Last Updated: 10/28/05

We bought Loppy on 6/30/91 at the age of about two months. We got him just three days after Ellie died. He was born underground in a colony of rabbits of mixed breeds. He was probably inbred. I do not approve of such setups. If someone must have rabbits in colonies, they should ALL be spayed/neutered, and the cage must be completely secured. This one had no cover. Loppy looked like a white and gray (Siamese pattern) Holland lop. I was sure Loppy was female (I wanted another girl). When we brought him to visit the rabbit judge, he asked which sex I thought he was. I said doe. He said, "Not today he ain't!" That still makes me laugh. Loppy became obviously, all buck. Loppy moved into Ellie's old room. After Ricky died, he moved into her larger room. Then, when I got Izzy (below), he went back to the small cage again.

Somewhere, from Ellie's room (even though bleach washed), his parents, or from nearby wild rabbits four feet below him, he picked up pasteurella. For over five years, he showed no signs of pasteurella. In early 1997, he underwent surgery to remove a growth on his cheek. It was tested and shown to be full of pasteurella cells and dead skin. The abscesses continued to recur until the Fall of 1997. Loppy was on Baytril twice a day from the time of the operation until his death on 1/9/98. To add to these problems, he did not eat his hay and thus produced a lot of messy feces that stuck to his rear. I had to scrape his cage out often. Loppy was bathed every 5 weeks with bunny shampoo. Most rabbits should not be bathed but Loppy's genitals were so caked in feces that you could not tell that he was a male. He had urine burn on his testes too. He loved his baths.

Despite the medical problems, he was living fat and happy with this horrible pasteurella that would not go away (see my pasteurella page for more information on pasteurella). Slowly, he lost his ability to maneuver (he had not been able to bend over for years since he was overweight, but now he could not walk straight either and fell over a lot). During the last two days of his life, he went from being able to scoot in a circle to not being able to move at all. I believe the pasteurella spread to his brain or another vital organ. He was not off of food and water for more than 24 hours before his death so that I can only guess what actually killed him. I saw him about an hour before he died. I said, "Mommy loves you. It's okay to die now. Goodbye my boy." He tried to lift his big head and made a soft grunt goodbye. He was always a sweetie.

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