Trust me, I didn’t know that either. And so they were named. They were doing fine Monday night and Tuesday.

When I went to school on Wednesday, I got an alarming text from my mom saying, “your bunny is dying :(“ while I was in my first class. Of course I panicked and couldn’t concentrate on the lesson. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. And when I did, I walked to Arki instead of taking the jeep. Bum was being brought to vet because he could no longer move.

I talked to the vet. She said that he was 50-50. He was still a baby (both of them were) and they shouldn’t have been taken away from their mom. What we thought was his lack of energy to hop around because he was either fat or lazy was only proven wrong when the doctor said he was severely dehydrated. I’d think my friends would have provided them with water and so did we. The doctor said he was probably dehydrated even before we got him. This brings me to BioResearch which is where my Arki friends got the bunnies. But I’ll talk about that later.

The doctor told me that Bum was practically hopeless. That in itself brought me to tears. She asked if I wanted to just let him be or give him food supplements. Although she already warned me that his chances of surviving even with the medicine were slim to none. She said if he were bigger, she could give him a dextrose but he was still too small. I told her to still try- whatever she could do to try to save him. I constantly called the helper and driver to check on what was happening. Not much signs of hope.

About an hour later, I got the news that he already passed away. Of course I was delirious. I cried, and cried. But I eventually stopped. I suppose I don’t expect everyone to understand how I got so attached to him even if he barely spent a few days with me.

And so we move on. One bunny left.

Preen was the more lively of the pair. She’d hop around all day- and sometimes even at night. When she was alone, I put her back in the aquarium to sleep in at night and I put an old towel as her bedding to help keep her warm. I was startled when she hopped out of the glass aquarium! Then, I had to put her in Sophie’s, the Guinea Pig’s, old cage to spend the night. She was her usual jumpy self until Friday night. She then became less energetic.

I thought at first that it was maybe just because she was tired from jumping around all the time or maybe she was sleepy. Saturday morning, I discovered that her poop was wet. Bunny poop is supposed to be in pellets. Again, she still wasn’t as lively.

We had to go to Ateneo then for Brix’s Kite Flying Day which was an alternative for family day for the 3rd grade. It was fun but the skies were cloudy and it drizzled for a while. After that, there was barely any wind left. They had a lot of food stalls and even celebrity guests, but anyway, this is besides the point.

Being the family of couch potatoes that we are, we left the celebration early. Brix would rather play with his DS Lite on the site that try to fly a kite. Although Migs and I were able to fly a kite earlier on. We went home at around 4pm.

When I got home, the first thing I did was to check on Preen. She wasn’t moving anymore. This alarmed me and all I could think of was what happened to Bum. Only, instead of lying on her tummy like Bum did, Preen was curled up in a ball. I didn’t want to risk anything so I asked my dad to take me to the vet ASAP despite his plans to watch a movie with Mom.

Migs tagged along. He, too, is easily attached. We went to the vet near our house. This is where we take Darth and Padme (our labradors- and, yes, they’re named after Star Wars characters).

The vet said that she had worms in her stomach. He saw it in her stool samples. I asked why. I didn’t think she could get worms because I’d clean her surroundings every time I got the chance. We gave her clean food and clean water. It just didn’t make sense to me why she was sick. I swore I took care of her when I was around and I instructed a helper to take care of her while I was in school.

The doctor said that worms could be passed on from the mother. He said that a bunny should be dewormed once it reaches 3 months. Preen was supposedly three months. Of course, we couldn’t deworm her then because she was already sick. The doctor examined her some more.

He discovered a deep wound below her little tail. It had a lot of puss which explains why she would stink up so easily. I asked the doctor how to take care of her wound, how to give her medicine for her stomach, and how to take care of her on a regular basis just to clear things up. He said I should dress her wound at least once a day. First, clean up any puss that might be there or any other dirt in that area. Next, apply agua oxinada. And then lastly, put Betadine.

I wonder where she got the wound in the first place. Was it already there when my friends got her? Why didn’t the people from BioResearch tell them about it? Did she get it from our house? But where? There are no sharp objects on my balcony, her cage, or her aquarium. Another thing, why weren’t my friends informed about this deworming? And since we’re already on this subject, why did they sell my friends a sick bunny (Bum)? My friends said the reason they liked Bum was because he lay around all day. Wasn’t that already a sign? I’m sure they weren’t aware but shouldn’t the people in BioResearch already know that? Why didn’t they warn my friends? Why did they pretend to be ignorant about such pressing matters?

Anyway, let’s get back to Preen. The doctor gave her a shot for her stomach. Before he did, I was hesitant because I remember the other vet (the one in Fairview who treated Bum) saying that they were too small to be injected. I asked the doctor if she could take a shot. He said that it depended on their weight and then proceeded to measure Preen. She was clear for a shot. After the shot, she already had more energy. She started walking around again. Still not as energetic as her usual self, but still, she had some energy.

The doctor gave me dextrose powder to mix in her water, an antibiotic for her stomach with vitamins, and also another medicine for her diarrhea. Of course, I paid for all of it because she’s my bunny. I thought it’d be worth it if it could save her. When we got home, I immediately changed her water to the prescribed dosage and fed her through a sort of dropper-injection-tube. This is only because she refused to drink or eat anything. The doctor said she needed supplements and that if she didn’t eat or drink, I’d have to force feed her.

We waited until 8pm for her medicine, as the doctor recommended. Both of her medicines should be taken twice a day. Once in the morning while I’m in school and another under my supervision. We agreed on 8 o’ clock as the time. When it was 8pm, I taught the helper how to give her medicine. It was 0.2mL each but the doctor said to inject 0.3mL as room for error because she might spit it out or not drink all of it. The dextrose mixture should be left as her water and if she doesn’t drink it, at least given to her regularly.

Last night, I gave her 2mL dosages per hour. Sounds like a lot but when put into a container, it’s barely a fraction of what she could finish when she was still lively. I stayed up until 2am doing work and making sure she was still breathing. Around midnight, she showed signs of recovery. She started walking around her cage again.

I set my alarm to 7am this morning. An hour before her medicine is due. Thankfully, I woke up to its annoying tune. When I woke up, she wasn’t moving again. Honestly, I didn’t want to look in fear that she might already be dead. I called the helper to help me give her the dextrose water and clean her cage. She wasn’t moving at all.

She was still breathing but she didn’t move. Unlike last night when she still sucked or teethed on the dropper, she didn’t even open her mouth. She was barely swallowing. After a while, I tried to let her rest. She was lying down just like Bum was. This was so depressing to watch. She couldn’t move or anything. We let her rest for a while, also checking that she was still breathing.

We then gave her water again. Charo (the helper) went out to get something while I was feeding her water. During that time, she suddenly shrieked, froze and dropped to her side!!! I swore I heard a thud! I screamed out the door thinking she had died. I started sobbing and my mom heard from downstairs.

Charo said she was still breathing, but very lightly. I couldn’t bare to look at her anymore. It was such a sad sight. When her breathing was a bit more stable we decided to give her medicine a bit earlier in hopes of relieving her pain. It was almost 8am anyway. I tried calling the vet but there was no answer. Eight in the morning is supposed to be their opening time but no one answered my calls.

Eventually, she grew weaker but she was still moving. She moved her head a lot in a twitch. I heard her grind her teeth- which was a sign of pain that I read on the internet. And then she started breathing heavily as if grasping for air. By this time, Charo, Migs, and my mom were all in my room. We already knew what was gonna happen.

Mom told us not to look anymore because she knows we have a weak spot for these things and that we get easily attached. And so, Preen is gone.

Barely a week outside of their home, and they’re gone. I wonder, were they really old enough to be sold in the first place? Or maybe they should have still been in the care of their mother. All I know is that we really did take care of them, they were loved, and that I’m never gonna get a pet from BioResearch- and I think you should think twice about it too.