My dmd Emily has wanted a bunny rabbit for years. For various reasons we have told her no. At one point I told her she had to write a report on rabbits and she spent quite a bit of time reading and taking notes but never (do to the school schedule and activities) wrote a finished report. So, my dmd is turning 14 and we decided for her birthday to get her a bunny. We were on our way to a convention and passed through a town that has our favorite pet store. Having a few minutes to spare we stopped in to look around and found that they had bunnies! We quickly picked out the cutest one and decided to bring him with us. He was 5 weeks old and my daughter was beaming from ear to ear. Benjamin Bunny named after a Beatrix Potter character quickly made his way into our hearts and made his debut onto our dmds face book page.
It was late Thursday night when we bought him. Benjamin Bunny seemed fine all day Friday. He seemed fine but we have since learned that bunnies because of their genetics will not show any sign of illness until they are seriously ill. By Saturday morning he was lethargic . We called a vet and got milk replacement in case he was not quite ready to be on solid foods and had dehydrated. He willingly ate a little but then continued to act lethargic and his little head began tilting off to one side. Three more calls to vets who all said that he was probably fine. Finally at 3:30 I called an emergency animal hospital in Des Moines who told us to bring him right in. We got in the car and drove over an hour to the animal hospital. Just as we turned into the parking lot Benjamin Bunny died while laying on my daughters lap. In a surreal ER seen we rushed inside where a lab tech whisked the bunny into the back room, kicking the door out of his way and running down a long hallway. It was no use, there was nothing to be done. We drove another half an hour home and buried him in our garden before driving back to the convention.
My dmd said after the burial that she had at first prayed for God to give her at least a year with Benjamin. Than she said, she knew he was suffering and asked God to do his will but to help her to understand. She is such a sweet and beautiful young woman. We are all sad. The lovely people at our convention bought a sympathy card for my dmd, signed by all the attendees.
Now we don't know what to do. The pet store will give us another bunny but Benjamin was the only mini lop that they had in stock. We are also concerned with the health of a new little bunny from this store. I don't want my daughter to go through something like this again. Should we purchase an older rabbit? The baby stage is when their health is the most delicate. I am trying to contact hollan lop breeders in our area. Maybe we will just wait awhile or maybe we will hear back from one of them and they will have something available. In the meantime I am praying my dmd heart will heal a little.
