Peg's Place - 2009

[Sabine]

I am so sorry Peg. it's almost too much for one person to bear.

 

[LuvaBun]

Nice to have you 'home' Peg. You were greatly missed.

I am sorry things haven't been easy with your mom, and I'm deeply sorry about all your bunny losses

take as much or as little time as you need. You know we all love and care for you, so do whatever is best :hug:

Jan

 

[Elf Mommy]

I'm SOOOOO glad you're back! I'm sorry that things are so difficult

 

[TinysMom]

Well - our losses go on.

Last night I found Butterscotch had passed away....and we just found Hepburn (Wedge's companion) had passed away too.

Art is sitting here going, "What is going on?" and to be honest with him - and everyone - "I don't know".

Both of the rabbits were among my older rabbits...both had been ill off and on.

To top things off - Miss Bea feels like she's lost some weight - she's now caged and getting extra food and hay and treats for a day or two to see if she puts some weight back on. She will eat - some. And she will eat the treats.

Once she feels a bit heavier to me (I'm going to weigh her today) - then she can go back to the office....if she wants.

 

[Flashy]

I'm sorry Peg Any chance it's not the food, but something else?

I hope Miss Bea gains some weight and it's nothing serious.

 

[Sabine]

Oh Peg, I'm so sorry. There must be something going round. What kind of virus could cause that?

 

[TinysMom]

Flashy wrote:

I'm sorry Peg Any chance it's not the food, but something else?

I hope Miss Bea gains some weight and it's nothing serious.

Flashy - I have no idea. Both of these rabbits were ones that had been ill off and on and so I'm not overly surprised that they passed. In Butterscotch's case - she was blind and her quality of life was pretty good - but not the best. She was sharing our bedroom w/ Darla-mouse (the foster I adopted from the feed store). Butter looked like she'd just gone to sleep and didn't wake up.

I do have a funny story to share about Butterscotch though - I was just telling it to Art last night.

When she had her last litter - she made one of the most beautiful nests I'd ever seen....I mean it was GORGEOUS. She pulled a ton of fur to line it with and it was just....fantastic.

When she went into labor - she put her HEAD in the nest and her rear out into the cage and had her babies on the cage floor.

Fortunately - her cage was here in the living room by my desk and I was here to not only watch her give birth - but move her babies into her nest once she was done. She looked up at me and was so proud of her babies - and her "still clean" nest.

I'm gonna miss Butterscotch.

~~~~

Hepburn was Theresa's brother. He'd been ill off and on for over a year...and when I got home from mom's - he and Wedge were the first bunnies I held. Its amazing that two intact bucks could live together so well - but they truly seemed to want to be together. Now I need to keep an eye on Wedge. I gave him some banana after I took out Hepburn's body....and he ate it - so I think he'll be willing to eat.

~~~~

With the losses we've had lately - I'm sorta numb. Its like.....I can't deal with the emotions involved with them right now - so I'm sorta stuffing them. I'm not doing it on purpose - but I just - I can't cry much more. I've shed so many tears between the rabbits and my mom that I think the well is going dry.

The rest of the rabbits mostly appear to be ok. I'm monitoring food intake, etc. and while they don't like the new brand - its what they're going to have for a bit. I'm going to call the feed store on Monday to see if Justin can get me another brand for a bit - although I've been hearing about others who have lost rabbits recently too and it appeared to be from feed issues (and different brands). So I don't know what to think.

The rabbits that passed were in different locations - and really the only thing they had in common was the food - not even the hay as each section had different hay. Its hard to explain - but I use a bale of hay for a certain area and bags of hay for other areas....so even that wasn't the same.

I do have "good" news ... sorta. That is - it is sorta good. It has to do with new life - even though it wasn't new life that I was planning on.

Shoot - I might as well just say it and get it out there.

Harry was moved into the bedroom a few weeks ago - and Darla was moved from her pen because she was jumping out and free-roaming in the room anyway. I didn't use a cover on the pen because Harry wasn't able to get out...and about 3 weeks ago we moved Harry back out when we were rearranging things....but apparently - sometime before we moved him out - Darla must've jumped in his pen....cause she's definitely looking preggers.

We don't think the babies (when she has them we'll know for sure) could be Barry's - because while he didn't have a cover on his pen - he wasn't well enough to breed and his pen was smaller. Liberty was a doe - so she couldn't have gotten Darla pregnant - and Wedge & Hepburn's pen WAS covered.

So that leaves Harry - aka "Stud Muffin".

Can I strange him now?

I imagine the babies will look interesting. Darla has these HUGE ears now....and she looks so much like a wild rabbit....and Harry is...well...Harry.

Here are pictures of them (older pictures) - I'll have to get an updated picture of Darla...



DARLA

HARRY

I'd say I'm upset at myself - but honestly - after the losses we've had....I don't know. Maybe its fate's (God's) way of bringing some joy back to our lives....

 

[Flashy]

It's horrid when you know you have a problem, and yet you are struggling to figure out exactly what is going on and what the problem is. Could someone else in the US buy you some food and get it to you? Might mean that they could have their regular food, but a safer batch or something? Just thinking outloud really. Definitely not the water? Have any of you guys had an upset stomach or anything?

Maybe this is a gift. After all the negative, you are certainly due some joy. Those babies will probably be extra special because of all you have gone through with your buns recently, and your mum. It may have been an unplanned litter, but it may be one of the most important you have ever had.

Can I ask, was Harry the bun that went around and got a load of girls pregnant before? I can't remember how the bun did it, but it was something to do with them living on the floor area and he got out? If it wasn't Harry, who was it?

 

[TinysMom]

Two buns have gotten out in the past and gotten girls pregnant.

Cassanova got out of his cage not once - but twice - and got girls pregnant. The first time - I forget how he got out...but he got out. Art fixed his cage so he couldn't get out plus put him in a top cage - and he literally ROCKED his cage back and forth one day while we were out (at least we think that is what happened) so that his cage fell to the floor - the door opened and he got loose again.

He was moved to the garage after that - where there were no girls.

However - from his breakouts - I got New Hope ... so I can't be too angry at him.

Marmalade was the second bun who did that. We never did figure out how he opened his door - he was on a bottom cage if I remember right....he got moved to an upper level and he stayed in his cage. (He also was moved to the garage for a time).

Harry was my first buck I ever got - and he was so good at breeding the girls. We found out though that he carries the maloclussion gene and I never bred him after that.

I'm a bit upset about Darla's potential litter...but I can either cry...or smile.

I need to smile about something.

Oh - Harry is back in the rabbitry but he's in a dog kennel where he can't open the door. The cages on either side of him are empty (he's on the bottom row) and the girls love to get into the cages beside him and flirt through the bars - but he can't do anything....

And I ALWAYS double check to see if his doors are locked because he is one buck that knows what to do with the girls IMMEDIATELY...and for some reason - they are really drawn to him.

 

[TinysMom]

I forgot to add Flashy that I go through 50 pounds of rabbit food in 2-3 days....maybe 4 days now that I've cut back some (I was overfeeding everybun) and since I'm now down by 9 rabbits in about 3 weeks.

So for someone to send me food - would be really really expensive.

I'm disturbed because the rabbits aren't over thrilled about the Wendland's food....I'd like to put them back on the Purina but I'm not sure right now what to do.

They wound up getting cheerios and oatmeal for 2 days while Art tried to get them other food (we realized it was the food late one night after the feed store had closed and I said, "pull the food and give hay and cereal" and then Art overslept the next day since he works mids and wasn't able to get to the feed store in time).

 

[Flashy]

Ah right, I got my buns confused (but whichever buck it was, when you first told that story on here, it was one of my faves).

I guess to anything like this there are positive and negative points, but I agree with you about focusing on the positives of the litter, and smiling about it. It's not something that can be changed, so you might as well get as much joy as possible from it.

 

[TinysMom]

The funny thing was - Cassanova hadn't really been named when he did it the first time - I was still trying to decide on his name.

So once he did that - I named him Cassanova - and boy - did it fit.

Speaking of Cassanova - here he is...

He was a cutie!

 

[Flashy]

So often buns choose their names better than we ever could What marking is he? Sorry, that's really off the point, but I couldn't pick what he was.

 

[TinysMom]

Here's another picture of him - he was chinchilla (like Harry)...I wanted to breed him w/ my squirrel doe..

 

[JadeIcing]

*hugs*

When it rains it pours. The sun does shine again in time.

 

[LuvaBun]

Sorry to hear about more losses, Peg . Strange that others have lots rabbits too. Could it be where the feed store is keeping it's food - could it come in contact with anything toxic?

I love Darla's ears - I think there are going to be some cute babies there

Jan

 

[TinysMom]

Jan - if you love Darla's ears in those pictures - you should see them now. I swear- she could use them as antenna to pick up signals from Mars....they're HUGE.

As far as others who have lost rabbits - they don't live here in Del Rio - they're friends from the internet in various locations in the US...and its been different brands of food - and a couple of weeks up to a month before I had issues.

So I'm not sure what to think. Right now...no more losses that I've seen today - but we feed soon....

 

[TinysMom]

Flashy wrote:

Ah right, I got my buns confused (but whichever buck it was, when you first told that story on here, it was one of my faves).

The funniest part about it was that Cass knocked his cage over one more time after we'd fixed it up - only his door had a lock on it by then and he couldn't open it.

We know he was the one knocking it over because we later realized we'd seen him running in circles in his cage and banging up against the bars a bit.

When he knocked his cage over the second time - it was dented up pretty badly (it had fallen about 5 feet - twice by then) - he got moved to the garage where he still tried to get out of his cage.

He just loved his freedom - especially if it meant girls...

As far as others losing their rabbits...they were internet friends - not in my local area - and not with my brand either. Their deaths happened a couple of weeks before mine (maybe a month??) but the symptoms were the same and when they switched the food - the deaths stopped.

Only problem is - now some of my rabbits don't want the new food - one of them being Miss Bea. She only ate about 1/2 of her food last night - but she is willing to take banana and cheerios and cilantro and stuff - so I'm going to bulk her up a bit that way - and maybe a bit of baby food/pumpkin too.

 

[JimD]

:hug2:

 

[TinysMom]

I just woke up (briefly) to find Darla is nesting....

Turns out she's building her nest UNDER my dresser.

Joy oh joy...