One year ago today (pretty much down to the hour actually), I met my little Tallulah at her breeder's house. The breeder had just brought Lula in from outside and had her in a teensy little cage in their spare room. I was amazed by how little and adorable Tallulah was, way cuter than she looked in her picture on Craigslist! Lu was afraid of me and didn't want to be held. I was concerned because her eyes were a little red rimmed and her nose was running some. The breeder said she was fine and I merrily took Tallulah home to my mom's house (where I was staying). I figured I'd be taking her to the vet the next day anyway for her pre-flight health certificate, so we'd see what the vet said.
In the mean time, I posted pictures of her here on RO and voiced my concerns about the runny nose (which came and went) and the reddish eyes, and her occasional mushy poop. I was of course hoping to be reassured that she'd be fine and I should just see what the vet said, but the general consensus was that I should just return her to the breeder and try to find a different bunny somewhere else. I sadly agreed that I'd return her and made plans with her breeder to drop her back off the next day. I put Tallulah in my bedroom and closed the door so I didn't have to see her or get attached to her.
The next morning, I checked on the then nameless Tallulah, hoping she would look healthy. She did look better and her poops were normal. I decided to let her out to run around and see what she did. Downstairs we went, and I set her down. That little bunny ran and binkied like nothing else! She looked so healthy. I decided to take her to the vet anyway and she what the vet thought, so off we went... I tried not to get attached to her. The vet (a very good vet who I took Cinnabun and my cockatiels to for years) declared her to be healthy! She said it's normal for Holland Lop babies to have kind of weird poop at first, and the runny nose and eyes were probably due to her going from living outside to living inside where the air was much drier. She happily filled out Lu's health certificate and we went home.
I was so excited. My baby was mine after all and would be okay. We named her Tallulah, I let Paul pick between Annabelle and Tallulah and he liked Tallulah because it means "princess" (Rory's name means "little king"). I posted the happy news here on the forum, and most people were glad and seemed to believe the vet, but one person PM'ed me and disagreed with the vet. They were upset and said several things that upset me terribly, about me not caring about shelter rabbits and that I was killing bunnies by getting Tallulah from a breeder. That I should return Tallulah immediately. I cried so much over the next few days... Whenever I looked at Lu, I cried. But I couldn't return her to the breeder, I'd promised Tallulah to love her forever and I'd fallen for her already. It took me a long time to get over my feelings of guilt and I still tear up thinking about it.
Tallulah and I flew home. Her health problems continued. She spent a lot of time at the vet, but was such a sweet little girl. She quickly got over her fear of me and clearly loved me. It would have been so much easier if I'd just brought her back to the breeder, but someone else would have taken her I'm sure and who knows how Tallulah would have been cared for in her short life... She probably would have died a lot sooner. I would have missed out on her sweet life, and I would have missed out on loving my darling Phoebe Mae, who I never would have got if not for Tallulah.
My poor little girl. I'm sorry you had such a hard life and had to be sick. I miss you so much.
Picture I saw of her on Craigslist:
These are the pictures I took that first night showing her eyes and nose... Looking at them always makes me feel bad:
