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First post here (eek!). So saddening to read about Zeus and Flopsy. Deeply sorry for your loss.

I do really like Jake though, so very cute. Thanks for putting so much time in to making this blog, it was an interesting read and I'll be sure to check for updates!
 
i know its been a long time since you posted this but omg they are so cute!
 
Continued....

After Dash, I still had this love for dwarf hotots. That's when I found Zeus.

And now there were FOUR.

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Zeus wasn't used to being handled and didn't seem comfortable around people. He was very nervous being in a new home, and would always try and run to the far side of his cage whenever I came near. From the stress of this, he developed GI stasis and was very sick. He would start to get better then would stop eating again. Thankfully this time I was better prepared to help my bun. After Dash died from stasis, I had learned a lot more about it and what was needed. It took at least two weeks before he stabilized and was eating almost normally. But then a few weeks later he got stasis again. He got it one more time before I figured out that it was the pellets that were making him sick. Once I stopped feeding him pellets, he got better and hasn't had stasis since then.

One good thing came from all of those times Zeus was sick. Because of all of the medicating and hand feeding I had to do, he became very used to me and is now a friendly happy boy that loves his nose rubs. Every time I pass by him, he puts his little paws up on his cage and begs for pets. And of course I have to oblige him :)

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Not long after I got Zeus and he was partially recovered, I found Pip, who is also a dwarf hotot.

And then there were FIVE.

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She wasn't quite as nervous, but she too stopped eating after a few days. After my experience with Zeus, I was starting to panic. Luckily with Pip, she didn't develop stasis. I knew at her previous place, that she would get some oats each day, so I gave her a pinch of oats and she gobbled them right up. She started eating her food again and looked forward to that little bit of oats each day. But boy was she a grumpy rabbit. She would grunt and box at me when ever I was trying to clean her cage. I was told that there was a possibility she was pregnant, and then one day she started gathering hay to make a nest. A few days later she started plucking fur and that night, sure enough, there were 5 little babies. (Pic at one week old)

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And after giving birth, Pip turned into a sweet bunny. I guess being pregnant just made her VERY moody :p

And now there were TEN(little trouble makers!).

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Toby, Bailey, Jake, Libby, and Riley were my new babies. And I have to say that raising baby bunnies can be a lot of fun, but also one of the most stressful things too. After Dash dying, having trouble with Baby when she was young, and Zeus being sick, I worried about those little buns growing up safe and healthy. But they all grew up just fine. They were so funny and cute. I just loved watching them play and having snuggle time with them.

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To be continued....
I would love an update, most of the images seem to not be working :(
 
I'm not sure what happened to all of my photos, but I'll try to replace them with ones that can actually be viewed.

All of my rabbits have passed now, most from old age. Baby passed not long after Flopsy, from complications due to her chronic issues with bladder sludge and a UTI. Dakota passed a little while later, from old age. Later that same year Toby passed from complications due to his megacolon. Pip, the mom, passed easter of last year from old age, then Libby and Roo not long after her from old age as well. Penny passed this year after a bad reaction to one of her medications treating a health issue, but she was also an older bun(9 yrs). Riley passed this year around easter, from old age. Henry, who I got to be Penny's buddy after losing Dakota, passed a few months after from old age health issues. My last bunny left with me was Jake, and he died just a few weeks ago from heart failure at the age of 10.

So I'm bunniless now. It feels really strange after so long with rabbits. I pass the rabbit room and look to check on the buns, only there are no rabbits in there anymore. But my life is really complicated right now, so it might be a while before I can bring another rabbit into my life.
 
I'm so sorry for all of your losses, you seem like a very good bunny parent. I don't know what it is like to lose a bunny yet but I do know what it's like to lose a friend, I know those aren't comparable but I hope your feeling okay and if you ever need anyone to talk to you can message me any time :) I wish you all the best! ♡
 
So I think I got all of the photos fixed, though I probably ended up changing a few. And I thought I would post a little bit more about the last few years with the buns with some photos.

Soon after Flopsy passed away, Baby passed from a bad reaction to a medication, and Dakota passed around the same time, from old age issues. Dakota had had a good long bunny life, but I was really sad about Baby's sudden passing. She ended up having a bad reaction to sulfa antibiotics of all things.

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Penny was alone for a while after Dakota's passing, but adjusted fine to it. But the next year, 2017, a friend of mine had an older lop rabbit that she was trying to rehome for a friend of hers. I felt it was the perfect solution for Penny to have a bun friend again. So I took in Henry, a 5 yr old holland lop, who actually looked a lot like Dakota, Penny's previous bun companion, though Henry had blue eyes instead of red like Dakota, and was a much more chill bun than Dakota.

I got Henry neutered, waited a month for hormones to fade, then started bonding. And bonding was almost instantaneous, thank goodness. It was pretty much 'love at first sight'. The easiest bond I've ever had.

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In 2018, Toby started having issues with his megacolon and was quickly losing weight. Up to that point it had been successfully managed with a strict diet, but in a short amount of time he started declining and very suddenly passed away without much warning.

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The next year I took the bunnies on a bit of a trip to Florida. Let me just say, traveling long distances with rabbits is pure torture! It was so hard to manage their stress and keep them eating the entire trip. I pretty much had to stop at grocery stores all along the way to buy romaine lettuce to keep them eating and hydrated. And I had to stop every 4 hours to check on them and give them a break to settle down and relax so they would eat. Not to mention the difficulty of keeping water in their traveling carrier. It was constantly spilling everywhere. I had to change out soaked litter every few hours. And the worst of all was it was summer and hot, and part way through my AC started acting up. Very luckily it kept working and got us to Florida ok. I was sooo glad when we got there and the trip was over.

(Poor bunnies cooped up traveling across the country :( )

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Once we got there and settled into our new place, the bunnies actually adjusted really well. Because of limited space, I needed all the bunnies bonded into one group. Luckily I was able to successfully bond Henry and Penny with the little bunnies group on the trip there.

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During covid, I returned back from Florida with the bunnies. They were sooo relieved to be back home and in their old condo.

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In 2021 at the age of 10, my one eyed Pip passed away from old age, followed soon after by Libby and Roo. The bunnies left with me were Penny, Henry, Riley, and Jake.

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Penny got sick earlier this year and passed away due to the illness and some medication problems. I was surprised as Penny had always been one of my healthiest rabbits and was doing well even being 9 yrs old.

But all of my rabbits were old at that point, and had the normal health issues that happen with old age. A few months later Riley passed from old age, then a little while later Henry's health issues worsened and he passed from health issues and age. Jake was my last and all alone. He didn't live long after Henry's passing. It all happened pretty suddenly and I was left rabbitless.

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It gets hard when they get old. More health issues arise, and not all necessarily easily treatable. It usually just becomes a matter of managing the building health problems as best you can to maintain a good quality of life. And I had a lot of rabbits old at the same time. I hope I did right by all my buns. I certainly tried to give them the best life possible so they had a comfortable happy life together with each other and with me.

(blurry, but I like this picture, and it was one of my last of them)

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