Thanks to Metaphorx for sharing this story on Imgur.
A mom of a friend of mine asked if it would be okay if she could put her female rabbit downstairs (caged) while she had people over that weekend. I said it was fine. I had two rabbits of my own upstairs, a neutered male and a female rabbit who I hadn't spayed yet. I had the space so I didn't mind. Anyways, we ended up letting the two female rabbits have a "play date" I guess you could call it. The other rabbit ended up mounting my rabbit and I told my friend that their rabbit had to be male. She told me that the vet said it was female and maybe it was just a "dominance" thing. Turns out I was right and it took that one time for my rabbit to get pregnant. Thing is, I didn't know she was pregnant.
My rabbit started ripping her fur out to make a "nest" so I googled why she was doing this and later found out that they do this when they're pregnant or think they're pregnant to get ready for the kits. I woke up to this one morning and walked in on her giving birth to the kits. There were 4.
Continue this oh-so-cute story on the next page.
They were so small and I was afraid to handle them in my hands in case the scent from me would scare the mother away from them. That was the least of my problems at this point. She didn't mind me touching them and she kept feeding them for two days, until the worse possible thing happened. She died. I went downstairs to check on her and the kits and she was breathing heavily. Rabbits try and hide when they're ill because they're on the bottom of the food chain, so seeing her like that worried me. I rushed her to the vet ASAP.
As soon as I got there she died at the clinic. She had stillborn babies inside of her that made her sick. I felt horrible. I should have brought her there as soon as she had the kits, but for whatever reason I thought she would be fine. You know, let nature take it's course and all that, but I was wrong.
The vet told me they are one of THE hardest animals to nurse, and where we live we can't get rabbit milk or rodent milk so the closest thing I could get is KMR (kitten formula) mixed with whipping cream to make it thicker, adding acidophilus to keep a healthy gut flora.
It took me 2 hours to feed them each feeding. They wouldn't eat. They didn't like the syringe. I fed them in the morning and in the night. 2 hours each time, sometimes more but I tried my absolute hardest to get them to feed. I needed to do this for my sweet rabbit that I lost. Everyone told me they would die. That I'd be lucky if they made it a week. Then one died and I lost faith in myself. The one that died was the one that just wouldn't eat as much as the other kits. I tried everything.
I contacted Hoppy Homes Rescue and they wouldn't take the rabbits in because they were "full". I contacted farms that may have nursing mothers, who could maybe adopt the kits. I contacted friends and families to see if anyone had a rabbit that was nursing. I even tried getting them to nurse from a nursing cat, but it didn't work. They can't even pee or poop on their own. You have to stimulate them by rubbing their bellies and their surrounding area with your finger or a cotton ball dipped in warm water. If you don't do this they can also die. The female rabbit usually licks them either before or after each feeding. I was so stressed out.
Continue to the next page to find out what happened to these baby rabbits.
And then things changed. They started feeding from me. They started to grow fur.
They kept warm in their mother's fur and snuggled with each other. I had the heat on blast in the room they were in to keep them warm as well.
Every day they got stronger, and more and more energetic! They stole my heart.
Finally the hopping began, and the "binkys" because they were happy.
Continue to the next page to see how this story ends.
I put them in a bigger box after and just used this one for when I took them out to feed them. At this point it's taking me less than 20 minutes to feed all three kits.
So the kits are 4 weeks old today and they've started picking at hay and pellets, and they're still drinking the KMR formula. I have to feed it to them until they're 8-10 weeks old.
They are my absolute favorite in this world and I never thought I'd be able to save one, not to mention 3 of them. I wish I could have saved all 4. I wish she never died, but I can't change what happened. But look at them. Look at the difference. I'm so happy to have gotten the chance to save them. Everyone told me I couldn't do it, that it was near impossible. But here they are, fighting against all odds and winning. They are true fighters. I have complete faith that all 3 of them are going to make it now. They are doing so well. I'm so happy.
Share this heartwarming story with an animal lover in your life.
Redditor RedditPenguin02 wanted to make a list of the best inquiries to make when starting a relationship, so they asked:
"What is a good question to ask before you start dating someone?"
From what I've learned in my past, always ask... "Are you into Buffy the Vampire Slayer? The TV show."
If it's a no, then it's a dealbreaker.
I Do
Shocked Schitts Creek GIF by CBCGiphy"Are you married?"
wrenchmonkey135
"I would ask that. If they said no, the next question was 'Would your wife agree?'"
"If they laughed, they were telling the truth. If they got indignant and pissed off that I thought they were lying…they were married."
"Worked every time."
Squibit314
We Lived!
"Do you clap when the plane lands?"
dont_u_know
"I swear people used to do this all the time when I was a kid (early 2000’s), and I don’t think I’ve heard anyone do it in 5+ years. I guess 9/11 really made people afraid of flying for about 10 years and then most folks decided they didn’t need to applaud when the plane landed safely?"
jmims98
Family Planning
"Do you want kids in the future? If one person wants kids and the other wants to stay child-free, then they are not compatible. And it is better to try dating someone else."
GoodAlicia
"It confuses me whenever some couples who disagree on this end up in a conundrum because one expected the other to change their mind. This is something I bring up early cause I see no future with someone who wants kids when I do not."
GoodAlicia
"You should always put childfree on your dating profile. It's not a small thing. Either you agree on it or not. If I had to date, I would put childfree on my profile too."
GoodAlicia
Carb it on...
"Do you like bread? That is the extent of my flirting skills."
HumpieDouglas
"Being German, bread is like a frickin' cultural phenomenon here, we have around 300 kinds of bread, there's a bread museum, every time I go on vacation I'm like yeah it's nice here but the bread ain't it yall, never as good as home lol. So yeah, valid question and the only answer to this is an enthusiastic yes."
Nayeliq1
Room Temperature
Frosty The Snowman Winter GIF by filmeditorGiphy"What temperature do you set the thermostat to throughout the year?"
OneFingerIn
"Haha this one always gets me as someone who needs low temps - you can always put on more clothes, I can't peel my skin off to get cooler."
djdante
The thermostat is a dealbreaker for me.
It's gonna be 60. Love it or move on.
Discovery
Blown Away Wow GIF by AminéGiphy"When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
"Opens a window to how they think."
youcantkillanidea
"If that was really early on in the dating I’d think it was a bit of a head-f**k question. I’d probably find that question a red flag, tone dependent, although I agree with the sentiment."
LivestockMarc
Personal Time
"Aside from major differences about finances, kids, politics, or religion, a big one is; What are your hobbies? If they don’t really have any, you may be the next hobby, which isn’t going to work unless you’ve got that kind of time. If the hobbies are time-consuming ones generally done with a SO."
"But you have no interest in them, that could be an issue as well. If only one of you likes camping, wanted to spend vacation lounging instead of exploring, didn’t like sports, etc either that partner is annoyed or the other feels like they don’t get to enjoy what they love."
Githard
Past Issues
"Ask them about their exes. If they think every single one of them is an a**hole... they are likely the real a**hole."
CantTakeMeSeriously
"I have mixed feelings about that - I've been in three previous relationships and all three were emotionally abusive towards me (one wasn't nearly as bad as the other two, though) in various ways. I know this is a common sentiment and it always makes me afraid that people won't believe me or something.
"I mean, I realize in your comment you said 'likely' and not '100% sure' and there's plenty of room for nuance."
phiore
Values
"I would try to take care of any dealbreakers. If I find out that she has different political values than I do, it's not going to work out in the long run, so I wouldn't bother. Same thing with other factors (religion, financial values, etc.). I would also ask how much cuddling she likes to engage in, as I prefer a lot."
SkullKrusher9000
Essentials
Tell Me More To Do List GIF by Disney ChannelGiphy"When I was dating my three essential questions were always kids, sex, and money. If you're not on the same wavelength for any of those three things, just don't even try."
KhaosElement
TRUTH PLEASE!!
"So, how much personal debt do you have?"
"Source: the guy who dated a woman with huge debts and was asked to pay for everything and then some".
"After that, I'd go with, 'Have you ever been diagnosed with borderline, narcissistic, or histrionic personality disorders?"
extracensorypower
The questions are basic.
Just ask for the truth.
Do you have any good Qs to add to the queue? Let us know in the comments below.
Curious to hear from strangers online who never saw themselves in their current positions in life, Redditor graces-taylor12 asked:
"What about becoming an adult caught you completely off guard?"
The following Redditors were not ready to process the inevitable when it came to their parents.
A Role Reversal
"Watching your parents becoming old and frail."
– Mrbusybaconandeggs
"Dealing with this yesterday and it is an eye-opener. Its hard seeing someone you’ve known as a pillar of strength for 30+ years in a position of such weakness, and knowing that he might improve but generally the decline is coming."
– Rook1872
Age-Defying
"I've had a weird atypical experience. My dad was pretty old when I was born and always had a bad knee he could never afford to get fixed. He could barely walk and has never been able to run since I could remember. It got so bad that he couldn't even walk up or down the stairs in our house."
"Well he eventually got a knee replacement and he's now more agile at 73 than he was at 53. It's weird to see."
– Downtown_Skill
Sad Epiphany
"I'll never forget when I first realized how frail they actually were. I went over to their house to help out with some chores, and they couldn't even clean out any of the pens by themselves. They ended up selling most of their animals that year because they couldn't look after them."
– thecanadiancowboy
Life Can Be Cruel
"It’s slowly beginning with my parents, small hints here and there, they’re in their mid 50s.The big freak out for me has been watching my grandparents slowly declining over the last 3ish years. One set of grandparents have been gone since I was a kid, so these two are all I’ve got now. My Pap’s arthritis and sciatica is to the point now where it’s a process for him just to stand up. 2020 I saved him from a fall, if I wasn’t there to catch him, he would’ve easily been in the hospital for quite a while. That was the first 'Oh sh*t, he’s not immortal' moment."
– NoinePiecesOfVinyl
These Redditors discovered older doesn't always mean wiser.
Wake-Up Call
"I can do whatever the f'k I want. But I don't really want to do anything..."
– IcarusWax
"Yup, the idea of doing whatever you want as an adult was the biggest scam cartoons sold us."
"Yeah, you can do anything you want but you're gonna need money. So you get a job, there goes most of your day to your job."
"So now you have money but that'll go to bills first and by the time you can do what you want you don't have the energy or funds. Then the loop continues.."
– JimmyJackJericho
Fake It Til You Make It
"How clueless other adults are. I really thought adults had their sh*t in order while in reality most people are winging it."
–= xepci0
"Maturity is a skill. Some people learn it quickly. Others never do."
"Children are limited by their youth. Their brains aren't fully developed. But adults are not guaranteed to get more mature without working for it."
"Some people never grow up. They just get old."
– snapwillow
Being Independent
"I'm surprised by the amount of people who genuinely couldn't live by themselves if they had to. They somehow never learned basic life skills like simple cooking or cleaning and always had someone else to do it for them."
– CliffExcellent123
People became more aware of time.
Not Enough Me Time
"How little free time you have. You have to work, you have to prepare for work, drive to work, drive home from work. You also have to do household chores. You have to take care of kids if you have some. When do I get to enjoy my hobbies?"
– lllSnowmanlll
Point Of Exhaustion
"Most of the time I'm so tired from the day, I just don't have the mental capacity to do anything but go right to bed and watch tv ;_;"
– WitherWithout
Never Going Back
"Transitioning from college student + part time worker to full time worker I gained a bunch of time back. I was shocked that I could just decide to do laundry tomorrow if I didn't feel like it. Every evening I had this huge chunk of time that was just open."
"But then, moving from an apartment to a house, now there's a bunch more chores to do. Then introducing kids, now there's all that. But still, I wouldn't go back to the hectic college life."
– civilwarcorpses
Marking Time
"How it just goes on endlessly."
"When you're a kid, there's a summer break every year, and a new school to go to in a couple of years. Whatever part of your life you are in is clearly delimited and there is something new to look forward to after it."
"Once you're an adult, it's just 5 days of work and 2 days of weekend over and over and over until you die."
– Suitable_Mistake2208
After having a decent, long run in the entertainment business as a dancer, I've long held the belief I was invincible.
I was physically stronger, more agile, and foolish enough to think I could perpetually live in such a state.
All of a sudden, reality smacked me in the face one morning when I woke up and heard and felt various parts of my body crackle and pop like when milk hits a bowl of Rice Krispies.
My tired body had the audacity to inform me:
"Not today and from this day forward."
We're currently not on speaking terms.
