The Bunnies.

It was on the 16th of August 2007 that Carol phoned me at work to tell me that our cat, Poppy, had brought a tiny creature home alive and she wasn’t sure what it was. I was intrigued because Poppy was quite the hunter and I suggested that Carol should take a picture of it with her phone and send it to me. We weren’t sure what it could be but after consideration we believed it could be a rabbit. Carol lined a cat food box with tissue (it was just about the right size) and placed the box on top of a storage heater to keep the little thing warm. Some time later Carol phoned me again to tell me that Poppy had brought another one home! By the time I got home from work there were three of them in the box, unfortunately a neighbour’s cat got the fourth one off Poppy so we lost one. Then later on Poppy was acting agitated so I followed her to see what was upsetting her and there on the patio was another little one sitting upright and shivering, hence the name shiver. We asked the vet for advice on how to care for the little things, he said he didn’t think they would survive but we could try feeding them on whole milk with a little honey mixed with it. Carol fed them by holding a little pool of the mixture in the cupped palm of her hand and holding the rabbits so they could lap at it. She really was a hero getting up through the night to feed the little rabbits. Later I found an old syringe that I used to fill ink cartridges with and we used that as well. I believe that they were new born when Poppy brought them to us, as it was twelve days before they opened their eyes. Sadly two of the rabbits never made it but Honeybun and Shiver survived. When it came to weaning them I managed to get a pro-biotic from a company called ‘Vetark’ that we added to their milk. This gave them the necessary gut flora for a high fibre diet. The two rabbits lived indoors and they never grew very big and their fur was light and soft. We built them a pen in the garden and they loved to run about out there but always let us know when the wanted to return indoors. They also loved to run about indoors and were very clean. I built them a little litter tray as you can see above right. They always used it as they are in the picture Honeybun on the right and Shiver on the left. Honeybun died on the 14th February 2011, we think she may have had a weak heart. Shiver lived until the 23rd July 2012, they are both missed and taught us so much. Some time later Poppy brought a baby stoat home but unfortunately it never survived the night.