Hops joins his sisters at the Bridge

Juniper Hops

I'm so sorry to post this -- the third one of its kind in 11 months... Juniper Hops passed away this past Tuesday. Once again, we were away. We think they chose times when we're gone to die because animals often choose to be alone. But this doesn't make it any less heart-wrenching.

Hops was having back-leg immobility problems in April, which were solved by medicine. He was back in action by May and was hopping all around, while not really being able to bend around to, say, scratch his ears. But he was about 80% better.

After Kayla died on June 18, he seemed very sad. He then developed a staph infection in his ears, which cleared up with ear drops and antibiotics. He perked up when his ears felt better. He was even following us around and begging for craisins at all hours. He was running around my desk chair following us into the bathroom and interested in life and us and loved being cuddled -- like he was a baby again.

Then, about a week and a half ago, he started falling over again and wasn't able to right himself, like he was in April. I put him back on the meds, which made a little bit of difference to the point he was able to hop around again. But when he fell, he couldn't pick himself up. So I had fashioned a basket with towels and food and water, and put him in it to rest. I kept the basket where I had kept Kayla's -- right beside my bed.

Being Hops, the acrobat that he always was, he kept trying to hop out, of course. He wanted to hang out under the bed, as that was always his favorite place. I kept putting him in his basket so he could be near his food. At any rate, we left on Monday afternoon for a trip to New Hampshire and he was just the same -- happy and hopping, but falling over. I had Maggie come to visit him twice a day to give him his meds and make sure he was in his basket with access to food and water.

Tuesday afternoon, she called me and told me that he was lethargic and not too interested in food or water. Apparently, he had been trying to get out of his basket when he got stuck. So she cleaned him up, replaced the towels in his basket and settled him back in. But he wasn't going for his food.

When she came to see him on Tuesday night, he had died right where she left him. Maybe he saw his sisters die of basically the same thing and didn't want to draw out the process any more than necessary. On Monday we had a nice cuddle on the floor like we used to when he was a kid and he gave me lots of kisses. Looking back, he was saying good-bye and that he loved me. I told him several times that day that I will love him forever and that he should go see his sisters if he wanted to.

It was a shock for me to get the message from Maggie on Tuesday night, seeing as how he was hopping around and happy when I left him the day before. But he went on his own time and I guess there's something to be said for him not being basically immobile for months like both Ariel and Kayla were. He's with them now, as well as with Amber, and I know they'll be waiting at the Bridge for me.

Hopsie gives some lovin' to his beloved, Ariel

Hops' passing is so, so hard. Much harder than Ariel or Kayla's and they were bad enough. But at least I got several months to say good-bye to them. Hops left so much quicker than I thought he would. At least he lived a full life, I keep telling myself. He had sisters and a family and love all around him. He had nearly 8 wonderful years and never learned how to be afraid of anything because I wouldn't let anything ever hurt or scare him. It seems to me that he saw Ariel and Kayla both die and decided there was no real point in being here without them, especially falling over as he was. Even in life, he reminds me that love is what you should live for. And he knew I'd love him whether he was here or not. That I loved him too much to see him suffer just to stay with me.

But that doesn't mean I'm not crying my eyes out every time I think about it. He was my buddy and my baby and my boy. I know mommies aren't supposed to have favorites, but I did. He was my favorite since Amber, and I told him that all the time, that he was my best bunny. "You're a wizard, Hopsie" -- I used to stroke his blaze crooked and tell him that when he was a baby.

Hops, Kayla and Ariel -- together again

So in the past 11 months, I've lost three of my four bunnies. The year has, in other ways, just been probably the worst of my life. I'm very happy with Paul, so that's the one thing that is always right. But the rest of life can only get better. It's about time for my luck to change, I think.

We still have SweetPea (whom I got in 2004) and Bandit, our kitty who adopted us last summer. We go from having animals flooding our house to just two in a relatively short time. My heart is sore from so much mourning, and yet I seem to never run out of tears.

I'll have Hops cremated, like his sisters were. My dad will make a box for him of beautiful woods, as he did for the twins.

I was hoping when my Popper got better in May that he'd be with me for another year or two at least. His passing was more sudden than I would have liked it, but it was as he needed it to be. He'll always live in my heart. Juniper Hops was a remarkable bunny with a wonderfully kind heart. Everyone's favorite and everyone's friend.

Run free, Kayla

It is with sadness and a little bit of relief that I tell you that Kayla passed away this morning. She had been in really bad shape the last few months and couldn't hop more than a few steps without falling over (same as Ariel's condition during her last 6 months or so last year).

As with Ariel, the bond between us grew very strong the last few months, and I couldn't pick her up without getting several minutes worth of kisses. She turned into a real lovey and knew I was helping her. Maybe they both realized towards the end of their lives how much I love them. They both came a long way from that box next to the dumpster in Jamaica Plain, where they were found only a few months before I adopted them in May 2001. I can be comforted that I gave them a good life -- Kayla was with me for 8 years and 1 month, nearly to the day. She got so sweet as she got older and especially after she grew disabled. I had her set up with lots of towels in a little bed, which was right next to my bed for the last month or two, so now it's so quiet when I try to sleep. She honked non-stop since she turned 5 years old, so her happy little bunny noises (as Maggie called them) always lulled me to sleep. Now it's just quiet.



But she's hopping around now at the Rainbow Bridge and she's not in any pain. She can go where she wants to and box her teeny little hands at all the other animals who don't listen to her, like she always did. So the relief comes from knowing she's free again. She is with Ariel and Amber now, whom I know are taking good care of her. I will have her body cremated, as I did with Ariel. My dad made a gorgeous box for Ariel's ashes and if Kayla's don't fit in that, too, he'll make another box for my little Squirt. She always hovered around 2 lbs. her whole life.

Hops is getting older, too. He'll be 8 this Aug. 1. He's slowed down a lot, and had a rough time in April, where he was falling over, too, and couldn't walk. That's resolved, but he still can't scratch his ears with his feet. He is mobile, though, so I can take care of the rest for him. He hasn't really been the same since Ariel died last August. As you may recall, he loved her most of all. He went to Kayla and cuddled a lot with her the past year and a half, since Ariel got disabled, but now Kayla's gone and he's just a little bit lost, I think. He still has SweetPea (who's in the prime of her little naughty life at just over 5 years old), but they never cuddled like he did with the twins. He's quiet now, my little old man, but seems to be doing just fine except for a little ear problem I'm looking forward to taking care of with the vet this week sometime. As he gets older, he's getting more cuddly, though, which is nice. But he's alone a lot by choice lately and not surrounded with the love that he was when he had his girls with him. I do my best, but I'm only a human.

Update on my old man, Hops

In case you're wondering, Hops has lost weight (like over the last 6 months or so) and has pretty bad arthritis in his spine, which may have twisted his legs around the last few days. Both things, our vet says, is just "old guy stuff." He's doing a lot better today with keeping his legs under him when he hops. Also, though, he may have e.cuniculi, so he's on drugs. Medicine, I mean! He's on Metacam to lube up his joints from the arthritis and he's on Panacur to get rid of the e.cuniculi, if he has it. If he doesn't, it won't hurt him.

Hops is getting old...

I'm bringing Hops to the vet today and leaving him for a few hours so that the vet can squeeze in seeing him between surgeries. My poor boy's getting older... Here's the letter I'm sending with him to the vet:

Hops' sister, Ariel (not biological), also had a back/leg condition where her back legs got progressively more paralyzed. It was diagnosed as e. cuniculi (it may be worth pulling her record). She had a stroke last February (to anyone's best guess) and probably another one in April '08. She died at the end of August at the age of 7 years, 8 months, give or take a month or 2. She also had arthritis, an enlarged heart and cataracts. Maybe Hops got her e. cuniculi?

Over the past few months (probably since February), Hops has been showing his age. He'll be 8 years old this August 1 (give or take a week or two). I've had him since he was about 6-8 weeks old, so I know his history. He is not neutered, but his sisters are all spayed. After Ariel's passing, he now lives with Ariel's biological twin, Kayla, and SweetPea, another adopted sister. He is free-roam and hasn't been caged since he was a baby, and then only at night.

At any rate, I thought it was just Hops getting older (and it probably is, maybe something like arthritis?). He's lost weight over the past year, even though he still eats well and devours his salad every night. He wasn't moving like he used to. He couldn't clean his ears with his back feet anymore, for instance. So I've been keeping an eye on that and cleaning them for him when I can. He was my acrobat – jumping higher and easier than I ever thought possible in such a small bun. Now he still wants to run and jump, but he can't. When he gets excited and tries to run, he falls over spectacularly, often rolling over. It'd be cute and funny if it wasn't sad. The problem isn't that he falls – the problem is that he can't get up when he does, which started Easter morning (three days ago).

Yesterday, I had him with me almost all day. He had some diarrhea issues (I think bc he couldn’t get to his water, food, hay and when I put him next to them, he was so confused about what was happening that he wasn't interested), so I was cleaning and bathing his bottom a lot, then wrapped him in a towel and made him chill out. I figured resting his legs may be a good thing. And I seem to have been right – he was standing upright from 5:00 p.m. until I went to bed about 1:00 a.m. When he hopped last night, his legs seemed straight again on his body – they've been a little crooked for the last month or so. He had fallen over by 3:00 a.m. Rest and a little cuddle seem to help. When I put him down again, he seems to be okay for a few minutes, at least. There were times Monday and Tuesday where I'd put him down and he'd immediately fall over again. His diarrhea stopped last night, when he had the bout of standing on his own. He seemed to drink lots of water, which no doubt helped with that. He didn't drink water when offered when he was falling over regularly.

Hops' disposition: Hops is the friendliest, happiest bunny on the planet, probably. He's always the one to come up strangers and is my ambassador when someone wants to hold one of my bunnies. He's calm and loves being petted and held (rare in bunnies, eh?). He's never been scared of anything in his whole life, but he's scared of this. I can see it in his eyes. When he keeps falling down, he has no idea why or what's going on. He just wants to go run and play and cuddle with his sisters. He's still happy when I cuddle with him.

Hops is a kisser. He'll bathe my face in kisses for 10 minutes at a time. But when he wants to play and I'm cutting his nails or cleaning him, he'll let me know with a VERY gentle nip of the teeth. He's usually good about that stuff, but when he wants down, he wants down now!!

I'd like to figure out what's going on and ease the pain he's feeling (he's crunching his teeth more in the past 3 days than he ever has in his life).

Ariel was on metacam to ease her joints and I sprinkled cosequin on her salads. I also used cosequin on Kayla's and Hops' salads, but have recently run low on it. Maybe those two meds will do the trick for Hops? I think probably an x-ray is needed to figure out if something else is wrong with his back? Also, any tips on how to keep his weight up would be appreciated. His pellets are all alfalfa-based now to add more calories. All the bunnies are free-fed pellets.

Thanks for helping us!

--Dana