Poor Floppy has gone to the big carrot patch in the sky

Regular readers might remember Floppy the rabbit. As a very quick refresher, my son’s girlfriend talked him into buying a wee rabbit because she had one (it too has since gone to the big carrot patch in the sky). This black and white bunny has been part of the scene here at my house now since about last Xmas. I can’t recall when Floppy actually turned up but I am pretty sure it was just after last Xmas.

Well yesterday Floppy left us. He got very suddenly poorly Thursday evening and my son’s girlfriend and my wife took him off to the vet. The vet’s view was heat stress but this never got any traction with me. When I came home from site on Thursday he was full of life and jumping around. About an hour later when my wife said to let him out for a run and I went to his house to open the door he was on his side and looking seriously ill.

Anyway the vet kept Floppy overnight because he was dehydrated and had a temperature. My wife went and picked him up about one o’clock Friday. Even when she turned up back at home with him he looked like a bunny about to expire. He was limp and lifeless.

Well about two hours later he took his last breath. I was the only one in the house at the time and I watched helpless as Floppy convulsed heavily, made two or three uncontrolled leaps across his house, and then passed. About the only thing I could think of to do was talk to him so maybe, just maybe, he felt a tiny bit of comfort as his light went out.

Following are some of the last pictures I have of Floppy. In the first two he is plumb wore out after doing some serious rabbit hole digging in the moist ground between my veranda paving and the retaining wall.

Sorry Floppy. Sorry we could not save you.

He is buried out under the ‘council’ tree in the back yard now.

I am 95 percent sure he actually died from a Red Back spider bite. As a young’un I saw a dog die from Red Back spider bit on a farm and it sure looked a lot the same. And he went from 100 percent bright and healthy to very sick in less than an hour. Doesn’t smell like heat stress to me. But then . . .

If you are interested in my earlier pictures of Floppy you can find that posting here.