2020 was full of ups and downs. i was excited for the year, especially with mommy and daddy home so much, but i also didn't really feel like myself. here's a little recap of all the rabbity things that happened this year. if you want to read my story from the very beginning, you can click here.
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me, mommy, daddy, and lulu took our annual family portraits in january. look how handsome i am!
i was feeling pretty tired in february, so i cuddled up against mommy a lot.
in march, i claimed mommy's cushion as MINE and then she took selfies with me on MY new cushion!
i was still kinda obsessed with my new cushion in april. mommy says i gave it so many kisses that it became all wet with bunny saliva.
i was a happy bunny in may. look at me all flopped out beside my litter box! mommy barely goes out anymore so that means she spends pretty much all day with me. daddy leaves for a big chunk of time most days but he's also around lots more compared to before! i feel so relaxed with my hoomans at home.
my favourite thing to do in june was to sleep near mommy while she did stuff on the computer. i wasn't sure what she was doing but i'd try to sleep right in front of her or beside her so she would remember to reach down and pet me. she always did and sometimes it would wake me up but it felt good so i didn't mind. i was still sneezing a lot so i had to have two injections for pasteurellosis. the vet told mommy that all rabbits have natural populations of a bacteria called pasteurella but not all rabbits get pasteurellosis. the vet said it might be because i'm a senior rabbit and my immune system is weaker. she told mommy that pasteurellosis is challenging to cure and that some rabbits have chronic ongoing infections. the sneezing, runny nose, and runny eyes subsided for a while but then it came back.
mommy and daddy moved lulu's bag next to the balcony door in july. i was so curious about why they put it there. i love exploring new things and i always know when something has been moved or is out of place! mommy says i'm a smart bunny. i started sneezing again this month and also losing my balance a bit. mommy is still feeding me a bit of critical care every day but this month i was really hungry and i'd chase mommy for the tubulars.
i'm not sure why but i felt extra tired in august. i was always resting my head on mommy. one time, i thought the litter box was mommy. mommy took me to the vet for a tooth trim and i had lost so much weight since june even though i was eating lots. i didn't see my regular vet that time so they didn't even mention it but mommy saw my weight printed on the invoice. it's hard to tell because my fur was still so puffy and perfect!
i turned 10 years old in september! that was also around the time that lulu and i reached an understanding. i decided she wasn't so gross after all and i stopped charging at her, lunging at her, and growling at her. look how nice i am to her in this photo! she stopped being scared of me and came even closer to me a few times.
it was my gotcha day on october 31st! i can't believe i've been living with my hoomans for 10 years. they're so lucky to have me. we got to take a selfie without lulu because it was my special day. i'm not so good at controlling my pee anymore but my hoomans still let me spend lots of time with them. they put lulu's pee pads all over the living room so i could be near them all night.
i'm starting to fall over super a lot now and then i panic and mommy panics too. i'm pretty tired because every time i fall asleep, i start to fall over, and then that wakes me up again. mommy lets me sit beside her a lot so i can lean on her and not fall over. i heard her tell daddy and youtubes that i'm probably not getting enough sleep or rest.
in november, i got to play on grass for the first time when we were waiting at the vet's office! it was weird and i tried to run away from it. daddy caught me and that was the end of my play time. even though i'm feeling tired, i can still be fast when i want to be. i fall over a lot though. mommy says i'm a strong bunny but she's always worried that i'll hurt myself.
mommy told the vet that she had bites all over her legs. the vet said i probably have fur mites so she gave us some revolution in addition to my regular tooth trim. the vet said all bunnies have a few mites but i was getting too old to keep the population under control by grooming myself. even though mommy was so itchy from the mite bites, she would still let me sit right next to her. that's how much she loves me.
december started out great. daddy and mommy were both off from work so we spent tons of time together. i sat beside mommy a lot and she fed me critical care every day. i was falling over even more than usual but mommy or daddy would always come to help me get back up. daddy held me so many times this month! i don't mind it as much as i used to. it feels safe and i can't fall because daddy makes sure i won't.
then one night, i suddenly could no longer stand up on my own. i didn't want to lie down either so i would struggle to get up and i would eventually get so tired that i would just need to rest. i had been going to see my vet regularly (too much for my liking!) so mommy talked to her about what
was happening. i overheard her telling daddy that the vet said it might
be my time.
mommy started feeding me critical care through the tubular thing every two to three hours because i was too wobbly to stand up and eat from my bowls. she tried holding the bowl of critical care mush so i could eat it on my own but it was disgusting. i like it better when mommy feeds me! when i was really hungry, i would nibble on some pellets and lettuce but eventually i only wanted treats. mommy thought i must be gaining weight because she was feeding me as much critical care as i wanted and she said i was eating a lot of it. but then she put me on a square thing and looked sad as she told daddy i was still not gaining weight.
my hoomans started putting me in one of lulu's open top carriers. they put in a folded up bed sheet, pee pad, and some aspen shavings so it could be a perfect lounging spot for me. they took me everywhere so i'd always be beside one of them, getting head rubs of course! i was super happy so i was eating lots of critical care but i didn't feel like eating hay, pellets, or lettuce. i couldn't reach my bum to eat my cecotropes so mommy would pick them up with chopsticks and put them on a little plate for me. sometimes i ate them, but sometimes i didn't feel like it. i also didn't feel like drinking water. mommy said i used to love drinking water so she made sure to put a bit more in my critical care. i was peeing lots but i couldn't control it so my hoomans made sure they changed my pee pad and aspen shavings a lot so my bum and feets would still be dry. sometimes, daddy would pick me up right when i felt like peeing and then i would pee all over him hehe. sometimes i had to wear a bib because i was licking my front paw so much that some of the fur came off and it became a bit raw.
when i would get tired of the bag, my hoomans would let me play on a
peepad. i tried hard to stand up without being wobbly because i knew it
worried mommy every time i fell over. that got me tired so usually i
would just lie down. my hoomans would crouch down beside me and hug me,
kiss my forehead, and give me full body massages. it felt so good!
my hoomans were usually beside me so i could fall into a deep and safe slumber. mommy said i was dreaming a lot — it looked like i was binkying and doing bunny 500s! i miss doing those, and i also miss grooming, digging, making cardboard smiles with my teeths, and eating my cecotropes straight from my bum hole. i wanted to do all these rabbity things so i kept trying but i was just too tired. daddy told me i worked hard my entire life and that it's ok to rest.
one night, we had a slumber party in the living room — after lulu went to bed in her carrier, so it was just me and my hoomans. they slept on the floor and i slept in my bag in between them. mommy woke up every two hours to feed me critical care. i wasn't that hungry but i still ate some. i gave my carrier lots of kisses because i couldn't reach mommy or daddy. then they would reach over and pet me and that made me fall asleep again. mommy kept telling me i was a good boy. she used her soft whispering voice so she wouldn't wake daddy and i turned my ears toward her so i could hear better. daddy gave me hugs and even put the covers on me so i wouldn't be cold.
in the morning, we took a stinky car ride and it took so long that it made me grouchy. when we finally got where we were going, mommy and daddy offered my favourite treats but i didn't want raisins or freeze dried strawberries. i did eat most of a glucosamine tablet though — those are the best! mommy broke it up into small pieces and fed them to me while daddy held me tight.
someone came to the car to take me away but then they brought me back to my hoomans so quickly! i was excited to see them but i felt so tired and sleepy that i could barely move. mommy and daddy pet me, gave me kisses, and hugged me. they told me they loved me and that i was a good boy.
eventually, i didn't feel so tired anymore. i could see myself binkying and grooming and eating hay and running super fast! i was so happy that i did tooth purrs. i heard mommy and daddy saying i looked so peaceful and content. they seemed like they were a bit far away but i knew they were right there. my hoomans were surprised by my little smile because i'm usually frowning. i couldn't hear them much after that but i knew they were still hugging me and fawning over me just the way i like.
it's bunny paradise over here, across the rainbow bridge! there are so many fun rabbits just like me and no predators! i've made lots of friends and i'm very busy playing so i won't have time to blog anymore — but there are lots of posts here so it will be easy to remember me. mommy and daddy gave me such a good life and i know it was hard for them to let me go but it was time for me to move on. it's super great here but i'll always love my fur-ever hoomans the mostest. i'm glad i got to spend over 10 years bringing them joy and laughter. they made me pretty happy too.
oh and mommy said we should take one more family photo together. we usually take them right after the stroke of midnight on new year's day (whatever that means), but this time, we took them early so i could be in the photo too! I haven't been able to groom myself super well these past few months but my hoomans still say i'm their handsome bunny. ok i'm off to play again. farewell internet friends!
