THE BABIES' JOURNEY

On September 4th, 2008, a litter of nine domestic baby rabbits arrived at the rescue, orphaned by their mother and unwanted by their owners. They were estimated to be 4 days old and were said to be half-Flemish Giant.

On that same night, two babies passed away, while the others adjusted to being hand fed by humans. Their weights upon arrival ranged from 50-68 grams. Unfortunately, their weights barely changed over the following 5 days until an amazing breakthrough where they each gained significantly and ranged from 66-82 grams. From that point onwards, there was no stopping the remaining 7 babies! On September 10, one sandy coloured baby (then appearing a speckled black) named De Niro, opened his eyes and saw the world for the first time, followed closely by Fawkes (grey), Gemma (fawn with subtle harlequin markings), Tyra (sandy), Clover (sandy) and Big Kahuna (fawn) on September 11 and Maestro (light fawn) on September 12. By September 12, Big Kahuna weighed a whopping 100 grams!

On September 15, Big Kahuna injured his leg from unknown causes and was closely monitored. However, his weight did not increase significantly (from 120 grams) over the following 2 days. Maestro was also having great difficulty and after having opened her eyes, had ceased developing or gaining weight. She struggled for some time with enteritis (treatment being unsuccessful) before passing away at approximately 7:30pm on September 17. Big Kahuna also continued to struggle and his weight fluctuated slightly between the 17th and the 21st. Although his weight was not increasing, his spirits seemed to be improving until he suddenly passed away during the night of September 21 of unclear causes. Fawkes had begun to display strange symptoms at this time as well. He ceased gaining weight abruptly and was visibly passing hair in his stool. He frequently declined his formula feedings and became weaker and weaker. With the aid of belly rubs and miniscule proportions of Petromalt, he was succesfully passing much of the hair through his system. Unfortunately, despite these small improvements, Fawkes sadly passed away at 11:00pm on September 23.

In the early morning hours of December 5, Tyra developed sudden mucoid enteritis. Despite veterinary intervention (including subcutaneous fluids and medication), Tyra did not improve and passed away at 5:00pm that day. She was just over 3 months old. Tyra is missed greatly by her caregivers. She was a dear rabbit who brought a smile to everyone's face.

Only the final three remained: De Niro, Gemma and Clover.