Our beautiful, sweet little bunny, Fawn has passed away.  It is very difficult for us to accept he is gone.  At only 3 years of age we were not ready to say goodbye to our bouncy little chap.

We had begun to suspect there was something wrong with Fawn, when his appearance started to change.  At first we just thought he was molting, as his fur looked a little unkempt.  Then we noticed his energy levels had dropped slightly, it was very slow at first, he just didn’t seem quite his usual bouncy self.  He would come and see us in our home office in the morning as normal and then he’d spend all day asleep.  His interest in playing with the cats had also waned.  The real shock came when we realised he had also lost some weight.  We booked him an appointment to see a vet the next day.

The vet suggested that Fawn’s problem could be worms, and gave us some worming paste for him.  We have had no experience with worms in any of our previous bunnies, and were glad the vet had diagnosed something quite simple and treatable.  We also got Fawn’s teeth checked, he has a history of dental problems and although he still seemed to be eating okay, it seemed best to ask.  The vet felt that Fawn’s teeth did need treating again, and so we booked him in for a dental the following week.  If neither of these two treatments helped we’d then move on to more serious tests for Fawn.

Throughout the week waiting for Fawn’s operation we became more concerned for our little bunny.  He was still acting happy enough, but we both had this feeling that felt there was something seriously wrong with Fawn.

The day of Fawn’s dental arrived and we weren’t happy at the thought of our little bunny undergoing an anaesthetic while he was so poorly.  We took Fawn to the vets and voiced our concerns for our poor little bunny.  The veterinary nurse checked with the on-call vet and he confirmed Fawn was in need of a dental.

Derek and I still had an uneasy feeling about leaving Fawn, but we did, as not treating his teeth would only make Fawns problems worse.  Two hours later we got the terrible call that Fawn had passed away.  We were told that his surgery hadn’t even begun and that they had only just started to give him the anaesthetic.

It was absolutely devastating news for us.  Even though both Derek and I were sure there was something dreadfully wrong with our beautiful bunny, we were in no way prepared to loose him.

Life is going to be very different without Fawn in our lives.  We work from home and Fawn running around our home office, kicking his legs and wobbling his head was a daily occurrence, one that we are going to miss everyday.

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We were really pleased that Fawn and our new little cat, Inkie had become such firm friends and I’m absolutely thrilled to say that Fawn was doubly excited to meet Cubbie.

Inkie was still a kitten when she joined our family from the RSPCA, but Cubbie was fully grown and he is a big cat.  When we first met Cubbie at the homing centre, we knew he was a big softy, but that didn’t mean Fawn would like him.  Despite having to deal with Inkie’s crazy games and having to put her in her place Fawn was thrilled to meet Cubbie.  I can’t really say the feeling is mutual though, as Cubbie doesn’t seem to know what to make of Fawn and kind of stares at him blankly.  This doesn’t stop Fawn who follows his new friend around everywhere.  This is helped by the fact Cubbie is really shy and timid and only comes downstairs when we feed him.  So Fawn and Cubbie get to spend a lot of time together.

It’s really great to see Fawn with his new friends. We do worry about him being on his own – as our grumpy bunny Fern won’t be Fawn’s friend.  But now things have worked out really well and we will often see Cubbie run across the landing, followed by Inkie and then Fawn, kicking his little feet up with excitement.

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Our little kitten, Inkie, joined our family a few weeks ago.  Although Fawn was friends with both our previous cats, Treacle and Custard, Derek and I were a bit worried that a boisterous kitten might be a bit much for him.  We needn’t have worried.

Fawn thinks Inkie is wonderful, we’ve never seen him so happy and bouncy.  She harasses him while he eats, chases him and even tries to wallop him when he passes, and Fawn loves it!  He really does.  And if he doesn’t appreciate Inkie’s attentions, he turns on her and chases her off – it’s pretty wonderful to see.

Bunnies look like such sweet little animals, but they know what they like and they are not afraid to stand up for themselves, that’s what makes them so special.

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Fawn and Treacle have become such good friends, they are like an old married couple!  It is all a bit daft really, we have two bunnies that won’t get along, but both want to be friends with our cat, Treacle.

Poor Treacle is quite old now, and Fawn gets very excited when Treacle is around, but Treacle just wants to sleep.

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Treacle and Fawn

After the death of his brother, Custard, our other cat, Treacle had started coming upstairs more and of course Fawn was waiting for him.  Fawn really loved spending time with Custard and had missed him terribly when he died, so it’s been great for Fawn to find a new feline friend.

Treacle wasn’t too sure when Fawn first came bounding up to him to say hello, but Fawn is not one to be deterred and he takes every opportunity to spend time with Treacle.  We are aware that Fawn’s love of our cats means he may be a little lonely, but unless he and Fern sort our their differences and make friends then there is not much we can do about it, but we will keep on trying to get them together.

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The story ‘First Snow‘ was inspired by Fern and her first encounter with snow, although the snowfall Fern experienced at the time was only a very light dusting and nothing at all like the snowfall that Fifi encountered in the story.  All that changed this past week when Fern really did get to find out what snow is like.

The part of England we live in gets very little snow, usually only a light covering which may last a day and then quickly melts.  This year was very different and we got 8 inches of snow falling in one night and it lasted the whole week, although by Christmas Day the snow was more packed-down ice than snow.

Fern was not very impressed with the snow at first

Fern is usually a very brave bunny, getting into all kinds of bunny mischief and when we woke up to a wonderful white blanket of snow last Friday morning; we thought Fern would be very excited and ready for an adventure.  We were wrong!

As always, Fern spent the night in the house and Derek put her outside in her run she seemed happy enough, but when he opened the door to let her come out and play she was not impressed.  The snow had been slightly trampled down outside her bunny door, by the door opening and Derek standing on it, even so Fern was not convinced.  Derek was standing at the side of Fern’s run, sorting out a plant that had been damaged by the weight of the snow, but Fern would not even look out of her bunny door.  Instead she sat in a corner looking a little shocked at all the whiteness around her.

All that day Fern would not leave her run, even though we were sitting outside with her, as we always do come rain or shine.  I admit I was a bit worried by her reaction, as Fern can be a bit of a handful and I wasn’t sure how she’d cope with not running around every day.  I needn’t have worried.

The next morning Derek took Fern out again and opened her bunny door for her.  This time she hopped out of her run, looked at the snow and hopped straight back in!  Not a great reaction, but it was an improvement.  Luckily, later that morning when we went out to see her she was obviously feeling a little more adventurous and came hopping out of her run across the lawn, although she did stay in the tracks Derek had made getting to her run.

Fern eating one of the many berrys that had been knocked out of our tree by the snow

Fern’s confidence with the deep snow continued to grow, until she was bouncing around in the snow, doing bunny binkies and laps around the garden.  It was lovely to watch her, though we were a bit cold standing around in the back garden.

Unfortunately the down side to Fern’s new love of the snow was the plants in our garden suffered.  Fern didn’t seem to appreciate that the snow had raised the ground level and weighed the plants down, so they were in her way.  Our sweet little bunny Fern went on a chomping spree, lopping off whole branches of shrubs and then trampling them into the snow.  Even though she can be a very naughty bunny it is hard to be cross with her.

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Fawn exploring the garden

Fern and Fawn may carry on like they hate each other, well its actually Fern who terrorises Fawn, but the end result is the same, they don’t get on.

Not to be deterred, Derek and I are persevering and trying to get the two used to each other.  Summer is here and we are taking full advantage of it.  The biggest problem we have with our two bunnies is Fern likes to be outside during the day, and gets very cross if we bring her in before bedtime – and then when we do bring her in at night only wants to go to bed.  So actually getting the two bunnies together has been a problem.

Fern and Fawn

With the warm weather we have been able to take Fawn outside.  We bought him a metal bunny run, that is made up of metal sections that clip together to make an pentagon.  This keeps him safe from Fern, but they can sniff each other.  Fern does try to bite Fawn though the bars, but she can’t really get to him.  When Fern has had enough she goes back in her run, of her own accord, and we’ll shut her in and let Fawn out to play.  This works out really well.  Unfortunately we got over confident and let the two bunnies out at the same time and Fern went nuts, as usual, leaving Fawn upset.

The summer is nearly over now and we are no closer to getting the bunnies together.  I don’t think it will be fair on Fawn to drag him outside in the cold weather, as he is very much a soft, cuddly, house bunny, boy.

I guess all we can do is wait until next year and try again.  Who knows maybe Fern will have mellowed a bit more by then, we can only hope.

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Fern enjoying her new lawn

Ever since we moved into our house, about 4 years ago, the lawn has been in a sorry state.  We’ve tried a few things to make it healthier and greener, but the moss was winning.  Now Fern’s living on it and we walk on it everyday, it’s has been getting worse.

So, we decided to treat Fern and ourselves and get some nice new grass.  The lad we picked to do the work was very sweet.  In fact his girlfriend works as a veterinary nurse at our vets, so not only was he sympathetic to our concerns about how the work would affect Fern, he also knew about our other critters.  Some of the other people we had out for quotes weren’t very good with Fern and some actually lent on her run to make notes, which she was not happy about.

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This story was inspired by our bunny, Fern, and her first experiences with snow.

The air felt oddly cool as Fifi made her way to the front door of her family’s warren. It wasn’t a horrible soggy cold, like when it rained. No this was a dry crisp cold. Fifi twitched her nose and blinked as the chill tickled her nostrils and made her sneeze.

She thought about going back down to her family and getting her brother Fawn to come out with her, but thought better of it. Fawn would never let her live it down. He would tease her for being a silly girl and tell all the other boys and they would laugh at her. It was bad enough being called Fifi, without giving the boys something else to tease her about. On top of that Fifi’s mum and dad called each years litter the next letter of the alphabet, so Fifi and her brothers and sisters all had names beginning with F. All the other bunny families that lived in daisy meadow thought it was a bit odd. Fifi sighed to herself, as strange as her parents were she did love them and knew she was one of the luckiest bunnies in the whole meadow.

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I’ve been getting a bit concerned that Fawn was bored and lonely. Our cat Custard, who fawn spent a lot of time with, passed away last month and I think Fawn has been missing him. Both Derek and I work from home, so we get to spend a lot of time with Fawn, but we had noticed that he wasn’t spending as much time with us in the office as he used to. Instead we would often find him under our bed asleep or huddled in a corner of his room. He hadn’t been playing with his bunny toys as much either and it was worrying me.

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