition. At this time a bun will also sit with eyes closed and grind their teeth, a sure sign of pain.

At our house we get on this quickly. If a bun is a big pellet eater we take them away for the time being and make sure there is lots of really tasty fresh hay,  the choicest of fresh greens well sprinkled with water and of course fresh water. I clean up their hutch for any hair and stray poops and put in a fresh litter box so it’s easier to monitor. We then get to the fun stuff.

Medicinal Help during Hairballs~

These are the things we always have on hand in our Bunny Medicine cabinet

Gas-x/simethicone~Depending on where you live you will have to look in your pharmacy for what brands to select. Basically its a gas med for babies. I’m currently using Phazyme brand extra strength 125mg softgels. Select a brand that is 100% simethicone.

~Commonly 40 to 60mg is given by mouth every 4 to 6 hours for adult rabbits. (we’ve been using the extra strength 125mg with no adverse effects but smaller doses would be just as effective)

Metacam/meloxicam~I keep a big bottle of Metacam always on hand. Please not this is a drug developed for dogs, it can be used in cats and rabbits, but caution must exercised with cats.* Cats can suffer kidney damange from this drug only use on the advise from you vet.

~Rabbits can have a range of doses from 0.10 mg to 0.30 mg for every kg body weight every 24 hours.*In recent years I have found that Metacam may not always last 24 hours and once a rabbit is back in the pain zone its hard to get them eating and feeling better so its better to keep them pain free. My vet has verified that it can be given every 12 hours, but at the lower dose. So we’ll give 0.10mg twice a day so that the daily dose is still just under their maximum daily allowable of 0.30 mg per kg.     *Again a note of caution with Metacam. It is hard on the stomach so its better to give on a full stomach. When buns aren’t eating this can difficult so I give at a time when I am syringe feeding them or hand feeding some treats. Sometimes a bun will feel better an hour or so after a dose of Metacam and will begin to eat, if not that is when its a good idea to syringe feed a bit.

Multi Enzyme by Natural Factors~ We jokingly refer to this a bunny drano in our house. This is super concentrated full spectrum enzyme that aids in the digestion and breakdown of proteins, carbs and fats, it’s not the same thing as those papaya tabs. Basically papaya tabs are just a treat, there is not enough enzyme in them to have any real clinical effect on a rabbit with build up with hair. We still give them but just one a day as a treat. Giving more papaya tablets is not a good idea as the sugar in them will cause or increase an unhealthy bacteria in the gut causing more gas and pain.

We give the Multi Enzyme to the buns at the first signs of a sluggish appetite or when their poops become stringy. I give one capsule a day sprinkled on my Jersey Woolly’s salad as a preventative but use it therapeutically with the other buns.

~I mix two capsules of the Multi Enzymewith about 1ml of water and mix it together, it then given by mouth via the syringe. Some buns can really struggle but others have come to get used to it and take the syringe with minimal fuss. This dose of enzyme is typically given three times a day when treating for “Hairballs”. I’ll then taper it down to once a day once they seem to be recovering but are still shedding and not producing their normal amount of poops.

*If you can’t get this brand where you live, look for a product with comparable contents and NO sugar.  Each 525 mg capsule contains:
For carbohydrate digestion
Amylase enzyme………….12,600 SKBU…….(Sansted, Kneen, Blish Alpha Amylase Unit)
Cellulase enzyme……………………180 CU……..(Cellulase Unit)
Lactase enzyme ………………….580 ALU…….. (Acid Lactase Unit)
Maltase enzyme………………………60 DP……….(Diastatic Power)
Sucrase…………………………… 40 INVU……… (Inverted Unit)
Hemicellulase……………………….200 XU……….(Xylanase Unit)
For protein digestion
Protease I…………………..44,200 HUTU……… (Hemoglobin Unit on the Tyrosine Basis)
Protease II…………………………4,800 PC………(Proteolytic Activity–Caseins)
Protease III………………………. 60 SAPU…….. (Spectrophotometric Acid Protease Unit)
Peptizyme SPTM…………………200 SPU………(Specialty Peptidase Unit)
Bromelain…………………………..120 MCU……..(Milk Clotting Unit)
Papain………………………………450 USPU……. (United States Pharmacopeia Unit)
For lipid digestion
Lipase…………………………………. 500 LU………(Lipase Unit)

In Conclusion for treating a Hairball event~

Phase ONE

1. Increase Good Quality Hay, fresh greens and water while taking away pellets and any starchy dry treat foods. Concentrate on low sugar/starch foods with high moisture content  like dandelion, romaine, parsley, cilantro, Swiss chard etc.

2. Groom your bunny, get off all the loose fur and clean their hutch area of all loose fur as well as giving a fresh litter box to monitor what they are passing.

2. Give a dose of Metacam, a dose of Simethicone and a dose of Multi Enzyme. This will ease the pain of cramping and begin to minimize gas and begin tweaking the digestion of what they have built up. Repeat the Simethicone and Enzyme dose every 6 hours, give the Metacam once or twice a day at the most (use low dose)

3. Entice eating by teasing your bunny’s mouth with some nice bits of hay, or fresh greens for a few hours after your

4. If things seems like they are coming along, continue this treatment as needed. I’d recommend continuing with the enzyme for 3 or 4 days along with the Simethicone but  continue to give the metacam only if they appear to be in discomfort. Their eating should be improving, if so you are on your way. If not go to phase 2

Phase Two

Treat as phase one, but if bunny is not nibbling on their own within 12 hours begin syringe feeding in addition to the phase one treatment. Take some of their pellets and pulverize them in the blender (or use Oxbow’s Critical Care if you have on hand)

Take one tablespoon of powdered pellets and three tablespoons of water and add one table spoon of canned pumpkin (not pie filling, pure pumpkin) or unsweetened apple sauce, or baby food( pear, banana, apple) Mix this together and feed with a syringe. I also mix a bit of organic ginger tea with some water and syringe this as well. Extra fluids helps to hydrate the food and hair and move it on its way * see my syring feeding video for suggestions on how to do this if you are a newbie which is in my previous post in this category.

A word of Caution~ If for any reason you suspect your rabbit has ingested something he should not, like carpet, stuffing from pet bed or couch or pillow your bunny may very well have a life threatening blockage and your bunny needs to get to a vet ASAP. Do not syringe feed if you suspect a blockage of this sort. X Rays and a vet exam must rule this out to proceed.

Phase Three

If by 24 hours your bunny has not begun to improve with the first two phases of treatment Bunny will need to go to the vet for sub Q fluids in addition to the current phases of treatment AND a gut stimulant drug Metaclopramide only after any risk of blockage has been rules out. Giving a gut stimulant drug to a bunny with a actual blockage is Lethal. Your bun may require a few days of sub Q fluids and the Metaclopramide along with syringe feeding and the simethicone, Gas X and enzyme in order to completely recover to normal. I have found personally if I get onto the first sign of trouble with phase one I don’t need to go to the vet, but there are times when it doesn’t work as a bigger problem is underlaying. Bunnies can develope a deadly cocktail of bacteria in the gut  from too much sugary and starchy treat food. It is really in the best interest of your pet to feed a good diet of mostly Grass Hay, then green, then a small portion of Timothy based pellets for mature rabbits (if you must, rabbits don’t need to be fed pellets, they do great on just hay and some veg) and treats should NOT be a daily thing. Fruits and or treats should only be a few times a week.

~With some experience you’ll come to know if your bun is getting sluggish and offish on its food due to a routine buildup during shedding. Then proceed with the hairball treatment plan. For Novice bun owners I suggest you use this time to get acquainted with your rabbit savvy vet and rule out any complications.

Always continue with the Enzyme for a few days after your bun seems normal. Commonly a bun with have several pockets of gas and matter build up in the gut and as each passes a bun will appear miraculously better, but may suffer from symptoms again  hours later.

Long Haired Rabbits~

On the recommendation of my vet we keep our Jersey Woolly rabbit Tilly on a daily maintenance dose of the Multi Enzyme (One capsule) sprinkled on her salad to help with the ongoing breakdown of excess hairs. If you’ve owned a Jersey Woolly you’ll know why! They always have the string of pooh pearls in the litter box 

We also groom her twice a week and plan on clipping her down to 1 inch of fur for the summer. When we got her just before Christmas, she put the fear of God into me with all that fuzz. She is really beautiful but the idea of an out and out hair impaction that would require surgery really scares the poop out of me! So I am remaining diligent to prevent this from ever happening. I know all the fur kids will benefit from this diligence too.

Ok Kiddies as many of you know I am an E. Cuniculi bunny that has been battling now since Oct of 2007 with hind end weakness and bladder issues. I am now a "cart bunny" and I have had several near death experiences but I keep on coming back to fight another day. So me and Mamma have decided to compile an article with our best health tips that we have learned through our own experience. I want to say that our approach is somewhat controversial still, but the things we we talk about are from own experience and doesn’t necessarily mean it will work 100% of the time. Each bunny has unique challenges and a health regime should be discussed with your veterinarian.

Acupuncture

When my hind end weakness first came of Mamma thought it was game over for me when I couldn’t hop anymore. Our vet’s partner had been practicing acupuncture of a few years so we thought we’d give it a go and 15 minutes after that first treatment I was able to hop again after only dragging myself!! Now the treatment would last three weeks or so ,for several months but then I’d become very weak again and go for another treatment. We’d see a quick improvement then It slide a bit, but by the next day I’d be hopping on my own again. We kept this up for almost a year with the treatments being every two weeks sometimes once a week until we couldn’t regain my ability to hop, then Daddy bought me a cart!!

Here is a link to find a Exotics Vet that is certified to practise acupuncture in your area http://ivas.org/Members/VetSearch/tabid/124/Default.aspx and here is a UK link as well  http://www.abva.co.uk/find.asp

~I am currently receiving acupuncture every week. It helps me with my kidney and liver functions as well as very helpful with when I go off my food and stop eating. Vitamin B injections in the stomach points often will get me eating for the day anyway. Its been a critical part of my ongoing therapy and maintenance. The acupuncture works in combination to my other therapies such as herbs and has also assisted in my recovery of a few bouts of Head Tilt as well. I don’t know if Acupuncture all on its own is the answer but for me its helped keep me in the game when all would normally have been given up month and months ago.

Emergencies

Know where you can take your bunny on holidays and weekends in the event of an emergency Before the occasion arises. This is a simple thing many first time bunny owners don’t have lined up until they are knee deep in an emergency on a long weekend. Always make sure its a rabbit savvy vet when possible, but in a life or death situation any vet is better than no vet at all.

                   Pet Insurance~  Rabbits can be affordable and easy pets to keep, but many are sadly not. Have a back plan to cover unexpected vet expenses. Whether its a credit card you keep available for just such occasion or check out the possibility of Pet Insurance. Canadian do not have the luxury of being able to get rabbits covered, but there are some US plans that allow Americans to insure their rabbits. UK Rabbit insurance and here is an American Rabbit Insurance. These are two options but always read the fine print. Sometimes is better to have a stash for just such occasions and forgo the insurance route, but if its not an option then insurance may be the way to go. Either way, my point is this. Stuff  happens when we least expect and always at the worst possible time, like on a long weekend just after you paid rent and you only have $20 for groceries for the next week!

I’ve had three chronically ill rabbits since I began 10 years ago that easily cost way more than a dog or cat on a yearly basis and they do not require vaccination where we live. Over all with the three of them now I can easily say that my husband and I could have bought a house instead of remaining to rent. It was a priority we made to care for all our animals in the best way we could and often it isn’t cheap. We have been fortunate to be with our vet about 12 years so credit is extended to us, so I just take them when I need to and pay a bit each week toward my ongoing bill. Not very many clinics will do this anymore.

Homeopathy (Natrum Muriaticum)~ Kidney Damage

Now here is a very controversial topic. You’ll find lots of information on the net supporting why homeopathy doesn’t work so I won’t provide links as you can find lots of opinions. But my own experience has convinced me otherwise in this particular example. Trinket developed severe kidney damage several months after the onset of her E. Cuniculi. Her bladder infections kept reoccurring to the point of effecting her kidneys. Her urine became very dilute and she was urinating constantly. Tests concluded her kidneys were not functioning well, with critically dilute urine and upon physical examination, one kidney was shriveled like a raisin and the other was huge. My vet at this point had suggested to cease any further exploration and treatment for her E.Cuniculi as he was convinced her kidneys would fail before her E.Cuniculi symptoms would be further problem.

Unable to accept being so close to the end I still held hope. A friend of mine that is a Reflexologist recommended I try the homeopathic remedy Natrum Muriaticum. At a point of nothing to loose I tried it. I gave one pellet of the 30ch in her fresh water each evening. Two weeks later I requested the vet retest her kidneys. Her test results came in showing normal functioning. X Rays showed, both kidneys were the regular size. We then went to to begin treating her E. Cuniculi.

Trinket has remained on this homeopathic remedy every day now for about a year and half. A few times now her kidneys have been tested showing normal functioning. Her surgical vet still expects to see results showing otherwise. He doesn’t believe its the homeopathic giving us the great results, but he can’t prove its not either.

Just recently Trinket went off her food and water for a month and a half. Her holistic vet when treating her with acupuncture remarked that her kidney points were showing deterioration each week. I began syringing her the water with her Nat Mur Homeopathic in it for a week. Her next acupuncture session her kidney points were normal!! So even though science says its notpossible, I believe otherwise. I also had a had on this, he was diagnosed with Kidney disease and he survived a year and half with out any further deterioration of his kidney function. It was the onset of another condition that forced us to euthanize him. So both animals I’ve tried this one have done extremely well. Obviously both Trinket and my cat had no previous "belief" about their remedies so there goes the placebo effect. But I want to emphasize that Ihave always used homeopathy in conjunction with the “traditional” recommendations by my vet. Some could say its was these traditional measures that were 100% effective, but I am skeptical. Kidney disease in cats are a death sentence, my vet thought he’d only make it a year, but he made it a year and half and then at that, with no further deterioration that would be expected even with the traditional treatment. Trinket’s not eating and being off her homeopathic for a month was proof enough for me when a week ofI syringing it to her and her kidney response was better.

Here is a link to explore Homeopathy and you can purchase items there as well http://abchomeopathy.com/homeopathy.htm

Paralasys~ Rabbit Wheel Chair Carts

Our experience with E. Cuniculi and hind end weakness finally took us to the point of deciding to get a wheel chair cart for Trinket. It was a hard decision for me to make. I felt that once she was in the cart it was game over and I feared that her months would be numbered, almost like giving up. It was my husband that encouraged me to go a head an order her one.

When I discussed this with Trinket’s vet I felt a whole lot better. It was her recommendation as well, and that the cart not only giving her some freedom would also be a valuable for of physical therapy for her. Trinket could still scoot, pulling herself with her front lets and pushing somewhat with one rear played leg, but in the cart she maintained a better motion with the back leg and she had way more energy to run around. 

We got her cart from Doggon Wheels. They ship all over the world and the chairs are surprisingly affordable. Trinket is 2 pounds and I think this may be the smallest chair they make, but everything is done to her individual measurements. We were quite impressed with their product, but I did find that Trinket being so small in the chest where its imperative that the harness fit in exactly the right place in order for her to pull the cart effectively, it was impossible to tweak the fit so I ended up giving up and made her a smock that I then rigged to Velcro to the cart. The smock worked way better and I found that that it could fit her looser avoiding pressure points. This system also allowed for her drastic weight loss and regain without having to be fiddling with the harness to have it fit right.   Below are some photos of what I came up with for her. There are notes on each photo, click to zoom in so you can read the notes

Syringe Feeding 101~ When your Rabbit stops eating

There are several times in a rabbits life when syringe feeding may be necessary so its a skill every rabbit slave should familiarize themselves with, as it will probably be needed at some point. Unfortunately the first time its needed is usually when the rabbit has just gone through a major surgical ordeal or entering an episode of stasis, always very frighting and stressful situations. I can’t stress enough the importance of having on hand the needed items for such an emergency. Its my firm belief that sooner is better than later when it comes to beginning to syringe feed when a rabbit has stopped eating. It is vitally important that the gut motility is maintained and 24 hours off food is already too long. Often a rabbit will go off food and would otherwise enter full blown stasis, but with syringe feeding early on, food still goes through and keeps the gut motility going.

When not to syringe feed~ If impaction is suspected as in the case of carpet ingestion, or stuffing from pillow or pet bed or any ingestion of foreign fibers, seeking immediate veterinary help is imperative to the survival of the rabbit. Don’t wait, hours  can make all the difference, this type of situation is nota "wait and see" scenario. Sometimes impactions of this nature can require surgery and force feeding can seriously complicate the problem.     With that said….

Items to have on hand for force feeding (syringe feeding)

3ml syringe (without the needle)

Package of Oxbow’s Critical Care (can only be obtained from your vet) or have access to a good recipe for home force feeding

Jar of baby food (banana, pear or canned pumpkin without added sugar or spices)

Children’s Pedialyte (optional, this is good to mix in with the Critical Care and to syringe to your rabbit for extra hydration

Feeding the willing Rabbit. Below is a video of Trinket showing how a willing rabbit can be syringe fed, along with a recipe suggestion when you don’t have Critical Care. 

Warning~ When syringe feeding is very importanttogo slow and only shoot in small amounts of food at a time. Aim to the side of the mouth and NOT right at the back, contrary to the myth Rabbits CAN Choke and they can also aspirate the food into their lung, a scenario you never want to happen. Keep the food mixture thin enough to syringe and easily swallow, although some rabbits if given the option will eat it thicker right off the spoon, so try that first and see if they will go for it. Never ever feed or medicate a rabbit when they are on their back, its way to easy for them to aspirate in this position.

The unwilling or unruly rabbit (we call them Hell Buns at our house) will need to be firmly wrapped up in a towel in order to proceed. This is called the "Bunny Burrito" and will work well for giving meds as well. Sometimes,especially when you are just learning how to do this, it might help to have a second set of hand. One to hold the bunny and the other to do the actual syringing. Rabbits are little buggers for hiding their faces deep into the towel so you’ll need those extra hands to gain clear access to their mouth.

A word of advice~ Try to stay calm through this process. Rabbits are ultra sensitive and if you become fearful or angry they will easily pick up on that and it will become even harder getting done what you need to do. You need to try and make this as stress free as possible for yourself and for your rabbit. Keep sessions short if the rabbit is fighting you and come back after rest breaks. When a rabbit requires feeding for a several days, this process can become exhausting, emotionally and physically but remember that YOU are keeping them alive and helping them to fight back for their health.

I have personally had three rabbits that have required long term support feeding, they would not have survived other wise. Its a sacrifice of time and energy, but nothing is more satisfying knowing that your own love and dedication has saved a life that has depended on you. Rabbits can stop eating for weeks at a time and come back and regain health and quality of life, often its worth seeing this though.

Special Needs Diet~ Long Term Support Feeding

My girl Trinket had recently gone off her food for a month and half after a drug reaction. During this episode it became clear to me that her normal support diet was not adequate for her long term needs so I was lucky to find an amazing resource on line http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html I found several great idea here for syringe feeding recipes. I tailored one of them for Trinket’s special needs. She had trouble swallowing so I was looking for something to make her food more slippery and easy to swallow, plus she never did eat hay and I was very concerned with keeping fibre in her diet to keep her stools larger to help avoid stasis and sticky cecotropes. I was also concerned with her immune system and looking for something that would give her an extra help. This diet seemed to answer all these needs

Trinket’s Slippery Elm Diet

*this makes a lot of mash, as Trinket is a dwarf bunny, I give her an hour break halfway through her feeding so she can make more room, LOL. A bigger bun should be able to take it all in at one sitting. I feed this three times a day if she isn’t eating anything on her own.

1 tbs. of pre- hydrated Metamucil ( I take 1/2 teaspoon of dry unflavored Metamucil and stir it into 4 tablespoons of Pedialyte and keep it in the fridge, this will be what I’ll need for her for the day~ it needs to be soaking for at least 45 minutes or it will draw fluid out of her gut and bring on stasis.)

1 tbs. of banana or pear baby food

4 tbs. of hot Organic Ginger Tea ( I use Yogi Tea~ Ginger with lemongrass, licorice root, peppermint and black pepper. This blend is very warming and stimulating for the digestion)    You can substitute the tea for Pedialyte if suspect dehydration, but I personally wouldn’t want them getting all that sugar for too long, too much sugar in the cecum can make the cecotropes too mucky and soft

200 mg of Slippery Elm( I got it in 400 mg capsules so I started her with 1/3 of a capsule in the first week of being on it, now I give her 1/2 a capsule but she is only getting two feedings  a day) More info on slipper elm

1/8 tsp. of ground Oatmeal

1 scant tbs. of Ground Alfalfa Pellets (I use alfafa because we are having trouble keeping weight on Trinket, if your rabbit is having calcium issues, ie. sludgy urine or bladder stones only use Timothy based pellets. I grind pellets up weekly and keep a container handy to measure out the 1 tbs.

3 drops of Pure Grape Seed Extract

1/3 of a capsule of Non Dairy Acidophilus ( I only use this during and shortly after antibiotic use, *I also use the kind that doesn’t need to be refrigerated so it can take the heat of her tea in the mash)

2 mls of Amino B-plex (this is to be given twice a day so it can be given in  two feeding morning and night.  I just put it right in the mash or Trinket loves it straight as well)

~ I let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes and then I may add a bit more water or tea to make it a bit runnier. This mixture is so amazing, it sucks up into the syringe easily and doesn’t seem to get all stuck in her face fur around her mouth the way the other recipe we used ot use does. I am amazed at how well she is doing on it. After nearly a month and half of not eating on her own, a week on this diet and she is eating two salads a day but due to get geriatric status and low body weight I will keep her on this twice or possible once a day for the remainder of her time with me.

 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

        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.