TinysMom
Well-Known Member
I have been thinking all day about if I should post something here or not about my losses while I was gone. Minnie Pearl most certainly deserves a post...she was the first loss and it devastated me. Girly Girl died next....and it wasn't overly sudden as I knew she wasn't quite herself. Matilda/Nancy (we renamed her as she got older) was the third to go (she was an old doe)- and I breathed a sigh of relief because of the old saying, "Death comes in threes".
Alas...that was not to be...
Art & Robin picked up new bags of food - the food I normally use - and within a few days - we lost four more. (I have talked to others about the symptoms and we believe that we got some food that had been contaminated based upon the symptoms and other stuff).
Liberty was my first loss.....and I cried for over two hours after my mom had gone to bed. I held her every morning and night - gave her cilantro and loved to watch her eat it.
Then Barry got sick and died....he'd been ill anyway but I had hoped he would make it. He was special to Robin.
Art was working on the water bottles when he noticed Marmalade wasn't sitting by his cage door staring down at the girls - instead - he was dead in the back of his cage.
Finally - GC - a sable point buck that had been born here....was the last (we hope) to pass.
We realized it was the food and changed it.
So I'm going to do a bit of a blurb about each one.....as they each deserve it in their own way. I will come back later and edit w/ pictures as I find them...
[line]Minnie Pearl:
Ali put this together on my blog about Minnie - and I think it will be very appropriate. I know Ali loved Minnie too because she was a lot like Ali's Samantha - an aggressive doe who didn't really learn to love until late in life..
Sadly Peg left me a message that Minnie Pearl passed away. Art and Robin did what they could but it was just her time.
Some memories of Miss Minnie:
Miss Minnie is most definitely becoming a snuggle bunny. She got her shot and then slept on the bed with Robin & I there treating other bunnies. She gave me tooth purrs and only got upset when I put her back in her pen. I'm seriously considering holding her again tonight in my arms when I go to sleep....we shall see.
----------------
Minnie and I snuggled a bit earlier. I think I did more snuggling than she did.....but oh well. She slept with us for a few hours last night- mainly 'cause I fell asleep petting her.
-----------------
Minnie Pearl's story is sort of special to me. I bought her for all the wrong reasons - was scared of her - and yet my fear of losing her made me overcome some of my fears - and then - fell in love with her.
Minnie has the nickname of "Doe from Hades" or "That Doe from Hell" because she was not only cage aggressive but aggressive. She'd kick, bite, and do anything she could to tear you up if you picked her up or moved her. Open her cage and she might charge you.
Last year she became ill and one day she was really REALLY bad. Art wasn't due hom for several hours and in talking to a friend (Randy - ra7751 on the forum)- I realized she needed sub-q fluids. I had them - but Art always gave them.
I think I was all alone at the time - I prepared the shot - used a towel to catch her - and gave her a shot. Poor thing - she was so sick - she couldn't even fight me.
A couple of hours later - I gave her more sub-q fluids.
Honestly - she was barely moving - she was so dehydrated and ill. I didn't think she'd make it till Art got him.
When I went to give her the third shot - she bit me. HARD. Once I got the shot in her - she got on the floor and hid from me - flicking me off the whole way to the hidey spot.
A couple of weeks ago - she got moved to the bedroom...where we learned in the process of moving her - that she'd become a bit of a snuggle bun...most of the time.
Here she is today - playing on the bed. The videos I'll upload later....I'm about to go in Lord of the Rings Online (LoTRO) to spend time with Art & Eric & Robin as a family.
But for now...here are the pictures..
Her eye looks bad - it gets a bit crusty sometimes and I have to take a damp cloth to it....
-------------------------
Miss Minnie we will all miss you. You were one of a kind and your mama will miss you.
[line]Girly Girl
Girly Girl was an excellent mama to her babies. She was never a "people bunny" but she loved being a mama bunny.
She started acting a bit off shortly before I left to go home and visit my mom.
I don't have much to share about her right now - it just hurts a lot - particularly since I didn't get many pictures.
[line]
Matilda aka Nancy
I am not sure if I have any pictures of Matilda - if so - I will post them later.
I said I wasn't going to breed chestnuts - but when someone was giving away some cages and I had to take the rabbits that came with them - I fell in love with Matilda. She was probably one of the ugliest rabbits I had....but I decided to breed her one time to see if I could get some nice rabbits from her - particularly since her single mane was so dense.
That was at the same time I had some food issues....and I had does delivering dead bunnies and/or not having milk come in. I wound up with 24 rabbits that needed to nurse between the various does that had given birth - 8 of which were Matilda's litter.
For three days - Matilda kept all 24 babies alive. She would nurse 8 at a time - and then 8 hours later she would nurse another 8...and then 8 hours later - she would nurse the final 8.
After three does - four more does gave birth - and their milk came in - and Matilda only had to nurse her own litter.
I told her then - she'd earned the right to live here the rest of her life....and for a long time she lived with an open cage on the second level so she could jump up into her cage or play on the floor when she wanted a break.
I am happy that Matilda had a long life and knew she was loved....even after we renamed her Nancy after she got wry neck and fought so hard to survive. (Nancy was a stubborn friend of mine and Matilda reminded me of her).
[line]
Liberty
I don't know if I can even talk about Liberty right now. I was going to have Art & Robin bring her to me to hold on the way home from the airport....she was that special to me.
A few months ago she suddenly developed head tilt and was quite wobbly. She lived in my bedroom and for the last couple months of her life - I held her and cuddled with her daily - which was amazing because she was a "doe from Hades" much like Minnie Pearl was. I was often afraid to feed Liberty because she would charge my hand and bite...but once she became ill - she was a lover and cuddler and she would kiss me for 10 minutes (or more) at a time.
I think I may have some pictures on my camera of her...if so - I will share them later.
I miss Liberty more than I can begin to tell y'all. I was getting groceries today and got a bunch of cilantro because I knew my "bedroom bunnies" loved it....only to get to the car and remember that my main two bedroom bunnies had passed....
[line]
Barry
I don't know how many people remember Barry. He was a mini rex mix we rescued from the feed store when he got an eye infection. A friend told me it would probably keep coming back - and it did. He went blind a few weeks before he passed away and he was very depressed.
RIP Barry - your passing was really hard on us..
[line]Marmalade
Marmalade was a chocolate tort buck I bought in 2007 from Buffalo Creek. I didn't talk much about him here - I also have his younger brother Chaucer - a chocolate buck.
Here are some baby pictures of him...
Marmalade had several litters here quite a while ago (while Amy / Undergunfire) was here.
One of the things I loved about Marmalade is he would get his door open and sit and look down onto the floor at the girls and just watch them. He loved watching to see what was happening in the rabbitry and while he was not affectionate - he was so much fun to watch and talk to.
RIP Marmalade.....
[line]
GC
I don't have any pictures of GC....he was a doofus buck (dumb as a doorknob) but such a sweetie. He LOVED supper time....
He was a sable point buck that I had sold and then the lady changed her mind....he competed once in a show but I don't remember how he did.....but at least he got to go to a show.
Alas...that was not to be...
Art & Robin picked up new bags of food - the food I normally use - and within a few days - we lost four more. (I have talked to others about the symptoms and we believe that we got some food that had been contaminated based upon the symptoms and other stuff).
Liberty was my first loss.....and I cried for over two hours after my mom had gone to bed. I held her every morning and night - gave her cilantro and loved to watch her eat it.
Then Barry got sick and died....he'd been ill anyway but I had hoped he would make it. He was special to Robin.
Art was working on the water bottles when he noticed Marmalade wasn't sitting by his cage door staring down at the girls - instead - he was dead in the back of his cage.
Finally - GC - a sable point buck that had been born here....was the last (we hope) to pass.
We realized it was the food and changed it.
So I'm going to do a bit of a blurb about each one.....as they each deserve it in their own way. I will come back later and edit w/ pictures as I find them...
[line]Minnie Pearl:
Ali put this together on my blog about Minnie - and I think it will be very appropriate. I know Ali loved Minnie too because she was a lot like Ali's Samantha - an aggressive doe who didn't really learn to love until late in life..
Sadly Peg left me a message that Minnie Pearl passed away. Art and Robin did what they could but it was just her time.
Some memories of Miss Minnie:
Miss Minnie is most definitely becoming a snuggle bunny. She got her shot and then slept on the bed with Robin & I there treating other bunnies. She gave me tooth purrs and only got upset when I put her back in her pen. I'm seriously considering holding her again tonight in my arms when I go to sleep....we shall see.
----------------
Minnie and I snuggled a bit earlier. I think I did more snuggling than she did.....but oh well. She slept with us for a few hours last night- mainly 'cause I fell asleep petting her.
-----------------
Minnie Pearl's story is sort of special to me. I bought her for all the wrong reasons - was scared of her - and yet my fear of losing her made me overcome some of my fears - and then - fell in love with her.
Minnie has the nickname of "Doe from Hades" or "That Doe from Hell" because she was not only cage aggressive but aggressive. She'd kick, bite, and do anything she could to tear you up if you picked her up or moved her. Open her cage and she might charge you.
Last year she became ill and one day she was really REALLY bad. Art wasn't due hom for several hours and in talking to a friend (Randy - ra7751 on the forum)- I realized she needed sub-q fluids. I had them - but Art always gave them.
I think I was all alone at the time - I prepared the shot - used a towel to catch her - and gave her a shot. Poor thing - she was so sick - she couldn't even fight me.
A couple of hours later - I gave her more sub-q fluids.
Honestly - she was barely moving - she was so dehydrated and ill. I didn't think she'd make it till Art got him.
When I went to give her the third shot - she bit me. HARD. Once I got the shot in her - she got on the floor and hid from me - flicking me off the whole way to the hidey spot.
A couple of weeks ago - she got moved to the bedroom...where we learned in the process of moving her - that she'd become a bit of a snuggle bun...most of the time.
Here she is today - playing on the bed. The videos I'll upload later....I'm about to go in Lord of the Rings Online (LoTRO) to spend time with Art & Eric & Robin as a family.
But for now...here are the pictures..
Her eye looks bad - it gets a bit crusty sometimes and I have to take a damp cloth to it....
-------------------------
Miss Minnie we will all miss you. You were one of a kind and your mama will miss you.
[line]Girly Girl
Girly Girl was an excellent mama to her babies. She was never a "people bunny" but she loved being a mama bunny.
She started acting a bit off shortly before I left to go home and visit my mom.
I don't have much to share about her right now - it just hurts a lot - particularly since I didn't get many pictures.
[line]
Matilda aka Nancy
I am not sure if I have any pictures of Matilda - if so - I will post them later.
I said I wasn't going to breed chestnuts - but when someone was giving away some cages and I had to take the rabbits that came with them - I fell in love with Matilda. She was probably one of the ugliest rabbits I had....but I decided to breed her one time to see if I could get some nice rabbits from her - particularly since her single mane was so dense.
That was at the same time I had some food issues....and I had does delivering dead bunnies and/or not having milk come in. I wound up with 24 rabbits that needed to nurse between the various does that had given birth - 8 of which were Matilda's litter.
For three days - Matilda kept all 24 babies alive. She would nurse 8 at a time - and then 8 hours later she would nurse another 8...and then 8 hours later - she would nurse the final 8.
After three does - four more does gave birth - and their milk came in - and Matilda only had to nurse her own litter.
I told her then - she'd earned the right to live here the rest of her life....and for a long time she lived with an open cage on the second level so she could jump up into her cage or play on the floor when she wanted a break.
I am happy that Matilda had a long life and knew she was loved....even after we renamed her Nancy after she got wry neck and fought so hard to survive. (Nancy was a stubborn friend of mine and Matilda reminded me of her).
[line]
Liberty
I don't know if I can even talk about Liberty right now. I was going to have Art & Robin bring her to me to hold on the way home from the airport....she was that special to me.
A few months ago she suddenly developed head tilt and was quite wobbly. She lived in my bedroom and for the last couple months of her life - I held her and cuddled with her daily - which was amazing because she was a "doe from Hades" much like Minnie Pearl was. I was often afraid to feed Liberty because she would charge my hand and bite...but once she became ill - she was a lover and cuddler and she would kiss me for 10 minutes (or more) at a time.
I think I may have some pictures on my camera of her...if so - I will share them later.
I miss Liberty more than I can begin to tell y'all. I was getting groceries today and got a bunch of cilantro because I knew my "bedroom bunnies" loved it....only to get to the car and remember that my main two bedroom bunnies had passed....
[line]
Barry
I don't know how many people remember Barry. He was a mini rex mix we rescued from the feed store when he got an eye infection. A friend told me it would probably keep coming back - and it did. He went blind a few weeks before he passed away and he was very depressed.
RIP Barry - your passing was really hard on us..
[line]Marmalade
Marmalade was a chocolate tort buck I bought in 2007 from Buffalo Creek. I didn't talk much about him here - I also have his younger brother Chaucer - a chocolate buck.
Here are some baby pictures of him...
Marmalade had several litters here quite a while ago (while Amy / Undergunfire) was here.
One of the things I loved about Marmalade is he would get his door open and sit and look down onto the floor at the girls and just watch them. He loved watching to see what was happening in the rabbitry and while he was not affectionate - he was so much fun to watch and talk to.
RIP Marmalade.....
[line]
GC
I don't have any pictures of GC....he was a doofus buck (dumb as a doorknob) but such a sweetie. He LOVED supper time....
He was a sable point buck that I had sold and then the lady changed her mind....he competed once in a show but I don't remember how he did.....but at least he got to go to a show.
I don't know how you do it. Binky free Barry, Liberty, Nancy, Minnie Pearl, GC and Girly Girl!
