It was only a matter of time before I introduced Duchess to this side of the web. I suppose I should introduce myself, and Duchess, of course.
We live here in the south of the U.S of A, Louisiana to be exact, where the summers are hot, the food is good, and the people are pretty friendly.
About 6 years ago I started taking care of my first two bunnies, Maisy and Daisy. I only lost them this year, and I still miss them both very much. They were very special bunnies, they both had great attitudes and they taught me a lot. Maisy was the princess, very sassy and would let you know if you were in the way (or not) and she had a great passion for food. Daisy was very sweet, and would give just about anyone bunny kisses and loved to be cuddled (most of the time). I started taking holiday "card" pictures of them about when they were 4 years old, and I continued it with both of them until they passed away. Now I take them with Duchess. Maisy&Daisy were very laid back and it took a lot to get them upset, and they were great for photo shoots, as they would just sit there and look cute. Most of the time. Sometimes one of them would decide that the card need a little "action".
Daisy left, Maisy right
Maisy (Left) and Daisy's (Right) 5th Birthday card
In January of 2011 Maisy started to decline rapidly, she had lost a lot of weight and was looking poorly, she still ate and tried her best to act normal (as most sick bunnies do). We took her to the vet and we thought it was just a bad case of worms, until two days later she became even worse and had a hard time breathing. We brought her to the vet the following Wednesday (The first appointment was Friday) and we discovered that she had an enlarged heart. As soon as I heard the news I immediately knew that this wasn't going to be "an easy fix". She passed away in my arms that Friday.
Now there was just Daisy. I still continued the cards and pampered her, she was totally fine after Maisy passed, I honestly think she knew before we did that Maisy wasn't going to make it. For the next 4 months she was an only bunny, and she definitely didn't mind it being that way, but I of course had to fill that extra bunny slot.
I am always checking Magic Happens Rabbit Rescues twitter feed/facebook page to see the new adoptables (Come on, who doesn't?) and I saw that they needed foster homes as they were accepting 8 bunnies from the 77 rabbit rescue in Fort Myers Florida. The posts also said that they were going to be getting in mini rexes (<--Magic word) so that immediately peaked my interest. I kept telling myself "No, you DO NOT need another bunny. Daisy is happy." but, I kept checking and pretty soon the bunnies came in and they posted pictures of them. I then proceeded to give in and send in an email saying I would LOVE to foster a mini rex bunny, first choice would be ___ , second would be Brownie. Well the first bunny I had chosen (A tri color mini rex) was taken, but Brownie was available. I took it as fate and said that'd be fine and we started working on a meeting date after she was spayed.
On May 14 at Rabbit 101 in Slidell, I met Brownie. She was timid at first, but she started growing on me and my Mom who had come with me (she's a sucker for Mini rexes too). We had stopped by a relatives house on the way back to give the bunnies (Daisy was with us) a small break from the car and to visit with said relative. Nothing extraordinary happened, but we sort of let the two bunnies meet (with no ill results) and got to visit with Brownie a bit before hopping back in the car to head home.
As soon as I got home, I brought her out in the back where there's a giant rabbit run and a hutch for them to shelter in while they're out there, and set the carrier down to let her out. At first she didn't come out, but she eventually did. She was nosing the grass with curiosity and slowly hopping around, and nibbling at the grass with apparent delight. Not too long after that, she was running around and binkying. I found out later that that was the first time she had felt and ate grass. In her previous life, she lived in a wire cage and ate pellets. No hay (Which she absolutely LOVES now), no toys, no attention.
"Wheeee!"
Checking out the grass
Meanwhile, Daisy was slowly declining. We kept bringing her to the vet, but other than a bout of worms, they couldn't find anything. On July 17 we adopted Duchess, even though she and Daisy still weren't bonded (They were at an Ok point and we had hopes they would eventuallypellets to keep her weight up. On August 30 we brought Daisy to the vet, she was having serious issues moving around, she was still eating and doing her best to act normal, but she simply couldn't. It broke my heart to see her that way, as she was once my little binky champion. The vet definitely wanted to keep her overnight, so I left her with her blanket and left, I thought she would pull through, she was still eating and her attitude was still fairly good. The next morning she passed away. I couldn't believe it. I still feel awful that she was left alone there. We brought her home the next day and buried her beside Maisy.
So thats where we are now. Duchess is my only bun, and she has been a joy to have around. She is the best thing that could happen to me after losing my two bunny girls.
Duchess is always thumping for attention, especially if you're slow with pellets (which are considered her treat), and she loves having her head scratched.
You can see tonz of pictures of her on her Bunspace page and see her in action on her YouTube Channel, DuchessBunny14. Another thing that Duchess is involved in, is modeling. Yes, modeling. She has been great with helping me create bunny figurines (All proceeds go towards Duchess). I make clay bunnies and paint them to look like customers rabbits. I started doing it in July to help pay for Daisy's vet bills, but since Daisy has passed on, I've been using the proceeds for Duchess's vet bills and other expenses.
Right now she is featured on Disapproving Rabbits and you can also see her on The Daily Bunny.
I'm sure I'll be on in a day or two typing all the latest Duchess doings, she is a very active bunny and I still have stories to tell. I assure you, the next posts won't be as long as this one...I hope. To all those who read this entire blog....Thanks for reading =)
For now I will just post my favorite video of her:
Until next post...
Duchess's Slave
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