The life of CoCo Puff the Puff Ball

I decided to start a blog about my gorgeous 8month old Sooty Fawn Mini Lop - Coco puff who is disabled. Hopefully puff balls story will beable to help other disabled bunnies out there.

Coco was one of my accidental litters. Darcy & Sassy mated before I took Darcy to get the snip and along came 2 beautiful babies. I knew Sassy was pregnant so allowed her and Darcy to hang out during the day in the garden, little did I know sassy gave birth before the date I expected and the morning she gave birth her and Darcy were at it again!!! Then along came Alfie Tine & Coco puff!

Our bunnies are free ranging bunnies that come in side when they want and to sleep. We have 3 Pomeranians and the bunnies and dogs get along like a house on fire- the buns chase the birds away & the dogs are always on cat watch. I was able to rehome Harry & Snowy from the litter before together to a free ranging house bunny home & I still keep in contact with their owner Melissa & are the happiest bunnies as she always sends me pictures of them up to no good which I love! Snowy & Harry stole the cats chair, follow the car around the house & steal bananas out of the fruit bowl! Here is a picture if Harry and snowy as tiny babes at my house



And this is Harry



And this is snowy




This is all of my bunnies mother- Sassy McRabby who is a Blue Mini Lop



And this is their dad Darcy McRabby is a REW Mini Lop

She also had a black Mini lop babe called Buzz U Da Man. He absolutely stole my heart! He came along when I was 4 weeks away from giving birth to my daughter, sassy had just fallen pregnant with her next litter so I spent alot of time with Buzz the days before she gave birth so he wouldn't take the milk and colostrum from the new babes- he spent all day with his mum and slept next to me & my husbands bed at night. He would raid the fridge if you left it open, follow me around the house, and fall asleep in my top! Buzz and Sassy passed away with 3 days of eachother from suspected bloat from new grass! I was absolutely devastated and it took a while for me to stop crying at the thought of them.

Here are some pictures of Buzz U Da Man





Buzz as a tiny babe- his sibling died at 3days old



Buss having some Mummas milk



Buzz and snowy

Sassy, Buzz, Harry & Snowy eating their veg







And one last one of a pregnant Sassy with Alfie & Coco inside

So now back to Coco Puff. She was born the cutest little button nose babe, she was a little smaller than Alfie but everyone who saw her thought she was the cutest baby bun they had seen.









Her and Alfie are joined at the hip & he loves his sister so much, always grooming her ears & eyes, legs & body. Even when he is out raiding my vege patch he always pops back to check on his sister. Her Dad Darcy is the same, grooming her etc but I guess the bond with brother & sister bunnies huddled together in the nest & growing up together is the little bit stronger.

So back to Coco Puff. She was born a very healthy baby & when she was big enough and walking she was aloud to hanging out in the bunny play world with her brother, mum & dad ( by now he had the snip much to Sassy's disgrace!). When they were babies Sassy still like her routine if going out during the day, she would feed her babes in the early hours of the morning, pull more fur & cover her nest & would wait to be let out for the day. At the start I worried about the babes but then when I looked into it more i found it was the natural instincts of the Mumma rabbit to protect from predators by keeping her scent away plus I think she new i would look after them as she has no problem with my scent being over them especially since I would handle them & health check them everyday.

Anyway back to Coco ( I keep getting side tracked!) So she was old enough to go in the bunny world & one day when I just happened to walk past our shed I saw her slip off a box that lost its padding! I picked her up and popped her back in the night cage she shared with mum and brother. I wasn't till she was 2months old that I started to notice she was very wobbly in her back end and would tip to her left slightly then hop off! Then by 3nonths she was doing a binky, did a little twist & ended up sideways with her legs out! We found out she had a dislocated hip & a fractured pelvis which was healed and the vet said it was all in line with her falling off he box young & the twist may have done her hip or pelvis he wasn't sure! She was on Metacam & was told to keep her on rest for the next 2weeks.

I started Equissaging her & giving her homeopathics & they worked wonders. I was able to pop her in a sitting position and get her to hop once forwards. After 1 month she went backwards again so I took her back to the vet. She has some nerve damage but still able to more her right leg well but the left leg was delayed hinting a nerve in the hip wasn't working properly! I was devastated that the chance of her hoping again was very minimal!

This is Coco Puff

Coco puff is a happy loving little girl. She looooves her food but can only have dandelions, Puha, naturalism, clover & eye grass. She has a sensitive digestive tract which sassy seemed to pass down to the colored babes she had. I didn't realise how extreme it was untill her & Buzz died of bloat! I now have the simethicone, Metacam & syringe food all prepared for a case of GI Stassis so I guess that was the only good thing for me to learn out of them dying as Darcy is a very sensitive boy and has had Stassis 2x but I was onto it before it got bad, something I regret not knowing before!! Anyways puff ball is happy, she has her boys that she sleeps with and that is one of her Favourite things she looks forward to. Here they are before going out for the day







And this is the boys snoozing whole Coco gets her morning groom and massage. Darcy is at the far end and Alfie is the closest



This is Alfie following me around sniffing and nose bumping the camera

So these are all the things I may need to use for Coco which i do twice a day



I have my homeopathics which I use for her when symptoms arise eg: she get a watery eye on her left so I give her Euphrasia eye drops twice in her eye. Arnica after she goes in her cart as her body isn't use to it and could feel sore after. I have an I jury remedy which I used heaps after her accident. It has symphytum for bones repair, Rhuta Grav & Rhus Tox for everything to do with muscle health, Arnica & Rescue Remedy just to keep her calm, comfortable & Secure. Hypericum for nerve damage + a 1ml & 10ml syringe. Plus a homeobotanical blend for health, vitality & organ health.



This is the Equissage massage machine. I bought one for my Eventing horses & am so glad I can use it for Coco as it is amazing! It releases tension in the muscles & body, drains the lymphatic system, and help relieve itching she may have. This has also been amazing for bladder control so she doesn't wee all over herself & I can express her bladder with it too. It is made by a company called Niagra who make special cycloidall vibration beds for bed ridden people.



This is my grooming stuff that I use twice a day. A natural fibre baby brush that's her Favourite and two fine tooth combs for Matt prevention & getting out loose coat. Baby wipes for spot cleaning and a stethoscope to check gut sounds as she has a sensitive digestive tract & can sometimes be gurgly



Vaseline for just near her bits and pieces as they can get abit red & chaffing from scooting along. Antibacterial hand sanitizer for when I scratch her ears for her & colloidal silver that I can apply or give her orally as its one of the only liquids that can kill 100% bacteria & safe to take orally.

Here are some more photos of Coco grooming me while I groom her & Equissage her

Here are more of Coco and I grooming and Equissaging







Here are a couple of pictures of my bunnies play world





Here is Coco and her teddies

Cocos little nook were she likes to hang out when the boys are off for the day in the backyard

This is Cocos cart that I made. We don't have those mini PVC pipes do I used a piece of wood Dowling & reticulation connectors + a sponge mattress comforter & mini tyres with rubber tread that can go on all surfaces. I'm taking it with me to Cocos vet appointment on Thursday just to double check its not going to cause any troubles to her. It's my third cart I have made so is an improved version that is specific to her so fingers crossed it all good!

**SRonchi1 said:

She also had a black Mini lop babe called Buzz U Da Man. He absolutely stole my heart! He came along when I was 4 weeks away from giving birth to my daughter, sassy had just fallen pregnant with her next litter so I spent alot of time with Buzz the days before she gave birth so he wouldn't take the milk and colostrum from the new babes- he spent all day with his mum and slept next to me & my husbands bed at night. He would raid the fridge if you left it open, follow me around the house, and fall asleep in my top! Buzz and Sassy passed away with 3 days of eachother from suspected bloat from new grass! I was absolutely devastated and it took a while for me to stop crying at the thought of them.

Here are some pictures of Buzz U Da Man

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Buzz as a tiny babe- his sibling died at 3days old

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Buss having some Mummas milk

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Buzz and snowy

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Buzz was a cutie!!!

Oh, I'm so glad you shared Coco's story with us! It looks like she takes great comfort in having her brother and dad to snuggle with. She also seems to have a really close bond with you. Remembering what you wrote on your other thread, I think she has a wonderful quality of life and seems very content and happy despite her disability. Can't wait to hear more about her and your other buns

She is so adorable!!!! You are so lucky to have her no matter what. I just love the pic of her in the hat!!! That is classic!
What a beautiful girl!!!!

Vanessa

Alot of the things that you have for her with the grooming reminds me of the things I had for my mom after she was paralyzed that we would have to do daily for her... so when I was looking at the pictures it brought back some memories.. and to me it wasn't a chore to do any of these things for my mom.. it was something I wanted to do because I loved her and I'm sure it's exactly the same feeling you have for little Puff! She is so extremely lucky to have someone like you take care of her that is taking it seriously and knows what she needs and is giving it to her. She is truly blessed to have you in her life!

Vanessa

CoCo Puff is adorable! You can tell she is a happy, well-loved & cared for bunny! Thank you so much for sharing her story & for being a wonderful, loving caregiver as well! Quality of life is more about the love & care given by others than simply living! With you CoCo Puff has a wonderful life & is not either relegated to living in a little cage with some food & water only existence or simply put down because she is less than perfect in other's eyes. Big bunny hugs to the both of you!

Oh, what a lovely little bun!!

She's so lucky to have such a wonderful and caring home. She definitely seems happy despite her disabilities, and I'm sure that's largely because she receives such dedicated care from you. Looking forward to reading more about her! I hope the cart goes well!

What a lovely story and how I have enjoyed getting to know CoCo puff. I agree it's not only the life you lead but who holds your hand along the way. She is a very lucky girl to have so many hand holders and to have you to care for her and to attend to her special needs every day of her life. Love seeing her with her brother and dad who are there to make sure she looks gorgeous and to give her special snuggles.

I look forward to following this brave lady and hope things go well with the new cart, it is fab.

Thankyou Lovelops, Buzz was such a little hunni & I do still miss him but walk past his grave under the tree with his mum every day so he is still with us. Yes looking after my disabled Puff Ball isn't a chore for me at all, I enjoy knowing she is groomed, scratched & feeling good before I put her out for the day or put her to bed at night. She is such a beautiful little soul & I couldn't imagine my life without her. That's so lovely hearing about you mum that is paralyzed and how you look after her- You are such an amazing daughter to her & I know she would appreciate and adore everything you do for her. I am blessed to have Coco in my life, she is full Of Character, is such a loving wee girl that makes me laugh & smile And I especially love her picture with the cow boy hat on x

Thank you Jenny, She loves her boys and I'm so thankful that they are there for her. When their mum died Darcy was heart broken, Molted for 2 months so bad that his poo was strung together & from being stressed he got a little fright from a big dog next door & went into GI Stassis! Loosing his girl was hard for him & I let him lay with her body for 10minutes and I swear he was angry at me as she smelt like me from dying in my arms! So to have Alfie & Coco that smelt exactly like her enabled them to bond straight away & then Darcy took their mums place and they would snuggle up to him at night on his big pillow. Watching them all loving eachother, grooming & laying all over eachother puts the biggest smile on my face & keeps pushing me to get puff ball better x

Thankyou Tauntz for your lovely works. I make sure her life is fun and full of exciting things. It breaks my heart to think of bunnies on tin hutches with minimal interaction & let alone a disabled bun lying in their own pee & poo with pressure sores etc. because of all the time I spend with her her bun is nice and hairy with no urine scald, her coat is soft & shiny, her ears wax free & eyes clear & clean & she smells like a clean bunny I still have to butt bath her and spot clean her every few days but bunnies like to be clean & I know she is so much happier clean + the boys might not want to hang near her if she smells! I also have to feed her her cecals every morning as she can't reach them which is funny to watch her gobble up her stinky grapes

Thanks Chris for your lovely words once again xx The boys do keep her looking gorgeous, they groom her whole body, stomach, bum, legs, ears, eyes & back it's so lovely to watch. As soon as the are all put to bed the first thing the boys do is groom puff ball and she loves it & grooms the boys faces when they are all lying together- it's lovely to hear all the teeth putting from the groom fest x