Mayfly R17/10

Mayfly R17/10

Mayfly with us 2010-2021

Mayfly was a very fluffy black lionhead doe. She came to us in May 2010 when she was a year old because her owner was having problems and wasn’t looking after her. She was a dreadful matted mess and was thin and frightened. I had to cut the matts off and shave her bottom.

She is still nervous of people but not as much as she used to be. In fact she has recently become a far happier rabbit and I have even seen her binky. Being older clearly suits her, she is nine now. But I have seen this before. Some rabbits seem to get a second wind at this age! She lived with Poplar and Birch for years and now lives with Poplar and Sid. She has been rather fat for years which I can’t do anything about as Polar and Birch and now Sid are on the thin side and couldn’t/can’t have their intake restricted so she needs a close eye kept on her bottom as it is prone to get mucky as her belly gets in the way of her cleaning it herself. I keep it well trimmed so the mess has nothing to stick to. It is very important to keep rabbits clean and dry due to risk of flystrike. The rest of her coat needs a lot of attention too.

Since both Poplar and Silver Birch died she and Sid were bonded with Ginger Tom. Then old Sid died. Now she and Tom are living in an enclosure instead of a shed with a bigger run.

Mayfly has now been here for longer than anybun else. She is completely blind and for some reason refuses to hop on the slabs in front of her hutch and so has to be lifted across onto the hay on the other side of her run where she ambles about perfectly well. It isn’t a mobility problem but an idiosyncrasy. That run has a canopy so she doesn’t get wet if she is caught out in a shower. She now lives with Ted who is a bit puzzled by her strange behaviour but is happy enough to snuggle up to his fluffy hot bottlebun when it is cold outside.

Mayfly passed away suddenly in August 2021 at the age of twelve having been with us for eleven years. She had been in remarkably good body condition for her age and it came as quite a surprise despite her age. She had been completely blind for several years and reluctant to walk on paving slabs but in the week before she died she actually came out more than she had for a while and seemed to be enjoying sitting out in her run, possibly because we had just put she and Ted back into a shed where she had lived when she was younger and it felt very familiar and safe and possibly because she sensed that she needed to make the best use of her remaining time. Whichever it was I am glad she had that good final week. Run free old girl!