Goodbye Bonnie

Last year I got a female Mini Lop, who I named Bonnie.  When I got her, she was about 8 months old and it was in the same trade when I got Bubba and Gorman.  Anyway, she was a very moody rabbit.  Sometimes she would act sweet and let you pet her, then ten seconds later, she's try and bit you.  So in that respect, she definitely resembled the personality of a cat.

Anyway, the day before yesterday, I went to fill up her feed dish to see it still had lots of food in it.  I figured there had been more than she needed to eat, so I ignored it and moved on. 

Then yesterday I went to feed her again, to see her food had been untouched.  This is when I knew something was terribly wrong.  I opened the cage and she wouldn't even look at me.  She just laid there.  I picked her up and re-positioned her.  Still, she didn't even once grunt like she normally would. 

I noticed her water hadn't been drunk at all.  So I quickly filled up a bowl with fresh water and put her mouth next to it.  She realized what it was and began to drink steadily.  Then I ran inside and got about 8 ice cubes, and added them to her water, which she then found even more to her liking and started drinking like crazy.  She even started sticking her feet in.  I figured she was suffering from the heat.  

This morning, she was moving around, nibbling on greens, sipping water, even feeding her babies.  We then left for the day to get supplies to build another structure for hanging cages.  We knew it was going to be hot, so I called home and had my sister hook up fans in my rabbity to keep the bunnies cool in this 90 degree weather. 

The above and below pictures were taken yesterday, when the babies were with Bonnie.  When we came back home from the hardware store, Bonnie had died.  

Of course I was saddened, and to some extent, shocked.  But in a situation like that, the biggest concern immediately goes to the babies, who turn exactly 4 weeks old tomorrow.  I put 5 of the Lop babies in with Dadooshka, who excepted them as her own. 

I had to rub them down in her fur which she'd pulled out to build her nest, 5 weeks ago. 

But it worked.  I also used my Thieves spray to spray on the babies and Dadooshka to help blend the scents, so she couldn't tell they weren't her babies. 

All the babies, both Lops and Dadooshka's.  I put one Lop baby in with Kizzy, who ignored it for 10 minutes, then began attacking it.  Luckily I was out there and grabbed the baby before any damage had been done.  I was able to stick that little baby in with Dadooshka as well. 

Bonnie, just a few days ago.

Then in with Bonnie's litter had been a caramel colored, smaller baby.  I always figured it was actually my female, Saffron's.  And so I put that baby in with Saffron and her litter.  And luckily, Saffron has excepted it back as her own. 

I'm really glad that she did except the little baby, especially since I honestly believe it was actually hers. 

So now Saffron and her litter are all together again and seem very happy with that. 

As for Bonnie, it's just a reminder of how devastating the heat can be.  I'm just so thankful I have other wonderful mother rabbits who are willing to foster.