In Memory
This page is dedicated to the rabbits whom we loved dearly, but have passed away. We miss them greatly, but at the same time, we know that they are no longer suffering. Although they are gone, they are still in our thoughts and in our hearts.
DRU Mary's Rebecka
July 22, 2006 - November 26, 2007
Rebecka, or "E-bunny," was a 5 lb 12 oz Holland lop. She was very shy for us; she never really got the chance to get used to us in the month that we had her.
Her last litter had been taken away from her just before we bought her, so we took her home and bred her within the next week. She seemed to be doing great, but one week before her litter was due, she stopped eating. The next day, she was gone...
Honey Bee
June 2007 - October 2007
Honey Bee at four weeks
We bought Honey Bee at a flea market for five dollars. I felt as if I had rescued her because they were selling her at the age of four weeks. I fell in love with her striped pattern, and she seemed like she would be a sweet rabbit.
I was right about her personality. Although she was shy for the first few days, she quickly learned to like us. She even seemed to be healthy, despite being taken from her mother so soon.
However, things soon changed. Shortly after I moved her to my room after her three-week quarantine, my friend and I noticed her shaking strangely, as if she were having a seizure. We are still not sure what that was, but it was around that time that she started to lean to the right when she was being held.
We didn't think much of the leaning until about two months later when she stopped eating. We took her to a veterinarian, and she was put on antibiotics for a possible infection. After a few days, she still wasn't eating, so we took her to a different animal hospital where she stayed for four nights. She came home with six different medications she had to take, and we fed her by hand three times a day. This went on for over a week, but she wasn't getting better. She actually got worse.
Honey Bee had permanent neurological damage, and she had possibly forgotten how to take care of herself. There was a theory that she may have had some sort of parasite, but the medicine would have helped her if she did. She only got worse, despite all we did to help her.
On October 1, 2007, Honey Bee was put to sleep. We didn't want her to get any worse than she already was, and we knew that would happen if we kept her any longer. She is no longer suffering, and that is all that matters.
Honey Bee at about four months (two days before she stopped eating)
Legolas
January 2002 - November 2006
Legolas was my first rabbit. I got him for Easter when I was twelve years old. He lived in my room until he got too big for his cage, and we had to move him outside to a hutch. Despite his outside location, my mother (Alice) still spoiled him. She even brought him inside if she thought it was too hot or cold for him.
He was a sweet bunny, and I believe that he really liked us. I am reminded of the one day when we went to feed him, and he was not in his cage. Both of his doors were still closed, so we thought someone had stolen him. But soon we found him in a pile of branches nibbling on dead leaves. He hadn't even left the yard! We guessed that he fell out of the cage because the cord holding one of the doors shut was loose and could be opened from inside if pushed hard enough.
We still had Legolas when we decided to start showing rabbits, but about a week after our first show, he stopped eating. Within twenty-four hours, he was gone.
Jellybean
Jellybean was a black Rex doe given to us by a friend. She was bred before she came to live with us, so we ended up with eight babies, three of which we still have. She was a great mother, even though we didn't know what to give her. In fact, when she had her litter in the back of her hutch, she had no nest box, and when we opened the door, all of the babies fell out onto the ground... And they lived!
We may look back at some of our experiences with Jellybean and and feel silly about what we didn't know, but she taught us a lot of what we know now. We are thankful for that.
About a year after we got Jellybean, we gave her to a pet breeder who loved her color. Unfortunately, it had been too long since she had a litter, so she died trying to give birth. Had we known that could happen, we wouldn't have sold her.