My Darling Precious

I'll never forget when we got you. You were a beautiful Silver Martin Netherland Dwarf and so tiny that Daddy was able to hold you in one hand. As you grew, you became a part of us. All the cute things you would do. How you loved to play and jump on mommy's wheelchair. We would lay out all your boxes and blue and red blankies.

And how you loved for your daddy to lay on the floor with you. You would jump on his tummy just like a kid, and play King of the Mountain. You would give daddy bunny kisses on his bald head. Mommy couldn't get down on the floor, (you see I am a quad-paralyze from the neck down), but boy if I could have I sure would have! You were afraid of heights. We all had so much fun.

You were our Precious. When daddy would go to bed, you would sit by mommy’s side and watch TV, or I would sing to you. We could tell if you were listening, because you would cock that little ear. You brought so much sunshine in our lives. The days started with you and daddy. Mommy misses talking to you at nighttime. If you got scared, I would say, "It’s ok, Precious," and that seemed to calm your fears.

Precious was curious and always trying to get into things. He was so spunky. When I would lie down in the afternoon, he would mock me. I would turn over on my side, and the little stinker would lie on his side. When I ate, he would eat. Precious didn't know he was a bunny, he really thought he was a person.

He was with us for almost 2 years. I live in a very small town, Milan, MO, which has only two vets. Precious started acting strange. One minute, he was making these horrible faces and acting like he couldn't get air, then he was fine and playing again. I talked to a friend in Canada daily about him. We took Precious to one of the vets. She was going on vacation and said she could take a quick look. He stayed overnight so she could check him in the morning. I asked her to check his mouth because of the way he was acting. I also asked if she could otoscope him. She only worked with big animals, but said when she came back she would take him to a bigger place and scope him. Before she left, she said she found a place under his neck where he had rubbed it raw. She gave him a drug called K-Flex.

John and I thought all vets were alike and knew what they were doing. My friend, who has a lot of experience with her two buns, kept asking me about the drug. When I told her Precious was taking K-Flex, she said bunnies can't handle that drug because it is too hard on them. By then, Precious had really started to go downhill. We knew he would probably get weak and have diarrhea, but not like he did. We pulled Precious off the drug after a couple of days.

Precious was our first bunny, we were new to the bunny world. We needed a savvy vet that knew about bunnies. This friend in Canada posted about our situation and our need for help on an internet group called Etherbuns. You see, John and I both live in a nursing home. We took care of Precious as much as we knew, and I found out I knew very little about rabbits. But I learned that when a bunny starts showing changes in behavior, get him quick to a savvy vet.

The next day we received an email from a lady that had read Arlette's post and had talked to her. She wanted to help. She emailed to tell me and John that she would do what she could to help if we wanted her too. She has 4 bunnies of her own. She called the next day, which was a Saturday.

By then, Precious was still grooming himself, but not eating and drinking very little water. He would hide, and if he saw me watching when he started to have an attack, he would turn away from me. I was in tears.

Anyway, on that Saturday, Joan said she could come get my Precious. She had found a savvy vet in Quincy, IL, not too far away from her. She said the vet knew about bunnies. She came and checked Precious. Before she arrived, I told Precious a nice lady was going to come get him and make him feel better, and that mommy and daddy loved him so much. She took his carrier, his cage and everything that belonged to him. We wanted him to have some things that were familiar so he wouldn't be so scared.

God, I wanted to go with my poor baby!

Joan worked with him that weekend trying to get him to eat. We had to force-feed him a little before he left us. Joan talked to some doctor in St Louis, and he gave her instructions on what to give him. She was used to this because she has a bunny that had to be force-fed. She gave Precious meds, tummy rubs and everything to help him. On Monday, she took Precious to the vet. They took x-rays and checked his mouth with a endoscope. His mouth was fine, but the x-rays showed a mass in his tummy that was forcing his lung and other organs to the top of his chest. The drug K-Flex that the other vet gave him had slowed his whole system down. Joan emailed us after each appointment, and we talked in between. She was my Precious' Godmother.

I told her he liked to be sung to and he would lay and listen. I couldn't sing a tune, but he liked it anyway. I sang You Are My Sunshine. When she had to feed him and give him tummy rubs, she told him he would get better. She sang to him, got up in the middle of the night to give him meds and told him mommy loved him so much and soon he would be better and could go home.



Precious died July 19, 2001, from stasis,enteritis, enterotoxemia.

Sleep my little one, Until we meet again… And we will.

PETS -- Grief Support & Candle Ceremony!

GastroIntestinal Stasis, The Silent Killer
by Dana Krempels, Ph.D.
(Best viewed with ADOBE ACROBAT READER. Download)

Antibiotic-induced Enteritis and Enterotoxemia
by Dr. Jeffery R. Jenkins, DVM

House Rabbit Society

alt.pet.rabbits newsgroup
A great bunch of bunny lovers! Very infomative.

Etherbuns
A Yahoo group

RABBIT HEALTH 101 -
WHAT EVERY BUNNY'S PARENT NEEDS TO KNOW!
by Kathy Smith
Medical Review by Novella, NVM
(I highly recommend this book!)