Kiki was a grey continental giant doe born in 2016. She came to us in March 2018 because her owner was moving.She lived with Clyde in his big shed.
I am a bit concerned about her as since we vaccinated her she has been losing weight and looks to sometimes be short of breath. Breathing difficulties are common in giant rabbits as their chests are too small to allow for the size of heart and lungs that their big bodies really need. But she wasn’t showing any signs of trouble before the vaccination or I wouldn’t have risked giving it to her.
I didn’t vaccinate Clyde because he points his nose in the air whenever it gets warm in order to pull in enough air and his sister Bonnie died because her chest was so narrow that she just couldn’t breathe well enough to sustain herself as she grew. She also had deformed hindlegs and possibly other more hidden problems which I suspect were due to inbreeding. It just isn’t a good idea to breed creatures to be so far from the way the species evolved.
Kiki continues to have a lot of health problems but is very happy because we now give the Giants free run of the main Sanctuary when it is dry. She wasn’t very active but she loves choosing different places to sit and has done a good job of keeping our somewhat overgrown garden in check. She has been so thorough with her weeding that I doubt we will ever see another pesky primrose! :~
